As naturism is such a core part of our lives, indoors and out at home and publicly on holiday, I don’t generally think about it in terms of ‘home’ at all. It’s just something that I/we do.

But I was speaking to an avatar recently who said that part of the attraction SL naturism is that it allows him to practice naturism by default. Either that or what he called ‘home naturism’ or ‘closet naturism’, sometimes together.

Living in an apartment block, hundreds of miles from the sea and lacking the self – confidence to go nude in public, the gentleman in question who lives alone confess his naturist activities to coming home from work, drawing the curtains, stripping off (if the weather’s warm enough) and logging into SL. He was well-versed on SLN too!

I did some research and found that there appears to be many ‘home naturists’ out there for, whatever reason, can’t experience the real thing. That’s disappointing. As a community we need to do some outreach to these people and increase naturist visibility around the globe.

I joined Jack at his apartment at the Blue Lagoon Naturist Estate, and asked him about his real life naturist situation while he fixed us a pot of tea.

‘I think there’s a lot of people like me’, he told me, ‘who can’t for various reasons enjoy naturism for real. So I feel like I have a naturist spirit without having been able to experience it for myself’.

I assured him that this doesn’t diminish the bit of naturism he does experience, the simple pleasure of moving around nude, even within his own home. It remains a legitimate naturist experience, even if it’s not done socially or communally. Jack told me he’d met some really nice fellow travellers within the context of SL naturism, some with the same circumstances as myself.

I know when speaking to people in real life, and inworld, another familiar tale is that of the reluctant partner. Again, that’s something the naturist community needs to examine. In these cases the male partner (usually the male partner) is keen to try it but his wife/girlfriend is against the idea for reasons of her own body insecurities. I don’t wish to make that sentence sound like I’m down on the females, far from it. I recognise their concerns. What I would be down on is the media who constantly perpetuate the beauty myth and reinforce women’s body anxieties.

Jack doesn’t have a partner in RL, but I know of another SL avatar who is married and who faced the same problems in his RL domestic situation. He was keen, his wife set against the idea. She was too old. Her boobs were too saggy. She had a caesarean scar. Holidays involved a full one-piece swimming costume. He invited her to join him in SL and she eventually became an SL naturist. While full nudity in RL remains off the agenda (for now?) she has become well-versed, via SL, in the real life version of naturism and etiquette and they went on a clothing optional holiday three or four years ago. He was able to go nude, and thus experience naturism first hand, while his wife would cover up with a sarong. And on the privacy of their apartment balcony, she now sunbathes nude or topless. So SL naturism could possibly be playing a role in introducing virtual or home naturists to the real thing in due course. Who knows?

Nina : now more body confident after speaking with SL naturists and then carrying what she’d learned into real life.

When we get home, and the weather is clement enough, we’ll strip at home as unconsciously as some textile readers might change from workwear or a business suit the instant they’re home. At this time of year, a comfy pair of track bottoms and a jogging top might be the order of the day. In summer, we’re naked at home, potentially on a 24/7 basis.

Anything that can be done at home clothed can be done naked. So if your domestic situation is such that real life naturism is currently off the agenda, remember that home naturism, or closet naturism, is an equally valid naturist experience.

Ella