The Moral Issue: Naturism, Family and Freedom

egan Sutton is a keen naturist. Her family doesn’t quite understand why.

“I could never go nude in front of anybody who isn’t my partner. It’s a morality issue for me.”

As confident as I am in my choices, including going nude at clothing-optional beaches on a regular basis—and now indeed as part of my ‘job’—that judgement from a family member recently slapped me in the face and stung for several days.

As naturists, we all have our reasons for practising a certain level of nudity, whether it be visiting a nude beach, holidaying at a resort or simply preferring to be naked in our homes. The reasons can vary, but the underlying motivation is usually freedom, body positivity and a general feeling of empowerment.

My husband Matt and I have been visiting nude beaches and resorts for nearly ten years. We enjoy them so much that we’ve even launched a go-to source for reviews and insights on nude beaches around the world. Most people in our lives know this about us. While they may poke some gentle fun, this revelation is generally met with support—and sometimes even envy that we feel confident enough to bare it all. So when we recently informed family members of our endeavour, I was taken aback when our morality was questioned.

Context

For context, I grew up in a small town in central Canada that’s referred to as the country’s ‘Bible Belt’. While the community is very religious, I would say my upbringing was moderately traditional. We attended church regularly and I was an active member of my church community, but none of us were zealots. I have since drifted somewhat from that lifestyle, but I’d like to think the core of who I am still reflects my Christian values, even if in a slightly less traditional sense.

I knew informing my family of our nude project might be met with some scepticism, but nothing could have prepared me for such a stark statement that, to all intents and purposes, seemed to question my morality.

The family member in question went on to explain that she feels that, by showing her naked body to anyone but her husband, she would in a way feel she was cheating on him. I wasn’t raised to feel shame about my body, clothed or not, but suddenly I was confronted with the possibility of feeling guilty about my husband’s and my beach-going choices.

That guilt even made me hesitate when I first offered to contribute to this magazine. I was asked early on by several people if I was comfortable using my real name, accompanied by naked images of myself. I was tempted to use a pen name and not send in the pictures, but this raised the question: why am I so comfortable being naked in person, while still feeling some uncertainty about having my identity publicly linked with naturism? Was the underlying religious guilt that my family member felt still rooted somewhere inside me?

Natural

I’ll admit that, when I first visited a nude beach, I didn’t think there was any chance I would participate so wholeheartedly in public nudity. Very quickly, I learned that being undressed is probably only the fourth or fifth great thing about nude beaches. Higher on my list are the beauty of these normally off-the-beaten-track beaches and the welcoming community of people. Being nude just feels natural—perhaps because it is—and I quickly became more comfortable naked.

In North America in particular, there is still a stigma surrounding nude beaches and how ‘sexual’ or even ‘dangerous’ they might be. In fact, I find myself feeling sexier or more provocative in a tiny string bikini on a clothed beach. From what I understand, Europe has a far more accepting attitude towards nude beaches: they’re a regular part of growing up in many countries, even those with deep roots in Catholicism, such as Italy, Portugal and Spain. So is it simply the historical roots of naturism that have normalised nude beaches across the pond from us? What will it take for North America to follow suit?

Hope

Helen Berriman’s article in the November issue of H&E was a beacon of hope for me, as well as being a lovely tribute to her mother. While I haven’t recovered enough from my initial conversation with my family to show them my writing in this publication, I can only hope that, one day, I will experience the same support Helen did from her very understanding mother.

While that conversation with my family made me pause, it hasn’t changed my view on visiting nude beaches or contributing to the naturist media. I won’t be letting anyone else’s discomfort dictate my choices.

My husband and I find peace, freedom and joy in our naturist experiences, and I refuse to feel shame for something that feels so inherently right. Though my family may never join us, I would like to think that we can have a productive conversation about the reasons behind their discomfort and that, in the not-too-distant future, I can help them appreciate how shortsighted it is to judge something as simple as living life the way we were born: nude.

© H&E Naturist 2025

‍Megan Sutton is the co-founder of the naturist guide www.nudebeachmap.com.

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