Conference moira::naturism

Also from the article:

	For More Information

	Write to N. C. Naturists, P. O. Box 33845, Charlotte, N.C. 28233.
	Dues are $20 a year.  The map series [maps and directions to "secluded
	scenic spots"] is available for $10.

    From the Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 21 Sep 1989.

    <heading> Spotting the naked dangers
    
                                by JENNA PRICE
    
    Nude sunbathers have more to worry about than most. The parts of the
    body that are usually covered are quick to burn, quick to age and will
    be as quick to get skin cancers as the rest of the skin. But the
    results of our reckless nude sunbathing will not become visible for
    another 20 years, predicts Professor Jerry Milton of Sydney University
    and the Skin and Cancer Foundation. 
    
    He says that because nude sunbathing has only come into vogue in the
    past 20 years, we are unlikely to see the results on victims before
    they reach their 60s, the age at which most skin cancers are reported. 
    
    But these predictions do not worry those who frequent Lady Bay Beach
    (known as Lady Jane) in the eastern suburbs. There were two dozen
    body-burners at the tiny nude beach and none of them wore sun blockout.
    Many protested that they "usually" wore 15+ protection factor but the
    only bottles on the beach were the low-protection 4s and 8s. 
    
    Mr. Robert Carbajal, 27, a recent arrival from Colombia, said he was
    aware of the risks of sunbathing and used a special blockout for his
    nose and genitals -- but he did not have any on him at the time. "my
    skin [olive] protects me from the sun" he claimed. 
    
    Reg, in his 60s, of Bellevue Hill, could only furnish a low-protection
    oil and the evidence of too much sunbathing: a number of scars from the
    removal of skin cancers on his head. "What I generally use is an
    umbrella" he said. 
    
    Margaret, 40, a midwife of Drummoyne, pointers to her melanoma scar and
    said: "I hardly do any sunbaking and I still got this." She was only
    using a number 6 protection factor sunscreen but claimed her usual
    strength was 15+. "I'm not going to do it to excess" she said. 
    
    Alistair, 29 a pale salesman, seem unhappy to hear of the possible
    correlation between skin cancer and protected skin and quickly dressed.
    His only skin protection was a factor 8. 
    
    Dr. Ron Kable, the medical director of the Skin and Cancer Foundation,
    says the more skin exposed to sunlight, the more dangerous sunbathing
    becomes. "quite frequently there are pigmented areas around your
    genitals, which if they are exposed to sunlight may be encouraged into
    the development of melanoma" he said. "We don't like people sunbathing
    at all any more." 
    
    Nude sunbathing, made respectable by the proclamation of the then
    Premier, Mr. Wran, in the mid 70s, really has no legal standing,
    according to a spokesperson for the Attorney-General, Mr Dowd. 
    
    But it is unlikely that nude sunbathers on a nude beach would ever be
    prosecuted so long as they user engaged in normal activities, such as
    walking or swimming, because people who might be offended by nudity
    keep away from these areas. Signposts at the beaches provide ample
    warning. 
    
    "there is a general and longstanding familiarity of the public with
    their existence" he said. 
    
    But he also said police patrols around these areas, which were
    increased last year because of complaints, would continue this year. 
    
                             

         Extract from the Sydney Morning Herald TV Guide - 9-Oct-1989
    
      Magnus Clarke is fastidious about the cut of his ties, interested
                   in nudism and loves hosting a quiz show.
    
    [....]
    
    Dr. Magnus Clarke has 18 research papers under his belt, 14 teaching
    publications and two books -- one on the nuclear destruction of
    Britain, the other on nudism. Nudism? 
    
    "It was a matter of complete refreshment -- to stop me going potty.
    I thought 'that sounds fun'.
    
    "My real business academically speaking is in strategic studies. My
    wife and I stumbled across nudism and we joined a nudist club, and
    someone said isn't it about time someone like you wrote a book on
    nudism. I did some research and realised no-one had." 

    [Magnus Clarke hosts the TV program "University Challenge" a quiz
    competition between students from the various Australian Universities.]

Peter.        
    [I have not seen a copy of the book, I will look out for it.]

    [This time its a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.]
    
                               Full (af)frontal
    
    SIR: Now that we are safely back in the USA, I would like to comment
    about pollution on the beaches of Sydney, which we visited as part of a
    trip Down under last month. 
    
    I am not talking about environmental pollution; I am talking about
    moral pollution. 
    
    I have no idea what the water at Bondi Beach is like; I didn't stay
    long enough to find out. 
    
    My wife and I were forced away by the flagrant display of female
    breasts which seemed to confront us every which way we looked as we
    crossed the beach. 
    
    Don't you have police down there? Or laws against that sort of thing?
    We have dirty beaches in the States, but they sure ain't *that* dirty! 
    
    I read in the paper that you want more tourists in Australia; you won't
    get'em until you clean up your act. 
    
                                             Peter and Prudence Lettenmaier
                                                                  Manhattan
                                                        New York City (USA)

                           The eye of the beholder
    
    SIR:  Perhaps Peter and Prude(nce) Lettermaier, visitors from Manhattan,
    New York, could be persuaded to write to the Herald once more and
    explain why the display of female breasts on Bondi Beach made them feel
    that the beach was dirty ("We have dirty beaches in the States, but
    they sure ain't *that* dirty" to quote their quaint syntax). Unless the
    breasts were actually unwashed and soiled, one is otherwise forced to
    conclude that the dirt must, indeed, be in the eyes of the beholders. 

