This is no study or anything, just my brain enjoying thinking about nudism, and I realise this question will have a country by country answer - but that's okay, so please feel free to comment.
Lets face it as a nudist (in all its various forms including naturists etc) we are considered a minority of almost any population. But we also need to consider its because nudism is not a highly visible lifestyle when compared to many other lifestyle and past time choices. Because of this in most any country its almost impossible to ascertain the percentage of the population that embrace nudism, even if only on a part time basis or a desire to 'try'.
So here's my thinking for Australia:
Committed nudists (ie those who are nude most of the time or as soon as they can be) are about 1%
Casual nudists (ie those only nude when the time/mood/moment takes them there) are about 10%
Dabbled nudists (ie those who've done it once/twice or 'only when they were a kid') are about 10%
Curious nudists (ie would like to be but for various reasons aren't) is about another 10%
My conclusion is that around 30% of the adult population here are in one form or another a nudist, or have an underlying nudism part to their thinking.
Replies
- ST
StevieLornaJul 22, 20221% of people can juggle more than two balls.
10% of people can keep at least three plates spinning
35% of people can use an abacus.
This is not a study, I just made it up.
ReactReply - MEMemberOriginal PosterJul 22, 2022
If your reply wasn't so funny I'd probably not appreciate the facetiousness!
Its not a study - I have nothing to do with any work of that nature. It is as I said my brain going over this topic. Why?
Because its related to Questions raised by many others like, should I come out as a nudist at work; clearly if you understand the probability of others being of similar thinking and/or lifestyle it helps you make the decision to come out with work colleagues and let them know you're a nudie!
ReactReply - SA
Stone AndyJul 22, 2022And how do you define a nudist?
Is it someone who has a casual relationship with clothes? Check. Who is unashamed of being seen naked? Check. Who enjoys the social dynamics of being naked with others? Check. Who calls him/herself a nudist and is welcome to and fits in at a nudist resort? Not me.
Where I live in the US Midwest, nudist resorts discriminate against single fathers like me, and there are no sanctioned outdoor public venues. If there's a suitable term for men who aren't coupled with a female nudist chaperone or drawn to groups of naked gay/bi sexually demonstrative men, it certainly isn't nudist.
I'd say less than 1% of the population is willing to get arrested for "indecent exposure" and a good 99% is a shower/bathtub nudist. It's the middle ground which is hard for me to define.ReactReply - MA
MarcusJul 22, 2022I think a better definition is: how many percent of the population are going into a naked spa? how many percent of the population are doing naked holidays? how many percent of the population are members of a nudist/naturist organization? There should be some numbers, we should discuss about proofed statistics not about our phantasy or other observations.
ReactReply - MAMarcusJul 22, 2022[quote]If your reply wasn't so funny I'd probably not appreciate the facetiousness! Its not a study - I have nothing to do with any work of that nature. It is as I said my brain going over this topic. Why? Because its related to Questions raised by many others like, should I come out as a nudist at work; clearly if you understand the probability of others being of similar thinking and/or lifestyle it helps you make the decision to come out with work colleagues and let them know you're a nudie![/quote] This probability you can only answer with scientifically methods. 1. define percents of population in which we are interested (be realistic, do we have numbers of that?) 2. google these numbers 3. discuss the resultsReactReply
- MEMemberOriginal PosterJul 22, 2022
so if somebody is nude 99% of the time, but is so at home and in other completely private settings and is usually on their own - they are not a nudist in your definition?
ReactReply - MAMarcusJul 22, 2022
good point
ReactReply - MAMarcusJul 22, 2022
I checked Google Scholar in the last 30 minutes for the question what percentage of the populationa are nudists. Ok one needs more time to search. It is difficult to find hard numbers. There was one paper which mentioned INF membership as a technique to calculate the percentage of nudists in the population. So for Germany roughly 40,000 members out of a population of 80,000,000.
ReactReply - MEMemberOriginal PosterJul 22, 2022
That's interesting stats. This would need to be extrapolated to also consider the many that are not members. And as you say this would take some real in depth research.
What I can tell you about clubs of many past times, interests and lifestyles is that many have declining numbers, why? The rise of social media allows for people to exchange and interact without fees and political hang-ups of being a member of a club.
Even here in TN if you checked the number of Members from any given country you'd still have to extrapolate for those who are actually from that country but have either not declared that they are or not given a country at all in their profile...all stats need some extrapolation and deeper research hey!
