Are Nudism and Naturism the same thing or there is a difference?
This is not so easy to answer. Nudist/Naturist community is debating this for ages. I will not even try to give the ultimate answer to that. Instead i will give my opinion. Being Naturist/Nudist since 2012 and I still can´t define the exact border between that. Both nudist and naturist obviously enjoys being naked and that is the biggest characteristic of that lifestyle. So, what are the differences if being naked is a common thing?
Naturism
I decided to start with Naturism as I prefer to think about myself as a Naturist instead of Nudist.
The term Naturist is in fact older that the term Nudist. The first known use of the word Naturist was in 1891. in India. There was a club opened for the British colonists to practise social nudity. The club was called The fellowship of the naked trust and their motto was Let Nature Win.
The International Naturist Federation has the definition of naturism: “A way of life in harmony with nature characterised by the practice of communal nudity, with the intention of encouraging self-respect, respect for others and for the environment.”
I agree to that. In my opinion Naturists enjoy spending time in nature, they are spiritual, they treat they body as their temple and are attracted to the healthy lifestyle.
Nudism
The term itself dates from 1929. when it was used in Time Magazine in a story about Freikörperkultur (FKK) movement.
As enjoying being naked is a common thing in both Naturism and Nudism, I believe that Nudist are not so spiritual and are less with nature. They simply just love being naked so they visit beaches and other places where they can practice social nudity.
To sum it up, Naturism and Nudism are not the same thing even though they have the biggest characteristic – being naked – in common.
I prefer to think about myself as an Naturist – being naked gives me the freedom that helps me to become one with the nature.
People ask me if it is a nudist or naturist beach I go to in Oslo. I tell them that it is a naked beach.
That is a great answer! To be honest I don´t remember that I have ever saw a sign “Naturist beach”. It is always “Nudist beach” or just “FKK”. So, naked beach is a great description – it is both for nudists and naturists. But there are several camps I know that have “naturist” instead of “nudist” in their name – but they really are more into nature and healthy lifestyle than the regular nudist camps.