                                                          Mogens Holt
                                                         Union Street
                                                        Milsons Point

    ANDY HOLM of Bondi was skinny-dipping with friends and family,
    including a child, in a secluded spot in the Royal National Park
    [South of Sydney] on Wednesday (3-Jan-1990). A group of about 25 people
    wearing traditional Muslim dress came across the swimmers, and six or
    seven of the men threatened them because of their nudity. One man
    pulled a knife on Mr. Holm. "Put your clothes on or I'll chop your head
    off," he warned. The swimmers got dressed. 



    [From the Sydney Morning Herald 5-Jan-1990. Page 1.]

                               by Sheila Browne
    
    People living near Reef Beach, a secluded nudist beach at Balgowlah
    Heights, have stepped up their campaign to have the beach closed for
    nude bathing and reclassified for general use.
    
    They claim the beach and the surrounding bushland of the Sydney Harbour
    National Park attract "undesirables" and that women and family groups
    now avoid the area because they have been harassed or offended. 
    
    "Its become a homosexual beach and there are all sorts of perverts and
    undesirables hanging around there" said a local resident, Mrs Felicity
    Pulman, who is secretary of the Reef Beach and Gledhill Park Progress
    Association. 
    
    "We've got dozens of documented cases of people being confronted by men
    exposing themselves, masturbating or having sex in the bushes.
    
    "Families in the area used to love using the beach but now they feel
    they no longer can." 
    
    People using the beach when the Northern Herald visited on Monday
    denied the claims, although they acknowledged it was a popular spot for
    gay men. 
    
    "I can understand the residents fears but they're unfounded," said
    sunbather Mr. Rodney Knowles, 22, of St. Peters. 
    
    "Most people respect the limits and do not go out of the area
    designated for nude bathers. 
    
    "I'm gay but I come here because I like nude bathing. I bring my
    godchildren here, too, and they always have a nice time. I don't want
    to sound nasty but maybe the people in this area have nothing better to
    worry about." 
    
                 
    The beach was designated as a nudist beach soon after the Wran Labour
    Government came to power in NSW in 1976. Lady Bay Beach at Watsons Bay
    was similarly classified at that time and there are also other
    "unofficial" nude beaches in Sydney such as Obelisk Bay, Mosman. 
    
                                                                    
    Mrs Pulman said the Liberal Party, when in opposition, supported
    residents' moves to have Reef Beach reclassified, but since it came to
    power had ignored them. 
    
    "Mr. Wran wanted to do the trendy thing but it was a cynical political
    decision, taken without thought of the suitability of the site or
    the consequences," Mrs Pulman Said.
    
    "Now the Greiner Government won't do anything because it doesn't
    want to offend a minority or lose the homosexual vote."
    
    Mrs Pulman said her group -- with about 100 members, including sports
    presenter Rex Mossip -- was not against nude bathing in itself but felt
    Reef Beach was an inappropriate spot for it.  Nude bathing was better
    suited to open, ocean beaches away from residential area and bushland,
    she said. 
    
    The problems of the beach meant people avoided the Sydney Harbour
    National Park "which should be for all". 
    
    The Scenic Foreshore Walkway (a Bicentennial project linking Manly with
    the Spit Bridge) had to be routed through bushland with virtually no
    harbour views to avoid conflict between walkers and nude bathers, she
    said. 
    
    Hundreds of bathers used Reef Beach on weekends and were endangering
    fragile bushland and wildlife, Mrs Pulman said. A report in 1977 by
    Mosman environmentalist, the late Mrs Joan Bradley, confirmed this
    view, as did a 1988 study by Manly landscape architect Mr Bruce
    Mackenzie. 
    
    Mrs Pulman said her group had the written support of the State Member
    for Mosman, Mr Smiles, and for Manly, Mr. Hay, as well as the unanimous
    support of the manly Council. But they had achieved nothing. 
    
    The Balgowlah-Fairlight and Manly branches of the Liberal Party, and
    the State Council of the Liberal Party, had also backed the groups
    call, she said. 
    
    "Mr Greiner has treated us with absolute contempt, refusing to meet
    with out group, or with out local representatives, Manly Council. He
    has even chosen to ignore requests from within his own party." 
    
    But the nude bathers at Reef Beach on Monday defended their right to be
    there. 
    
    "The only difference between this and any other beach is that here
    people take off all their cloths," said a 35 year old Neutral Bay man,
    sunbaking with his wife, also 35. 
    
    The co-convenor of the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, Mr Bruce Grant,
    said the residents' complaints were "homophobic". 
    
    "Generally, people who use nudist beaches are sensitive to the
    environment," he said. "The fact that gays go there is probably a
    quality certificate." 

    From the Northern Herald 8-Mar-1990.

    There's an article in the Sunday Boston Globe today (starting on the
    front page!) about the Birch Acres Nudist Campground in the Berkshires.
    
    The article has to do something with a fight with a neighboring farm
    that lets its animals wander off the property onto the nudist grounds.
    The interesting thing is that it looks like the local townspeople
    support the nudists' side of the story, though the article does not
    really discuss nudism in general.
    
    B.

