NNEAR does this because of the growing (and alarming) trend in US culture to sexualize, objectify, and body shame the human body.

Gymnophobia (the fear of nudity) for many has risen to the point that it now interferes with attending to common hygiene practices and receiving needed medical attention. Most have come to believe that the only acceptable nudity is that used to sexually excite or to sell products, thus rendering the naked human body as only a sexual object, unfit to be seen outside of that context.

With this, an unrealistic and unobtainable fantasy physical appearance of the body has been crafted and used as a tool to sell products and services with the promise that this image is achievable if you only spend enough. As this false image becomes more and more desirable and accepted as the ideal, many have come to hate their physical appearance because they cannot possibly measure up.

Casual nudity was once far more common in the US and unrealistic and unobtainable physical appearance was less of a problem. NNEAR's mission is to work toward returning our society to a place of greater acceptance of all human beings regardless of physical appearance.

NNEAR believes this is best accomplished by encouraging a realistic view and understanding of the human body, something that can only be achieved if it once again becomes common to to see average human beings naked in everyday venues.

No, simple nudity is not inherently sexual, that is a learned response. Oh, make no mistake, we've learned it well, but we can unlearn it. Throughout history cultural conditioning has labeled many different parts of the human body as inherently sexual.

There was a time, not too long ago in the US where a bare leg or arm was seen as inherently sexual. We laugh at this now but it demonstrates the point. Even today in the world you see everything from cultures that require full coverings from head to toe to cultures where total nudity is commonplace. In all instances, in each culture, it is only those parts of the body that are required to be covered that are seen as inherently sexual.

For that, you have to ask the people who live naked or enjoy time spent being naked with other like-minded people, and no, we are not talking about those who get naked for the express purpose of sexual gratification. Those people have never really unlearned the lessons of their youth and still see the naked body only as a sexual object.

I'm talking about those who have found that you can separate nudity from sex and that there is tremendous fulfillment and joy in simply not wearing clothes when you don't need to. The benefits of taking part in a family-friendly social nude gathering are manifold AND well-documented. As we expand our Resources page we will include many references validating this but until then just look for it with an open mind, it's easy to find.

Here is one of the best answers to this question we've seen from a posting found on Quora:

“Allow me to try to argue the alternative: Nudism isn’t healthy. People should be ashamed, embarrassed, and afraid to be and look as God made them. God must hate us to have made us this way.

Nor should we tolerate or respect what other people look like. Especially if they’re overweight, of a different race, too old or too young, or just plain ugly. People like that should be forced to cover themselves up at all times so that we don’t have to look at them.

Young attractive people deserve to be sexually harassed and assaulted if they’re not sufficiently covered up. Them not covering themselves up enough causes others to be uncontrollably sexually irresponsible. So, they have it coming to them.

We should fight our children’s natural instinct to be free of the restriction of clothing and to want to feel the sun, wind, and water unbroken across their bodies. Sensuality and feeling good about yourself is sexual and we rightly should be screwed up about how we view our genders and sexuality.

We must condition ourselves to be totally compulsive about being dressed so we stay dressed even when we’re alone in the privacy of our own homes, so we can never be comfortable bathing if others are around, so we’ll properly fear going to a doctor because we don’t want them to see our bodies, and so we feel appropriately insecure about ourselves and our bodies around our families, with our friends, and in our intimate relationships.

Yuck! How about instead we just realize that what people call “nudism” really is just how we’d be and feel by default if we weren’t so screwed up otherwise.”

A common concern we hear aired is “Surely you can’t be in favor of children seeing adults naked are you?”. This is usually said in earnest by well-meaning people who haven’t really thought through what they’re saying. This is a subject that has been studied many times, and the results of such studies consistently find that contrary to being harmful for children to see nude adults in non-sexualized settings it is often quite beneficial.

This is due to the unfortunate fact that most adults have difficulty being open and honest with children about human physiology, especially in the changes that are going to occur to their bodies as they mature. There are many adults that even later in life have never had a real understanding of what average human bodies look like.

This leads to all kinds of misunderstandings, feelings of isolation and inadequacy, body shame, and gymnophobia. This can become such a problem that people cannot properly care for themselves in personal hygiene, healthcare, and knowledge about the body.

Children who are routinely allowed to view nude humans of all ages come to a natural understanding about human physiology. By simple observation they can see what happens before, during and after puberty. They learn about the wide variety of human shapes and sizes, the many ways that human bodies can be impacted by personal choice, pregnancy, injury, deformities, illness, and aging. Commonly held myths about human appearance are easily dispelled.

Much greater self-acceptance and acceptance of others is often the result of being raised in this manner. Without a doubt a more realistic understanding of human physiology is a certainty. Another common outcome is less curiosity about sexual matters, both because the development of sexual organs is readily apparent, and because parents who are more comfortable with their bodies are usually more open about honest dialogue with children concerning sexual matters.

An added benefit is that family-oriented social nudity gatherings are some of the safest children’s environments we have ever seen. Those who practice non-prurient social nudity have no tolerance of anyone who acts improperly toward children. It is routine that children are under close supervision by all the adults present at family friendly social nudity events and any improper behavior is promptly dealt with.

So, do your children a favor and introduce them to social nudity as they grow up, the benefits will be greater than you can believe possible for both you and them.