In 2015, The Naturist Education Foundation (NEF), a nonprofit informational and educational adjunct to The Naturist Society, commissioned multiple opinion surveys to test the responses of U.S. adults to questions about body acceptance, recreation, and personal freedoms. Surveys were taken to gauge National opinions on these matters as well as the opinions of California, New York, and Florida residents. The results of each survey show overwhelming public support for these activities. The results of the surveys are posted on the Naturist Education Foundation website.
"Nudity is a taboo in America because we primarily equate nudity or nakedness with sexuality and we have taboos about sexuality," said Matthew Westra, a psychology professor at Longview Community College in Missouri, in the National Geographic Channel documentary Taboo: Extreme Living. "A lot of it has to do, I think, with the Puritan and Victorian heritage that we have, which says that any kind of temptation will lead you into hell."
But naturists argue that, as a part of the taxpaying community, some public space should be set aside for them. A recent national Roper poll, one of the two largest independent polling companies in the U.S., said 80 percent of the U.S. public agrees that it is okay to have a nude beach, as long as it is marked by a sign. 25 percent of adults polled said they'd gone skinny-dipping in mixed company at least once in their life.
"Naturists do not divide neatly down political boundaries," said Bob Morton, the executive director of the Naturist Action Committee (NAC), based in Austin, Texas. "No true conservative would suggest compromising civil liberties, so it's not a conservative-versus-liberal issue. Naturists span the entire political spectrum."
More Reading
https://naturisteducation.org/wp-content/uploads/library/newsletters/2023_12.pdf
https://www.aanr.com/aanr_articles/the-changing-complexion-of-nudism-in-north-america/