    
    .8> The article has to do something with a fight with a neighboring farm
    .8> that lets its animals wander off the property onto the nudist grounds.
    
       Let me guess: The farmer that owns the animals is complaining that
    the his animals find the nudists to be offensive?	:-)
    
    
    Frank
    

    RE: .9
    
    :-)
    Actually, the primary complaint is that the farmer lets the animals
    get out and the animals trash other people's land (gardens and stuff).
    Other neighbors support the nudist camp's claims.  The owner of the
    farm has been claiming various charges in retaliation.

    
    I was told by my brother who frequents the camp, that the farm has
    been warned that if they do not stop the animals from comming onto
    the camps land
        (incedently the farmer herds his animals onto the camps land
         as a protest to the camps way of life)
    
                   that ... the farm could face fines resulting in the
    loss of 1/3 of its property, which would go directly to the 
    plantif, in this case, the camp.
    
    Paul

[Page 3 headline -- right across the top of the page]
    
          The nude club where everything will swing except the doors
    
                              By ANTHONY DENNIS
    
    The opening of what is understood to be Australia's first genuinely
    all-nude nightclub next month should offer, if nothing else, renewed
    meaning to the expression shake, rattle, and roll.
    
    At the nude club, which will open its doors at a secret location
    in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick in three weeks, clothing will
    be outlawed and *everyone* will be expected to be naked, including
    members of the band.
    
    And at the club, the promoter considerately promises, there will
    be no sharp edges on tables, or swinging doors.
    
    One major problem which confronted the promoter, Mr Bill Ridley,
    in the planning stage of the project has already been overcome.
    
    The patrons of the club will be allocated numbers during the night
    in order to buy drinks from the bar.
    
    The storage of wallets and purses on naked bodies may be difficult,
    if not impossible.
    
    Since Mr Ridley inserted a rather delicately worded advertisement
    in a Melbourne newspaper this week, he claims to have received more
    than 150 "sincere" replies, 16 of which came from single women,
    the remainder from nudists committed to a bare existence.
    
    He is keeping the exact address of the club confidential to frustrate
    intervention by police and moralists.
    
    Once club members are inside the venue and undressed, the doors
    will be locked.
    
    "We're all voyeurs, I suppose," said Mr Ridley, who envisages the
    possibility of establishing nude nightclubs elsewhere in the future.
    
    "It's a bit twee to say that the feeling of freedom you get from
    nudity is behind the idea of this nightclub.
    
    "I actually want to take this concept a bit further.
    
    "I'm not overly worried about perverts joining the club," Mr Ridley
    said.
    
    "You won't need bouncers because nude people are less aggressive.
    They've got nothing else to prove with their cloths off."
    
    A secured "undressing" room will be provided for patrons to disrobe
    and store their valuables before they frolic on the dance floor,
    unencumbered by the sort of expensive, fashionable clothing seeming
    so important to romantic success at conventional nightclubs.
    
    Presumably the venue (incidentally, for the rest of the week a fully
    clothed nightclub), will be sufficiently heated to prevent unsightly
    goose-bumps during Melbourne's comparatively frigid winters [relative
    to Sydney]. The advise that Mr Ridley will give his nude groovers
    is to look the other person directly in the eyes when requesting
    a dance.
    
    He has not, however, determined if certain dances should be prohibited
    at the club, such as the lambada.
    
    This is the latest craze gripping the world's dance floors -- a
    dance which involves artistic but nevertheless close contact with
    one's partner's nether regions. 

    [From the Sydney Morning Herald, 27-Apr-1990]

                           Club for the dance buff
    
                              By ANTHONY DENNIS
    
    After the successful opening of the nation's first all-nude night club
    in Melbourne recently, the emboldened promoter now wants to establish a
    Sydney branch for nocturnal naturists. 
    
    On the coldest night of the year in Melbourne. The Nude Night Club, as
    it is known the brainchild of Melbourne promoter Mr Bill Ridley, opened
    its doors to more than 100 naked gyrating bodies, but a fire kept the
    groovers well warmed, though they wisely stayed well clear of it. 
    
    The all-nude band played a Latin tune to open proceedings and encourage
    participants to dance the lambada (which necessitates close contact
    with a partner's nether regions). 
    
    Although there were initial fears about swinging doors and sharp-edged
    tables, the night ended without a hitch, except for a problem with
    cigarettes. There were no nasty burns; it was just that the nocturnal
    naturists were concerned about where they should place their packets
    and lighters. 
    
    Mr Ridley, enriched by the proceeds of the sale of the story to a
    down-market magazine not unaccustomed to half-dressed bodies, kindly
    supplied a bowl of cigarettes out of harm's way. 
    
    On the basis of the Melbourne experiment, Mr Ridley has now concluded
    that Sydneysiders, arguably more gregarious then Melburnians, will
    embrace the idea of a nude night club. 
    
    "I think Sydney would go for it straight away," say 32-year-old Mr
    Ridley, who dreams of franchised nude nightclubs around Australia one
    day. 
    
    "I'd love to start one there. If somebody approached me I would willing
    to jump on a plane immediately to establish it. 
    
    "I think sophisticated voyeurism has finally come of age." 
    
    For the first hour patrons remained fully-clothed to prevent a police
    raid, though the constabulary never arrived, satisfied that, aside from
    the lambada, there was no "funny business". 
    
