There was a time when skinny-dipping among males was a common practice in America. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, men and boys would think nothing of swimming naked, whether in rural lakes or rivers or in male-only institutions like the YMCA. Even President John Quincy Adams, no libertine, was known for taking a nude dip on the Potomac River during his term of office.
Unfortunately, this idyll ended after the mid-20th century, when the rise of co-ed beaches and swimming pools led to new restrictions on public nudity. Furthermore, according to naturist author R. E. Smith, “men and boys, who were always more fond of nudity outdoors than women, developed low self esteem about their bodies. This led YMCAs and colleges to redesign pools and gyms so that it was impossible to be nude without being seen by a lot of onlookers. Americans nowadays, even daring young people and even gay people, are sorely afraid of nudity.”
Today, nude swimming and bathing in the USA is limited for the most part to private pools, nude beaches, and a small number of out of the way places.
If anyone knows what it is like to skinny dip, it’s naturist author R. E. Smith: “No aspect of our lives involves more ambiguity than our own nakedness,” he notes. Still, “with all of its ambiguity, being naked outdoors is a memorable experience. Few men can resist referring fleetingly to a time in their youths when they went ‘skinny-dipping.'”
Continue reading “Erotic Tales of Skinny Dipping”…
Related articles
- Greece’s Beaches for Nude Lovers (greece.greekreporter.com)
- naked bathers set a new world skinny-dipping record (thesun.co.uk)
- Canadian nudists part of world’s largest skinny-dip (sunnewsnetwork.ca)
Talk to me baby