I tacked this Editorial comment onto the end of the Festival Nudista Zipolite post, but just in case it got lost within that…

…it’s that time of year when I look to the next year of the blog, and how we keep it fresh, what we add and subtract to it, how we continue to make it readable and interesting.

This blog has always been about genuine naturism, or my definition or interpretation of what makes genuine naturism, i.e. non-sexual and family orientated. The question is…has the time come -without ever thinking that it’s core naturism or without being approving of it- to acknowledge that there are locations around the world where genuine naturism is being ‘tweaked’ or usurped by the swingers and exhibitionists (i.e. Agde/Hedonism/bits of Vera Playa, Spain). I can continue to ignore this aspect of real life ‘naturism’, but am I burying my head in the sand? Has the time come to face the challenges set by the swingers, at least acknowledge their existence, in terms of reporting them, disapprovingly if needs be, in real life and also conflate and confuse what constitutes my vision of naturism as often set in Second Life?

Do I need to face up to the fact that there are many sex sims in SL pretending to be naturist, rise up, speak loudly and maybe even shame them into their hijacking of the word ‘naturist’?

I know there’s a lot more beaches out there in SL purporting to be ‘naturist’ or ‘nudist’ but which are nothing more than locations for SLex. On a personal level, my belief is that we maintain the status quo. Some readers, and some staff members, hold a different viewpoint, suggesting that rather than ignoring them we should report them and bring their devaluing of naturist values out into the open. Any comments will be welcomed. It’s my blog, my vision, but I’m not opposed to offering a viewpoint (which may not reflect the views of the blog in itself, as they often say in magazines) if there’s any sort of support for this. Even if we do decide to offer a slightly different viewpoint on ‘naturism’ in the real and Second worlds, editorial policy, entirely disapproving of these swinging/exhibitionist ‘naturists’, won’t change. But whether we, specifically I, like it or not, I suppose I have to acknowledge that others have a different take on what constitutes naturism. While the blog exists, while I’m an active naturist, I’ll never alter my views on my naturist values. But I’m just one voice. All voices must be heard. All views, as we move into 2018, are welcome.

I’d also be pleased to hear if readers would like to read more articles about a broader, more holistic definition of naturism. For me, my naturism includes things like eating healthily, taking exercise, taking care of the environment and such like. Is there space for us to adopt a bit of an eco-warrior side to the blog? We’ve previously reported on things like ‘Rainbow’ gatherings and even on mens sana in corpore sano (healthy mind in a healthy body) aspects of a much broader naturism -sims that support environmentalism, for example. I’ve one avatar who would love to write for the blog, and her focus is on things like environmental protection and good food (although within this she has also experienced RL naturism). If anyone would like to read stuff about the environment -and sometimes naturism and eco-warrior politics do collide- I’d be pleased to add her to our list of occasional contributors.

Ella