    A second outing for the nude groovers is scheduled soon, though Mr
    Ridley's fear remains that someone else will open a nude nightclub in
    Sydney before he gets the opportunity. 
                                          

    David Dale, in Las Vegas for the American Booksellers' Convention,
    could find only one Australian creation among the thousands of new
    books being promoted by US publishers. It is *Nudism in Australia*, and
    Dale finds it somewhat baffling. Publicity material from Elysium Growth
    Press describes it as "a study of organised nudism in Australia from
    1932 when the first nudist groups began to form, to Australia today
    where modern nudist camps and beaches draw tourists worldwide to this
    land 'down under'." 
    

              Nudists throw away their cares along with clothes
    
                            Sydney's first nudist
                            nightclub is searching
                               for a venue. Jon
                             Casimir examines the
                              state of nudism in
                                  Australia.
    
    Winston Churchill, it is said, once accepted an official visit from
    Franklin D. Roosevelt from the comfort of his bath, explaining that
    "the Prime Minister of England has nothing to hide from the President
    of the USA".
    
    The story may be apocryphal, but it remains a favourite anecdote
    for nudists (naturalists, gymnosophers, Nacktkultur followers --
    call them what you will), because it provides a romantic vindication
    of their activities, a stamp of approval from an extraordinary man.
    
    But nudists, as they invariably make a point of saying without any
    prompting at all, are anything but extraordinary. They are normal
    folk no different to you or I except for a predilection to retreat
    from the "textiles" (nudist term for the rest of us), and cope with
    life in the buff.
    
    Peter Richards, president of the Olympia Health and Culture Club,
    which established its club grounds on six hectares of bushland at
    Dee Why [a Sydney beachside suburb] in 1959, recently valued at
    18 million, is most insistent about their inconspicuousness.
    
    "You couldn't just look at a person and say that's a nudist -- oh, good
    Lord, no!" Richards exclaims, "They don't wear haloes and they're not
    tinged green. I hate to use the phrase, but nudists come from all walks
    of life. There are many people who are quite well known in the
    community who join what we now call 'sun clubs'. Some people like
    wearing white outfits to bowls. Others like running around in football
    jerseys. Nudists just like being nude."
    
    Magnus Clarke (host of [the TV program] 'University Challenge' and
    eminent nudist historian) estimates in his book 'Nudism in Australia',
    that the number of local nudists -- not counting our indigenous
    gymnosophers -- is above 100,000.
    
    Despite oft-heard claims that nudism boarded the ship to Australia
    after World War II with the rest of the European migrants, the local
    climate is vastly more suited to nudism than that of most European
    countries, and it is clear from the literature of the last century
    that skinny dipping in farm dams, creeks, rivers, and lakes was
    a socially approved element of bush culture.
    
    Clarke dates club nudism back to 1932, when a group of "interested
    people" met near Melbourne. Within years, other clubs were calling
    for members, but major expansion hat to wait until after the war.
    
    From the '40s to the '60s, nudists preached all manner of dubious
    health benefits. Nudity could cure lung ailments such as pleurisy
    and pneumonia, alleviate certain skin problems, promote bowel
    regularity and generally restore peace and harmony to a society
    of people out of touch with their inner selves.
    
    The supposedly liberated '70s brought with them a further expansion,
    particularly through a set of pitched battles to bring nudity out
    of the bush and on to the beaches. Sydney now has two official nude
    beaches, Reef, and Lady Bay, and an unofficial third, Obelisk, which
    nudists frequent because if offers better cover from the sun and
    less of a walk from the closest car park.
    
    Despite the move towards more public nudity, there are still about
    45 flourishing clubs in Australia, according to Les Hotchkin, the
    editor and publisher of the only local nudist magazine, 'Australian
    Sun and Health', which sells about 15,000 copies.

    The clubs not only provide a focal point for nudists to meet, but
    form an unofficial network, and Australia-wide alternative lifestyle
    with its own, very strong, sense of community.
    
    "There is an affinity between nudists," Hotchkin says. "We run into
    each other in all the different venues. When you call in at one
    of the clubs while you're on holiday, you're just as likely to see
    someone you know from another State. There is a great fraternity
    within the movement."
    
    If there is one trend that can be isolated within nudist clubs,
    it is a very definite male bias. On the beaches, women seem just
    as happy to be nude, but when it comes to actually joining
    organisations, they are much more coy. This also brings with it
    efforts to protect those who do participate.
    
    "There are certain clubs which do not like single males under the
    are of 60," Richards says. "Their reasoning would appear to be that
    they feel as though younger men are rather horny creatures who will
    knock off all the woman. Really, if you inquire and say you are
    over 65, they feel as though you're totally harmless and they welcome
    you along.
    
    "Some clubs have a distinct bias against single males -- if they
    do join then they have to bring a girlfriend. Some of the nudists
    are unbelievably conservative, very prim and proper. They go to
    church on Sunday, pay their taxes and raise kids. They just happen
    to like nudism as well."
    
    The major problem facing the nudist movement in the '90s is the
    rising cost of land. Not all clubs have their own grounds, with
    many simply co-ordinating social functions at a variety of venues,
    which explains the popularity of establishments such as the River
    Island nature Retreat, a 125-hectare resort set in a secluded valley
    on the Wollondilly River about two hours from Sydney, which bills
    itself as a clothing-optional "Family Fun Holiday Resort".
    
