"Malcolm is what we would call an 'extreme naturist,'" Stephane Deschenes, president of The Federation of Canadian Naturists and my tour guide for the day, informs me on the way over to The Nudist Store, which is located in a suburban area just north of Toronto.
"Malcolm likes to be naked whenever he can." Even while running his store.
Yes, it was distracting chatting with him about the various travel videos, sunscreen and, um, T-shirts (?) he carries in the store while he was starkers behind the counter. Yes, I had to stop myself from looking down. "What am I, seven?" I thought.
"It's just socialization," Malcolm and Stephane reassure me.
"There is no reason to wear clothes," says Malcolm. "If it gets cold, or if the sun is burning me, I cover up, but otherwise, there is simply no reason."
"But I like wearing clothes," I retort. "I have nothing against nudity (except maybe when I'm trying to conduct a serious interview) but clothes are an expression of who I am. And, besides, I like to keep the nudie bits for those special people I choose to get intimate with."
"The parts we keep to ourselves are arbitrary," responds Stephane. "My lips are far more involved in the sexual act than other parts. I'm sure if we started hiding lips from a young age they would become very enticing."
To further make his point, Stephane reminds me that the smart little sundress I'm wearing would have been shockingly revealing 100 years ago. In fact, he says, the whole modern naturism movement started early last century in Germany as a reaction to Victorian prudishness. Now, the Federation of Canadian Naturists boasts 3,000 members, with naturists clubs all over the world.
The biggest misconception about it, says Stephane, is that it has anything to do with sex. "People think nudity equals sex, but it's just not the case," he says. "The reality of sexual arousal is much more complex; it's about a look, an idea, a thought." But that doesn't stop people from making the connection.
"Men come in here and ask where the hot tub is," says Malcolm. "People think that we talk a good non-sexual game but behind closed doors it's all orgies, all the time. It's just not."
Overt sexuality isn’t tolerated in most naturist clubs. On the drive to Glen Echo Park, where Stephane comes most weekends with his wife and two small children, he tells me of a time when a guy planted himself on the lakefront facing the beach crowd and proudly raised his, um, flag for all to see. He was asked to leave.
The story did lead to the obvious question. "It's the number one concern among men the first time they come," he responds, "but it needn't be. Number one, as men know, you don't get an erection when you're nervous and most men are nervous when they come here for the first time." Besides, he adds, even if it happens, which is perfectly natural once in a while, the water's nearby and it's pretty cold.
Glen Echo, Stephane tells me, has been around since 1955 when members drove in with their license plates covered. Back then it was called the Toronto Gymnosophical Society, a coy reference to a sector of ancient Greek society called Gymnosophists who liked to exercise in the nude. The TGS sign still hangs at the gate.
After a tour of the grounds, Stephane convinced me to go for a swim. I'm a sucker for a skinny dip in a freshwater pond, though admittedly usually under a veil of moonlight. But it was mid-week and things were quiet; couples were lunching at picnic tables and elderly men and women were lounging around in various states of undress. I decided to go for it.
I have to admit, it felt great. There is nothing quite like swimming naked, feeling the water slither along your body. We swam for a while and chatted some more.
Stephane said that, oddly enough, people with perfect bodies often feel more pressure in a place like this. We tried to determine whether this would be a self-imposed ego thing or because perfect bodies are more sexualized in our society. He told me how happy some of the older women are here and how good that makes him feel.
Still, after a stroll around the pond to dry off, during which I started to feel like Stephane was waiting for me to see the light and become a born-again nudie, I was happy to get my clothes back on.
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