2019.04.25 The Sun
Australians are stripping off amid a growing trend to "promote body positivity through naturism".
And an Instagram account called Get Naked Australia celebrating the naked body has already amassed more than 230,000 followers.
The inadvertent spokesman for the movement is Brendan Jones, a 28-year-old physiotherapist from Sydney.
He founded
Get Naked Australia in 2015 after he started hiking then stripping off at swimming holes.
Brendan put a series of photos of his best moments in the buff into a calendar as a gag Christmas gift for his wife.
He told
news.com.au: "It seemed to get a fair few laughs and then I put it on social media.
"Given the popularity of it, I started Get Naked Australia on Instagram."
Individuals, couples, and groups have joined in the fun, posting photos of themselves on the page.
Brendan explained: "It was then that I realised that the Instagram unintentionally was preaching a huge body positivity message, saying, 'This is me in all my glory!'."
However, they’re not exhibitionists, categorically, he said.
He believes Gen Y are embracing naturism to combat the pressure that they feel after being bombarded by unrealistic perfect #Fitspo body types that come with zero body fat and muscles on muscles on social media.
He said: "As a millennial, there is intense pressure to look a certain way.
"Not just for girls, but for guys, as well. It affects self-esteem.
"Naturism is the great leveller. Being naked around other people and being seen naked is such a confidence builder.
"You realise that generally, people don’t care what you look like and that any fear you have of being seen naked is just all in your head.
"You learn to let go of your fears and inhibitions, and after about 30 seconds it just feels normal."
Now the movement has evolved, and the modern-day naturalists are meeting up in the real world.
That involves everything from barbecues and playing nude cricket; stripping off and sailing naked on yachts; or hiking in the buff to remote beauty spots and having meetups at nudists beaches.
Get Naked Australia also campaigns to clean up naturism and change the long-held perception that nudism belongs to baby boomers with junk in their trunks and dirt on their minds.
Brendan said: "In Europe, when people are naked, no-one blinks an eyelid, however in Australia, the culture can be very wrong.
"I’ve noticed through my dealings with people online over the last two years that there is a severe problem.
"Too many people that call themselves naturists are just involved for their own perversions.
"There are plenty of sexual predators and swingers that use naturism as a way of meeting other people. It’s just wrong.
"Naturism has no sexual undertones at all. Even online, when people post liberating photos of themselves and we get so many comments sexualising the post when that isn’t the photo’s intent at all.
"It needs to change, and people need to see that social nudity can exist without any sexualisation."
Brendan has been instrumental in organising fun meet- ups for his Instagram followers.
He said: "The people who’ve been actively involved with our Instagram page now get together.
"It’s a group of guys and girls of all shapes and sizes. We’re entirely comfortable with each other, and there’s nothing sexual about it.
"We are just mates that like to do fun things together in the nude."
However, don’t expect an invite to an event without proving yourself to be a genuine member of the community.
He explained: "I don’t just let just anybody join us as it too unsafe in the current climate."
His long-term goal is to form safe communities for young people to experience naturism all around the country.
Brendan said: "It’s liberating to have that experience of the elements on your bare skin.
"After all, a body is just a body."
Tourists are
also going naked in Australia, particularly at Booti Booti National Park.
Visitors have flooded Instagram with pictures of their bare bums on camera.