    Mostly bushland, it has four kilometres of river winding through
    is and several sandy beaches. It also boasts saunas, spas, a swimming
    pool, a playground, canoeing and bushwalking facilities, a half-tennis
    court, jogging track and caf�.
    
    The retreat has been open for four years, and according to owner
    Colin Sell, most visitors do exercise their right to be textile-free
    at some point of their stay, if not for the entire duration.
    
    At the moment about 10 per cent of his clientele (about 300 a day
    in peak holiday season) are overseas customers, a figure he says
    is slowly increasing as Australia becomes perceived as a nudist
    holiday destination.
    
    But what of the nudists who harbour no great love of nature, no
    real desire to spend their time stumbling about in thorny bushland
    fighting off creepy crawlies?
    
    In March this year, the ACT Nudist Club introduced "Skinpin", tenpin
    bowling in club uniform, to boost its social calendar, which also
    includes regular swim meets and social tennis and volleyball games.
    
    The management of the local bowling centre not only gave the club
    a good deal -- $10 a head fro three games, show hire, and a cappuccino
    -- but had special curtains made up to ensure privacy.

[Note: There was an excerpt from a 1947 cartoon included with this
    item, I will try and scan it and make the DDIF file available across
    the network.]

    In Newsweek magazine, dated September 10, 1990, there is an article
    in the Trends section about nude beaches.
    
    The article seems pretty much pro-naturism, though it doesn't say
    much that we haven't heard before.
    
    B.

[From the Sydney Morning Herald  15-Nov-1990]

A Cammeray [Sydney suburb] reader, visiting the nude bathing beach at Obelisk
Point, Middle Head, this week, has been puzzled by the sight of an 
unattired bather standing knee-deep in the water and using a portable phone.
Where, asks the reader, does he put it when he's finished talking?

                                  HANG OUTS

Wearing just a smile and factor 15, EMILY GIBSON looks for Sydney's best nudist
beaches. 

    [.. according to those at Reef Beach the reporter was dressed in a Neck
    to Ankle dress, so much for accuracy of the press, but the description of
    the Beaches matches my impressions. Peter..]

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now passing Sydney's premier nudist beach." The
Captain Cook cruiser glides in close and the tour guide's voice drifts clearly
over the water to the shore of Lady Jane. It's a Sydney Sunday and all that's
between these bathers and the sun is their suntan lotion.

Entering the beach along a picturesque track from Camp Cove, one is immediately
aware of covert glances from fellow beach-goers, many of whom look as if they
were about to commit a sin rather than enjoy a pleasure.

On the beach there are about 50 men to about five women and it's impossible not
to notice your neighbours, they are less than a foot away and very interested
to see what you look like under all those clothes. The only place to hide is in
the deep blue sea.

Roger, a merchant banker who lives in Double Bay, is in the water. He has been
visiting the beach regularly for the past two years and doesn't mind being
checked out at all.

"There are lots of people walking up and down and perving on each other," he
says "so what?  If they like what I've got that's fine. If I like what they've
got that's fine too."

Roger says most of the people here are regulars and there's nothing to worry
about if you are a single girl at the beach -- you won't be harassed.

"That never happens here, " he says adamantly. "In fact I think if anyone did
harass you they'd get the living daylights beaten out of them."

As he moves away Roger doesn't seem to notice the dodgy character about a foot
away from two of the beach's five women visitors.

"Do you mind?" says one of them loudly. "We're trying to relax here. If you're
not going to move then we will."

They move. No-one springs to their defence.

But there are other nudist beaches in Sydney offering a more relaxed
atmosphere. Obelisk Beach, near Mosman, was legalised along with Lady Jane
Beach, and Reef Beach in the late '70s by the then Premier Neville Wran.

Kay a journalist in here early 20s, has been coming here for two years and has
never had an unpleasant experience.

"I rarely come here alone and when I do I pick a spot with a rock on either
side of me so that people don't come and talk to me. I always bring something
to eat  and something to read so I look very well set up."

She sees Obelisk as a more pleasant beach than a public one.

"On week days there's a volleyball game going and you can have conversations
with complete strangers without ever exchanging names." Kay says.

The serious nudist goes to a nudist beach because of the lack of social
insignia. They see swimwear as a device tailored to heighten sexuality.

"It's probably the most sexless scene you could strike," says John, describing
Reef Beach were he has been bathing for 55 years.

"You watch the average male when a female wears a low-cut neckline -- they'll
stand on their heads to get a better view. Here men walk by naked females and
they don't even register."

Marie, who met her husband here in the nude ("You knew what you were buying in
advance," she laughs), agrees and adds, "This is the only beach I'll bring my
daughter to where I can read a book and don't have to watch her all the time."

Certainly Reef Beach seems the most friendly of all the nudist beaches, with
middle aged couples casually chatting over lunch and children running around.
The regulars are friendly and encouraging.

"I think the most difficult part is the first 15 seconds of actually getting
you clothes off," says John. "once they're off you look around and see no-one
looking anyway."

"Yeah," says Marie. "People think 'if I take my clothes off they'll notice the
dimples in my buttocks or the fat on my thighs'. But you soon learn that no-one
has a perfect body."

[From the Sydney Morning Herald, Metro Suppliment, Friday November 30 1990.]
    

