Like any family campground, there are children present. One thing I need to make clear: Bare Oaks is a family park, not a party zone. There are a lot of couples, many families, and quite a few single people. There are people of all ages, about the same amount of men and women. When you walk around, you can see people tanning, reading, barbecuing, socializing, swimming, walking the dog – and just about anything else you see in any campground. Some people come up for the day, some can stay for weeks, and some live there permanently. Inside the park there is a pool, a volleyball court, a restaurant called “Bare Bistro,” camping grounds for rent, a variety store, a pond to jump in, a garden and a trailer community. You quickly learn that clothing is only used as a tool. Many of the park’s visitors love to swim and said repeatedly they couldn’t understand how anyone would want to wear a wet soggy bathing suit while swimming. In that time I noticed that people embraced nature in a way that most of us just can’t.įor instance, many embraced jogging or daily hikes, relishing in the gentle breezes of the woods. I was lucky enough to be given access to this campground for several days. Even the workers at the front desk when you arrive are naked. It is hard to trust someone who is wearing clothing among a group of people who are willing to bare it all. In other words, this was not a clothing optional campground - if you are uncomfortable being nude, you will be asked to leave.
Inside the naturist community at Bare Oaks, clothing is only used for protection, whether it be from the cold or from work that might injure your body, but most of the time you would never see a naturist in clothing unless they left the park and went into the general public. The International Federation of Naturism defines the term as “a way of life in harmony with nature, characterized by the practice of communal nudity, with the intention of encouraging respect for oneself, respect for others and respect for the environment.” But, she added, “In the next few years, we may grow from that.Most people might be familiar with the ideas of naturism or nudism. “There is the whole thing of being confident in the fact you worked hard to get that body and you go to the gym and you eat healthy and do certain things,” she said. Julianne Hough, a host of Miss USA 2016, told USA Today that she understood the resistance to the swimsuit portion of the pageant, but defended the segment as being similar to going to the beach. “Our hope is that this decision will help all of Miss Teen USA’s fans recognize these young women for the strong, inspiring individuals they are.” “This decision reflects an important cultural shift we’re all celebrating that empowers women who lead active, purposeful lives and encourage those in their communities to do the same,” she wrote. Paula Shugart, the president of the Miss Universe Organization, said in a letter to state directors this week that the pageant was “committed to continuing to evolve in ways that celebrate women’s strength, confidence and beauty for years to come.” Martin, an author, wrote the same year “They’re outdated and restrictive and perpetuate a damaging link between real world success and a woman’s capacity to cultivate a very specific, stereotypical definition of beauty.” “Beauty pageants should go the way of the corset,” Courtney E. “Although pageant officials and contestants emphasize scholarships, talents and platform issues and repackage the swimsuit competition as the ‘lifestyle and fitness’ category, their rhetoric rings hollow,” Blain Roberts, a historian, wrote in 2013.
In recent years, organizers have sought to focus on the offstage lives of the women and girls, pushing their accomplishments and charity work, but criticism remains steady. It’s part of a continuing effort to distance the pageants from their roots: a competition based entirely on the contestants’ appearance. Whether through swimsuits or athletic wear, the aim is to “celebrate being healthy, and being in shape and being comfortable in your own skin,” he added. Replacing the teenagers’ swimsuits with athletic wear - which he defined as clothes the contestants might wear to the gym or yoga class - should not be seen as “anti-swimsuit,” he said.