Is the Bare Platypus a Nudist or a Naturist?

THERE'S ALREADY some question about whether the Bare Platypus is a “nudist” or “naturist” site. And the answer is… [drum roll please]… YES!

A bit of explanation about terminology may be in order for those who have not spent much time visiting nude venues.  The word “naturist” means a person who enjoys freedom from clothes—historically because it was more natural / a natural state in harmony with nature.  When the modern idea of taking one's clothes off among others began in Germany and elsewhere, the terms “naturist” and “naturism” emerged to describe folks who practiced it.  Even today the term has a connotation associated with Europe. The “United Nations” of organizations advocating nudity---which represents over sixty countries---is called the International Naturist Federation.

The term naturist would certainly befit the Bare Platypus, although within the United States it’s a term often confused with “naturalist”… someone who studies wildlife.  Naturalists study platypus animals.  Bare Platypuses study naturists.

The term nudist immediately brings certain images to mind also.  Some of those are good, some not so good, and some just archaic.  Even today many people would fill in the following blank [Nudist ________] with the word  “colony.”  For them, nudist evokes thoughts of a nuts and berries crowd living in isolation somewhere, or those 1950’s era postcards that made bare travelers the punch line for jokes.  For still others nudist means a person who prefers plush resorts to simply being bare outdoors in nature. 

All of these preferences are typically based on personal experience and opinion. We at the Bare Platypus don’t think either is right or wrong.  We will use the term nudist often, but only in a generic sense.  We don’t mean to convey any hidden messages in choosing that word. It’s merely the term that, in our experience, most people use when clothes come off.  Think about when a toddler streaks through the kitchen on Saturday morning and dad quips to mom, “I guess we have a budding little nudist.”

Ultimately, Bare Platypuses just like to be bare. If you’re more relaxed when you take your clothes off at home or elsewhere, you’re speaking our language.