    The Sydney Morning Herald's Agenda column of 26-Apr-1991 has an artical
    titled:
    
                               BARE BODIES
                            Nudism on the rise
    
    [I won't type it all in, if you want a copy I could mail a few
    photo-copies for circulation around places in the USA, where a
    reasonable number of people would see it. But now some of the
    highlights.]
    
    [There is a drawing of nude people playing volley ball, the males'
    penises are carefully hidden!]
    
    [...] Nudist camps are reporting that business is up about 10 percent on
    last year.[...] Australian Sun and Health started nine years ago with a
    circulation of 8,000, now sells 20,000.[...]
    
    90% of friends and colleagues admitted that they had at least been
    skinny dipping on deserted beaches and, yes, it felt very nice.
    
    But there is a whole lot of difference between a naked scamper in
    private surroundings and deciding to strut one's stuff in front of a
    group of total strangers by joining in organised nudist activities.
       [...]
    Dr. Magnus Clarke, one of Australia's leading naturists, "Most people
    start by blundering onto a nudist section of a beach, sitting down for
    a while and starting to think why not? The male might take his bathers
    off, which is the first big step, then the girl the top half of her
    bikini ... after a while they get to like it. Its illogical to swin and
    sunbake wearing clothes. Who would take a shower with clothes on?"

From: [email protected] (Michael J. Irvin, WSU, 509/335-0437)
Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny
Subject: Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover photo

Subject: Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover

Excerpt from an article by Mike Nichols of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
concerning the photo of a very pregnant Demi Moore on the cover of
Vanity Fair:

The photo ... tweaks our cultural ambivalence about nudity.  ... Take
off all your clothes and walk down the street waving a machete and
firing an Uzi, and terrified citizens will phone the police and report:
"There's a naked person outside!"
--
Selected by Brad Templeton.  MAIL your joke (jokes ONLY) to [email protected]
Attribute the joke's source if at all possible.  A Daemon will auto-reply.
If you don't need an auto-reply, submit to [email protected] instead.

<HEADING> An end is sight - or how they've had a skinful of nudes

    Nearly 15 years after the introduction of nude bathing at two of
    Sydney's most secluded beaches, the Premier is now expected to reverse
    the original decision.

    This follows strong pressure in recent weeks from at least one minister,
    a number of northern suburbs Liberal Party backbenchers, and the
    Independent MP for Manly. Dr Peter MacDonald.

    The parliamentarians want the Premier (Mr. Greiner) to outlaw nude
    bathing at Reef Beach, near Manly, and Lady Bay Beach near Watsons
    Bay.

    They say they are responding to a long history of complaints from local
    residents, who claim the nude beaches are continuing to attract
    unsavory or anti-social elements. 

    A spokesman for Mr. Greiner said last night that while no decision was
    likely to be made in the immediate future, the Premier was
    "sympathetic" to the views expressed by the Liberal backbenchers.

    One of these backbenchers, the MP for Wakehurst, Mr. Bardley Hazzard,
    said yesterday the time had come to return the beaches to family groups
    and fishing enthusiasts who "do not enjoy walking around in public
    without their clothes on".

    "I am not anti-nudity" Mr. Hazzard said, "I think that it is fine in
    the right situation, but not if it means excluding other people from
    the beach, which is what has happened here."

    Dr. MacDonald said, "By making it a nude beach you are alienating the
    beach from other people. There is no doubt those who come to the beach
    are normal reasonable people, but the people who come to watch those
    who are at the beach are not always normal and reasonable."

From the Sydney Morning Herald 19-OCt-1991 Page 3 [Some bits ommitted]
    
    For more about Reef Beach, see note 21.*

                    Nudists' defiant air in a G-string

                              By Lucy Macken

    Nudists say they will rebel against an expected ban on nude bathing by
    wearing the briefest G-strings available, according to Mr Bob Reed, a
    nudist bather for 20 years at Reef Beach.

    Nudist campaigners have started a petition to urge the State Government
    to reconsider its expected decision to make nude bathing illegal in
    NSW.

    "There ban shows there hasn't been progress in liberalizing people's
    attitudes since 1976," said Mr. Reed.

    "Before Reef Beach was officially nudist it was nudist unofficially
    anyway."

    NSW's first nude resort, Bardots Nude Village, is expected to open in
    December on a legal nude beach at Port Stephens. But its owner, Mr Jim
    Punch, said a statewide ban on nude bathing could affect the village
    badly. He said he had invested more then $500,000 in the resort.

    "We are going backwards if we allow the moral minority to dictate such
    terms to everyone," he said.

    There are more than half a dozen legal nude beaches in NSW and more
    than 50 unofficial ones.

    But Manly MP Dr Peter Macdonald said: "Locals here are saying they just
    don't ant it on their beach. They feel alienated and they want it
    reclassified for general use."

    The nudists were decent people but the problem was "rock hoppers" and
    "weirdos" who couldn't cope with naked bodies.

    Mr Les Hotchkin, secretary of the Free Beach Association of Queensland,
    which is campaigning for the Goss Government [Queensland State Gov.] to
    introduce nude beaches, encouraged Sydney's nude bathers to lobby the
    Government to stop any ban.

    "I think its a crying shame to lose the beaches in Sydney after they
    have had them for so long," he said.

    The ideal situation existed at Australia's first nude beach, Maslin
    Beach near Adelaide, he said, which was divided into "dress optional"
    and "dress not optional" sections.
    
