HERE’S A quick question for the Bare Platypus readers who regularly read other nudist and naturist blogs: You see lots of nudist pictures every day. How many depict Black people? How many Latinos? What about Asians? Got an idea of the numbers of all three of these groups, combined, that you’ve seen either in blog pics or while actually attending a nude beach or club?
Good. Now we’ll ask, Is that number anything close to 4 out of every 10 nudists? Certainly not.
The Bare Platypus has written before on the subject of nudity and race, including the ways that certain groups are greatly under-represented. But today the question is especially significant as news media including The Wall St. Journal run stories about US Census Data showing that “minority” births now outnumber white ones. We put the word “minority” in quotes because we don’t see how any group that outnumbers another can be called a minority for long.
Census Bureau data makes the statistic official. America has a Black President. Yet in all the nude clubs, beaches, and websites we’ve visited, none of them would belie such stats and developments. It’s time to start asking, “Why?”
Addressing the issue could begin by looking at Black culture, Asian culture, and Latino culture. Are there aspects of all three that make it less likely they would enjoy sunning in their birthday suits? No doubt. Yet we have to point out that in many of those surveys of America questioning whether those polled had, or would, like to visit a nude beach, Blacks were, proportionately, most interested in giving it a try.
We know from the many pictures from journalists during the Vietnam War, that at least some Asian people lived in a state of nudity and certainly allowed their children to live that way. Perhaps this was purely due to economic conditions. Perhaps economics and the costs of admission to nudist facilities is a factor too.
Addressing the issue means asking why so few nudist publications depict “minorities” or even discuss them. We also need to know how / if people from all walks of life are welcomed when they visit.
The only certainty is that, as percentages of White Americans shrink and the ranks of other races expand, social nudism will be less and less significant unless it can reverse some of the trends we see now. Moreover, nudist political influence---never a strong suit---will wane.
“Red and Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in His sight.” Precious to OUR future too.
