Saturday, March 5, 2011

Naturalists: the naked truth


I was googling things related to Canadian naturalists lately, seeing if there are any websites discussing our journal that I should be aware of.  I stumbled across a link for The Federation of Canadian Naturists (FCN).  I was surprised and excited: how could there be a federation of Canadian naturalists that I wasn’t aware of?  So I clicked the link.

And then I found out that there is a difference between "naturist" and "naturalist."  The FCN main website defines naturism as: “Naturism involves the practice of complete nudity in a communal setting. It promotes wholesomeness and stability of the human body, mind, and spirit, especially through contact of the body with the natural elements.  Yup – they’re nudists.  I must officially be a natural history nerd because when the FCN website came up with its images of nude people rather than insects or plants, I was disappointed.

I have no problem with nudism/naturism, I just don’t think naturism would mesh well with naturalism.  Just imagine: poison ivy ... everywhere!