From the Sydney Morning Herald (page 4) 21-Oct-1991. 
    
    PS. I don't understand the sentence about "weirdos" either. Peter.

    Peter, I hope that they don't close down those beaches.  I haven't been
    to Reef Beach, but I HAVE been to Lady Jane (Lady *BAY*??) Beach a few
    times.  Besides the effect on Sydney area naturists, what will be the
    effect on the Tour Boat industry??  ;-)
    
    If letters from outside Oz will help, I would be happy to write one.
    
    Jack

                       Nude plan for public beaches

    After more then 15 years of bare freedom, nude bathing is to be banned
    at Lady Bay and Reef Beaches but allowed at all other beaches, if the
    Government accepts the recommendations of the working party into unclad
    bathing on public beaches.

    The chairman of the working party, Mr Brad Hazzard, said that it was
    the unanimous view of the committee that for a "long time" there have
    been problems with "voyeurs and others attracted to Reef Beach and Lady
    Bay Beach for purposes other than purely the enjoyment of unclad
    bathing".

    Lady Bay and Reef Beaches are controlled by the National Parks and
    Wildlife Service and are , therefore, not covered by the Local
    Government Act, which states that there will be no unclad bathing on
    council beaches.

    The working party is recommending that the ordinances to this act be
    changed to give the local councils discretion to declare beaches or
    certain parts of beaches suitable for nude bathing.

    Mr. Hazzard warned that "councils are going to have to be realistic and
    some of the older council members who have not been to a beach in
    donkey's years will have to get down to their local beaches to see
    what, in fact, already exists and, in some instances, what already
    exists is unclad bathing".

    The reason for singling out Lady Bay and Reef beaches for bans was their
    location, he said.

    Surrounded by bushland and hidden from public scrutiny -- the very
    reasons they were selected as suitable places in the first place --
    have meant undesirables have been able to hang around unapprehended.

    A spokesman for the National Parks and Wildlife Service refused to
    comment on the recommendation last night.

    "Its up to the Government what happens. Reef Beach, Lady Bay, Obelisk
    and Cobblers [all NPWS-controlled beaches] do attract unclad bathing,"
    the spokesman said.

    The Mayor of Woollahra, Mrs Catherine Lemech, whose council
    incorporates the land around Lady Bay beach, said last night that the
    recommendation banning nude bathing at the beach was "rather severe".

    "The beach has been a nude beach for a long time. If people want Lady
    Bay to be a nude beach, I have no problem with that, It's the overflow
    of nude bathers which is the concern," Mrs. Lemech said.

    The Opposition spokeswoman on environmental matters, Ms Pam Allan,
    rejected the closure of the two beaches as nude bathing areas. 

    "Just because there is a problem on two beaches does not mean you close
    it down," Ms Allan said.

    "If residents perceive there are some concerns about voyeurs, then
    that's a problem which has to be solved by proper policing by the
    community and the authorities."

    Peter, What are your feelings on the closing of these beaches, assuming
    it means that other, more accessible beaches will open up?  I only went
    to Jady Bay (I know it as Lady Jane) Beach, and agree there were a lot
    of voyeurs.  But it was an establishment, and it is close to the
    nations largest, most cosmopolitan city.  If another beach in the
    Sydney area were designated for nude use, I would have less of a
    problem with it.  (Actually, right about now I'd GLADLY go to Sydney,
    whether or not it had a nude beach!  :-)
    
    I have serious concerns about what the closing of Lady Bay Beach for
    nude use will do to the tour boat industry!  ;-}  (The beach was the
    high point of the tour!)
    
    Jack

Jack,

Sydney has plenty of beaches, both Reef beach and Lady Bay are very small 
and relativly difficult to reach and on the harbour not the ocean. Most of the
problems there are not with the nudists but with other elements of society 
who use the area around the beach for their own purposes.

I suspect that the working group which consists of some nudists and some people
who live near Reef Beach (those who have been complaining about the problems)
have reaches a compromise, move the nudists (and thus the problems) from Reef 
Beach, by allowing nude bathing on other beaches. The nudists are happy, and the
residents are happy. 

If the nudists have to move from Reef Beach and Lady Bay then the Tour Boat 
operators will have to change their route. If the new beaches are on the Ocean 
side that may be a bit difficult.

Personally, I've been going to Birdie Beach lately (see note 21.17) and have no
plans to return to Reef Beach. I've also been able to swim nude in the Lane
Cove River most lunch times, a wonderful way to relax and cool off. You are 
welcome to join me :-)

\Peter.

Subject: from today's Boston Globe

"Limits proposed on Vt. nude beach"

Montpelier -- Westmore officials have had enough of people not wearing enough 
at the town's nude beach on Willoughby Lake.  Sen. Vincent Illuzzi responded to 
concerns by recommending a ban on nude sun bathing in the vicinity of youth 
camps in Vermont.  But after teasing and criticism from colleagues in the 
Legislature for trying to attach the ban to the state's capital construction 
bill, Illuzzi is trying another tack. He has proposed limits on the hours nude 
sunbathing would be allowed at the south end of Willoughby Lake and has asked 
State Police to patrol the beach.  If that fails, Illuzzi said, he will try to 
reintroduce a ban next year.

