Nearly 20 years ago, a then-well known writer within the nudist travel market was referred to us for possible work. So it was that he sat in my office where I talked to him about helping us.
Over the course of the conversation, I asked about his wife and family and then the talk took a strange direction. I asked what his family's favorite nudist destination was and the dialog went a bit as follows:
"My kids don't know I write these articles about nude places because they're younger and... well, 'you know.' "
And your wife? "She doesn't like the sun or being nude. So she has never gone. Actually I don't go to the places either. Not that I would have a p---r--o---b--l--e--m with going, I suppose. But I can interview people on the phone and it not only cuts travel expenses down, but I don't need to do it to write about it."
Turns out, that writer had rarely even been skinnny dipping. When I asked, "so you're home nudists?" he gave a wry smile and shook his head no.
I ended the conversation cordially soon after. I then told those on my team that I was not interested in having the writer perform any work on future projects.
Maybe he did a better job with grammar and word imagery than the Platypus (or other future hires) ever would. But for me, to have such ghost writers who wouldn't actually get naked and whose world had a lot of close people in it who wouldn't get nake either defied authenticity.
There were nudists who faced losing child custody in divorces because they skinny dipped and this person wouldn't even tell his kids what he wrote about? He had no interest in getting nude on vacation, but he was supposed to inspire others to do so? Didn't make much sense.
If it sounds like the Platypus is using some choice words for those who don't bare while claiming to speak for nudists lately, maybe we are. We have many non-nudist friends and get along just great with them. It's the folk who want to make a buck off us while saying"I'm with you" when they are anything but with us who annoy.
There ARE some among us who aren't as they portray, that's for sure. It's been very disappointing to discover that some of our most vocal 'advocates' don't really seem to believe in or support social nudism as experienced by millions worldwide.
ReplyDeleteWhat it is they want instead is often unclear, but it's very clear that they hold our treasured beliefs in contempt throughout their quest for recognition and/or financial gain.
Your writer appears to be one of them, using our beloved lifestyle/pastime for his own ends whilst shunning it personally. I suppose the bigger question is, does he do a good job of it? Is he a help or hinderance?
To be fair, most writers of murder mysteries don't actually kill people, biographers aren't the people they're writing about, documentary makers don't experience what they produce; they only report it. Reporting doesn't always mean experiencing what's being reported about.
But yeah, I know what you mean. A nudist writer who isn't? That's pretty lame.
That is worse than a charade. It is downright fraud. That would be like me, being a man, claiming that I know all about being a woman, just because I had interviewed a few women. Anything I could write would just be my impressions, not first-hand experience. I have the wrong equipment to understand the female experience.
ReplyDeleteIf someone were to mention my dark tan, particularly during the summer, it didn't come from sitting around inside, in my clothes, writing about how to get a good tan. It came from shedding my clothes, and going outside where the sun can bathe my body in its wonderful glow. If they were to ask me how I got my tan, I could tell them, from first-hand experience.
It takes a naturist to legitimately write about naturism-related topics.