What the Hell is Nudist Fiction?

Way back in 1912 an unknown writer by the name of Edgar Rice Burroughs began writing a science fiction serial known as The Princess of Mars. That series is also known today as the Barsoom series. The interesting thing about that series is that the main character in that story, John Carter, was somehow transported to Mars where he awakens to find himself nude. He simply notes that condition and moves on. Later on the series it’s noted that all of the characters in the story are nude.

So, what is my point and why do I bring this up?

A few days ago I ran across a Reddit post which I’m now unable to locate that questioned why “nudist fiction” always either promotes the practice – propaganda as the OP put it – or the sexual aspect of it, what he called the titillation factor.

So let me begin by saying I had no idea that “nudist fiction” was a genre. That led me to the obvious question: What the hell is nudist fiction?

What I think he (I assume it was a he) wanted to know is why there was no fiction that simply treated nudity as ’normal'.

From what he has said and what little bit of review I did in preparing to write this article stories that might fall under the genre of nudist fiction takes one of two forms: Stories written to titillate the reader with either sexual innuendo or direct reference to sexual activities under the guise of “nudism”; or, stories written to propagandize (positively or negatively) the practice of social nudism.

On the surface, and what I think that Reddit poster was trying to get at, is that nudist fiction would be fiction that isn’t necessarily centered around the concepts and practices of nudism but may be set in a nudist environment or have characters that are nude. All without any particular focus on the practice of nudity or on the “titillation” factor. But how, exactly, would you do that as a writer?

Think about it. In most stories, one of things you do is describe your characters. Their height, hair color, facial features, clothing, etc. Sometimes those descriptions are germane to the story, sometimes they simply provide a richer experience for the reader; they help the reader to visual the scene. If you do that for a character that is nude, what would you say? If you describe their bodies – breasts, penis, etc – then you’ve moved into the area of titillation. If you omit those descriptions have you omitted pertinent information? Would the reader be able to visualize the scene as easily (and would it really matter in terms of moving the story along?)

Similarly, you could certainly set a story in a nudist environment, but why? Would the story not be viable unless set in that environment? Would the environment itself be central to the story? And, if so, how? Maybe I simply lack imagination, but I have a difficult time envisioning a scenario in which a nudist environment would be integral to the plot line. At least not one that isn’t focused on promoting nudism or titillating the reader in some way.

And, unless you’ve created an entire world in which nudity is the norm, then explaining why your character is nude is imperative in order for the reader to understand the story. Gratuitous nudity doesn’t work. Nudist fiction should, I think, not have gratuitous nudity as such a focus would be, it seems to me, antithetical to the concepts of social nudism. The nudity should have purpose in the story. Or, it should simply be incidental to the story in which case, I suspect, there would be no need to even point out that the character is nude.

Oh, and if you do create that whole world where nudity is the norm, then you should also not need to mention the nudity other than in passing, just as Burroughs did in his series.

As I considered the question further, I also realized that it seems to me that there are only three reasons why an author might choose to have one or more characters nude: Either the nudity is central to the story (and I’m a bit hard-pressed to think of a good example, here); their purpose is to extol the virtues or hazards of nudism; or, they are out to sexualize the experience, titillating the reader. And this all harkens back to the OP’s concern.

One other quick thought before I move on to other things: Like beauty, whether something is propaganda or titillation is more or less in the eye of the beholder. Not everyone will read the words in the same way. So, while the author may not have intended titillation, the mindset of the reader interpreted it that way. And the same is true for propaganda. After all, I really like German Chocolate cake. If I include in a story a character that obsesses over German Chocolate cake am I promoting it or am I simply describing a quirk of the character? Only the reader can ultimately decide.

So I return to the question in the title: What the hell is nudist fiction?

My answer is: It does not exist.