Naturist News from Italy

As promised, here is an overview of what I read in the latest issue of Info Naturista, the magazine of the Italian naturist association Fenait. Top  man Gianfranco Ribolzi returns to the old debate of naturism vs. nudism, are both different, how are they different, and can they coexist in the same organization. Naturists follow a philosophy, nudists just take off their clothes, is the usual explanation for the difference. 'The nudist gets nude to get a tan, the naturist gets a tan because he is nude,' is a quote from Ribolzi I will use again.
Fenait participates in international travel fairs each year where local naturist groups already have a stand, Utrecht and Brussels for example. The group says it distributed more than 500 flyers at those events as well as thousands of copies of its magazine. Do travel fairs outside of Europe also feature or even allow naturist associations to participate?
I already discussed the article about tattoos and piercings in my previous posting on this blog. The magazine continues with news from the local and regional naturist groups in Italy. Interesting to know: the Venice region might have a naturist beach at Jesolo, near the Laguna del Mort. According to the magazine, talks were going on earlier this year between Jesolo's city government and naturists, and optimism was the predominant tone of the talks. Naturism is apparently allowed, but the beach is not reserved for naturists only.
The Jesolo beach web site is here.
Other naturist activities include of course naturist hours at swimming pools and saunas, a frequent elements of naturism around the world, as well as beach-cleaning operations. Naturist groups also have stands at exhibitions on environmental and tourism themes.
As usual, Info Naturista ends with a bit of tourism and history, this time introducing the history of Turin with pictures of its churches and palaces.

World Congress of Naturists (2)

The opening of the International Naturist Federation's 32nd World Congress at the Calabrian camping of Pizzo Greco is just hours away.

Asianaturist will not be there, but we thought it interesting to see what kind of topics such a congress discusses. Apart from obvious elections of top officials and changes in the rules which only member organizations care about, there will also be a series of roundtable discussions hosted by members of the Italian naturist federation, Fenait.

Most of the topics feature the relationship between naturism on the one hand, and ecologism or "non-naturist" nudity on the other hand. Since naturism was founded a long time ago mainly as a health movement, and as a movement of going back to nature amid rapid industrial development, it is only normal for naturism today to reflect on its relationship with the new version of that concern, now titled of course ecologism or environmentalism.

The first roundtable at Pizzo Greco deals with naturism and vegetarianism. Fenait magazine Info Naturista says the group will not take a stance in favor of against vegetarianism, it will only elaborate on the links of naturism with the food movement. Personally, I don't think there should be a link. Naturism and vegetarianism are two separate ideas, and can be linked by individuals, but should become automatic or compulsory. A naturist movement that insists on vegetarianism will lose a lot of support without gaining much on the other side.

A second roundtable deals with the wider conflict between what Fenait calls "ethical naturism" and commercial naturism. The former was the idea of the founding members of the movement: going to live in the middle of nature, in what people today still call "naturist camps," with a simple lifestyle in harmony with nature. The latter is the form of naturism that dominates today: the operation of large or at least comfortable naturist resorts, where one can enjoy all the comforts of modern society, such as buffet lunches, large swimming pools, sauna, supermarket, Internet connections. The discussion will also emphasize ethical naturism as a lifestyle, i.e. it means naturism and nudity is not something just for the holidays, it continues back at home, away from the resorts. The discussion will seek an answer to the question of what today's naturists want the most. One of the topics to come up is the falling numbers of members in naturist associations: people go on holiday to resorts and hotels, but do not join associations that would allow them to live the naturist life outside of the holidays. In that light, the difference between naturists and nudists will also be discussed, with the latter being seen as more superficial, just being nude without any further philosophical dimension.

Naturism and ecology is the theme of the third roundtable. The link is logical, since the early naturists emphasized respect for nature, flora and fauna, in particular at naturist club areas. The discussion also wants to bring the naturist movement closer to the environmentalist movement.

A final roundtable handles the different perceptions of naturism and being nude in the eyes of men and women. Recruiting enough women to naturism has always been a problem. Often the male partner will first join out of interest, the female partner will be either inimical or indifferent, and only make her move later. The purpose of the roundtable, Fenait says, is to provide arguments against those in Italy and elsewhere who think naturism is not suitable for men, women and children.

Since the World Congress starts today, I expect to report more and also to find reports in the international media I can refer to in my next postings. Too bad I can't be there myself.

Italy 2009

The latest edition of the Italian naturist magazine Info Naturista www.infonaturista.org, the official publication of the Italian Naturist Federation www.fenait.org tumbled into my mailbox again recently.
The opening editorial seems to do away with the classic differentiation between naturists and nudists, where the former are often environmentalists, vegetarians, peace activists, followers of natural medicine opposed to consumerism and alcohol, and the latter are just people who take their clothes off but keep all their other vices intact.
The difference doesn't matter, the editorial says, as long as all followers respect their bodies, each other, and the environment. The main expression of naturism is nudism, the article says.
The latest issue of the magazine has general writings of a philosophical nature as well as straightforward holiday reports - such as one bilingual English-Italian report about the Vritomartis resort on the less-frequent southern coast of Crete. The naturist hotel has no fewer than six - 6! - beaches in the neighborhood where naturism is the norm. You can find more information at www.vritomartis.gr, even though that part of the world will be mostly considered too remote for us residents of Asia. Pont Rouge in the Canadian province of Quebec might be a more likely destination.
The magazine concludes with the reviews of the activities of Italy's regional naturist organizations, including the everlasting campaign to keep the Lido di Dante beach near the historic town of Ravenna in nudist hands. There is also an extensive review of the naturist resort Le Betulle near Turin, which is run by the head of Italian naturism himself, Gianfranco Ribolzi.
If only Asia could have such naturist resorts and beaches, and such naturist magazines.