Fancy of 4 young men turns to skiing in buff at Aspen (Colorado)

By Greg Trinker ... Special to the Denver Post, 11-Apr-1992 issue, reprinted
		    w/o permission

Aspen -- 

Ah, springtime, when a young man's fancy turns to -- nude skiing?

The spring mood was running high on Aspen Mountain the other day when four 
Canadian young men dropped their drawers.

Risking certain sunburn wasn't enough for the crazy visitors.  "They were
doing aerials" off an impromptu ski jump, said Ron Chauner, Aspen Mountain
manager.

Ski patrollers chased down the skiers.  "They had clothes stashed at the 
bottom of the lift," Chauner said.  "They were cooperative.  We stopped
them, had them get dressed and sent them on their way" -- without their
lift tickets, naturally.  No charges will be filed.

Chauner didn't approve of the X-rated run on the PG mountain.  "We have 
families and kids here," he explained.

With only a week left in the season, and temperatures hitting the 60s under
bright blue skies, shorts, T-shirts and bikini tops are blooming all over
Aspen Mountain as locals take over the slopes.

The nude skiers played to a tough local crowd.  An expert skier.  Chauner
wasn't impressed by their jumping.  "They were mediocre at best.  It wasn't
great air," he said.

From the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph earlier this week:

Nudists donate clothes to needy:  At the Elysium Fields nudist camp in 
Topanga, California, they took it all off Saturday -- and gave it away.

Those who dared to go bare in public brought boxes of retired attire 
for a clothing drive at the members-only camp, where tan lines are 
no-nos and about 800 people visit each weekend.

The drive is to benefit victims of the Los Angeles riots sparked by the
acquittals in the Rodney King beating.  Nudist camps nationwide are
running clothing drives this month to benefit their communities.

    This follows on from 187.22, the continuing saga of Reef Beach.

    Much has happened in NSW politics, Nick Greiner was forced to resign as
    Premier, and the attempts to ban nude beaches seemed to have faded,
    then....

    From the Northern Herald 22-Oct-1992 (Abbreviated)

    Since the declaration in October 1976, that Reef Beach and Lady Jane
    beach were unclad beaches, State and local politicians have believed
    that because both beaches are in national parks, they were beyond the
    jurisdiction of local councils.

    However, the Premier, Mr Fahey, said today that the Minister for the
    Environment, Mr. Hartcher, had written to Manly Council "to advise the
    council that legal advise from the Crown Solicitor's office suggests
    that the council has the power to control bathing on all beaches in its
    area.

    The Mayor of Manley, Geoff Smith, thought it strange for it to have
    taken 17 years for this advise to surface.

    Other legal advise suggests that even if the council has the power to
    ban nude bathing its unlikely that a prosecution could success because
    of the established use of the beach.

    If local courts declined to enforce the anti-nude bathing stance of the
    council, the state government has promised to fund a test case in the
    Supreme Court.

    The opposition spokeswoman on the environment, Ms Pam Allan, said any 
    decision to ban nude bathing would be "out of step with community     
    opinion". 

    "The Government and Peter Macdonald know this because his legislation
    would not have the full support of the Parliament and they are too
    afraid to test it," she said. 

         [From Page 3 of the Sydney Morning Herald Monday 4 Jan 1993]

           [Photo showing the backs of 9 nude people at the beach]

                    ALL DRESSED DOWN -- AND NOWHERE TO GO

If you go to Reef Beach next month, take your bathing costume or prepare to be
pinched by Manly Council's nudity police, who are about to go full-time at
State taxpayers' expense.

After more than 16 years as a "free" beach, nude bathing is to be banned from
Feb 1. Those who insist on being naked will be fined $20.

To warn sun lovers, Manly Council beach inspectors have been handing out
notices stating: "It is the intention of the Manly Municipal Council to restore
Reef Beach to the public with respect to the standard of dress."

Any person "not properly and adequately clad" on the beach or in the water will
be liable to prosecution: "Members of the police may remove offending persons
without affecting liability to prosecution."

Manly's Mayor said three officers would soon be employed full-time to keep Reef
Beach covered up.

One nude bather predicting that many people would challenge their fines, said
the spending of public funds had only just begun: "The council will lose in
court and it will be ratepayers' money they will be losing."

          [From the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald 7 Apr 1993]

                 Prosecutors stripped bare by beach laws

    A manly Local Court magistrate revealed a major flaw in the ban on nude
    bathing yesterday. It seems that there isn't one. According to the
    magistrate, Mr Thomas Cleary, the Manly Council cannot succeed in its
    attempt to prosecute about 70 Reef Beach nudists because the ordinance
    it is relying on is inappropriate.

    In court yesterday, Mr Cleary said Section 52 of the 1919 Local
    Government Act referred to swimming costumes which were inadequate,
    indecent, not in "an appropriate state of repair" and made of material
    that was unsuitable or too thin. But it did not refer to an absence of
    swimming costume.

    [followed by more details of legal arguments and comments by various
    politicians. It seems that the governing Liberal party is the only
    party that is against nude bathing, one Democrat has been summonsed for
    nude bathing at Reef beach, and the Labour spokeswoman said that the
    action was farcical]

    Also on the page near by a cartoon showing a woman in a small bikini
    and a policeman, in the first section the policeman says "I could
    arrest you", in the second the woman is nude, and the policeman says
    "That's better".