ReactReply - MAMarcusJul 23, 2022[quote]so if somebody is nude 99% of the time, but is so at home and in other completely private settings and is usually on their own - they are not a nudist in your definition?[/quote]
A good question here would be: how many of the population are naked sleepers?ReactReply - MEMemberOriginal PosterJul 23, 2022
Yeah perhaps another way to tackle this.
Having said that all my siblings are happy to let it be known the sleep nude but all three think I am peculiar because I swim nudes, drive nude, hike nude etc... Because they aren't nudies and don't partake in this kind of nude activity...
ReactReply - MAMarcusJul 23, 2022
Yes because they did not self recognize that they are nudists. What falls into the eye is that it is a journey to become a nudist. I started myself also with naked sleeping and naked yoga. If somebody would have asked me if I am a nudist, I would have said: No I am not! It takes some time to realize what you are doing there. But for statistics it gives us an idea how many nudists are may be there. Of course not all who are nude sleeper or go into a spa become nudists. But it gives us an idea how many are at least interested in nudism (without knowing may be). By the way 12.5 % of the german population (Stern magazine) and 17 % of the US population (Men's journal) are sleeping naked.
ReactReply - MEMemberOriginal PosterJul 23, 2022
But my siblings are all in their 50's and been sleeping nude for 30+ years. A very long journey then perhaps or as they say they simply can't sleep in pyjamas?
ReactReply - JO
JohnJul 24, 2022I, too, would like to see some hard data on the subject.
There are so many degrees of nudism that the first thing is to define who are nudists, and what sort.
I see the gradations as:
Non-nudist. Is only comfortable when wearing clothes, even sleepwear, although they bathe in the nude in private. They object strenuously to any proposal for sanctioning nudity in any public area.
Nudist-tolerant. Although not nudists themselves, they see no problem with associating with other people in the nude when circumstances warrant it, such as in a communal shower in a gymnasium. If, when hiking, they encounter a nude person, they take no offense. And they are not likely to disapprove when there's a proposal to turn a certain area into a nude beach or nude park.
Nudist. Is more comfortable not wearing clothes when clothes are not necessary. They sleep in the nude, and are likely to be naked in private. Ironically, some of them object to any sort of social nudism.
Social nudist. Is comfortable being nude with other nude people in a social situation such as a party or a visit to a nude beach or park.
Political nudist. Works to create new spaces and contexts for social nudity, creating clubs and resorts and promoting a citizen's right to be nude as much as possible in public areas. Advocates for people to expose their children to nudism and bring them up in a clothes-free culture, and promotes public spaces such as resorts, clubs, parks, and beaches to accommodate nude children while protecting them from people who might do them harm.
Where the percentages fall is anybody's guess at the moment. I would be surprised if less than one person in a thousand falls into the latter two categories.
ReactReply - SAStone AndyJul 25, 2022
I'd like to add a gradation to Woodsman 21's gradations:
Equality nudist. Works to create equality and non-discrimination in nudist places and groups, recognizing that nudism is only as strong and sustainable as those who practice it. Seeks to promote nudist environments which are safe and respectful to all, not discriminating by gender, income, sexual orientation, age, abilities, race and creed, etc. Rather the focus is defined by codes of conduct which affirm that all people may be sexual by nature and also have the choice to moderate sexualized and objectifying behaviors. Recognizes that nudism draws a diverse array of people who may seek a correspondingly wide array of events (from parties to World Naked Bike Ride), physical venues (public beaches, spas to resorts) and activities (nude yoga, naked barbers and workouts), etc.ReactReply - JOJohnJul 26, 2022
That's a valid point, stoneandy. I would have considered them under the category of "social nudist," with the implication that in their social nudism, they would accept other social nudists as their equal. That's obviously not the case with some social nudists who wish to exclude other people from participation based on some criterion that displeases them, such as being a single male or a male with kids but without the mother present. That wouldn't include those who are there for suspect reasons such as ogling or possibly endangering kids, of course.
ReactReply - MEMemberOriginal PosterJul 27, 2022
I like your definitions. However, in the pursuit of data of any type (and lets face a few of us are interested in this) groupings and definitions need to be simple as most of the population wouldn't read more than a single short sentence to describe perhaps only three or four groups.
ReactReply