” A History of Naturism “

For most of human history, nudity was a natural and normal part of life. People were nude when environment and conditions favoured it.The “bathing suit” is a very recent invention dating back only about a century. It is only with the advent of scientific advancement and industrialization that humans began to be ashamed of their bodies.As we began to replace the natural world with manufactured goods, we grew to see all that was not man-made as imperfect. The human body became an object of shame to be hidden and shaped by clothing.Naturism began as a self-help reform movement in reaction to the debilitating aspects of industrialization and urbanization during the nineteenth century. At a time when medicine could neither explain nor cure disease, many people believed that crowded and unsanitary cities, tenement housing, restrictive victorian clothing, and oppressive working conditions all led to poor health and rampant illness. Some observers…