Opinion

Undesignated nudity

I mean, what drives people who would appear to be reasonably normal when clothed to prostrate themselves naked on a beach for inspection by a passing parade of decent people?

Sydney police, you may have read, have just found 80 such naked people at Little Congwong Beach at La Perouse putting themselves on exhibition for 60 clothed and decent people. Police have warned them that next time they're indecent on an undesignated nude beach they'll be booked for offensive conduct and, if they continue to offend, charged with obscene exposure. And police are cracking down on other undesignated nude beaches in Sydney, which has, by the way, three beaches set aside officially for those who feel a compulsion to be publicly naked.

But what about Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, where there are three undesignated nude beaches - Susan Gilmore, Burwood and Dudley - and no designated beaches. The nearest, by the way, is Samurai Beach at Port Stephens, too long a drive to check out the sights.

The nudity on our beaches is of low quality and thus hardly likely to encourage a parade of decent citizens keen to uphold community standards, especially in view of the fact that getting to the beaches is quite a walk, but it does have an offensiveness beyond nakedness. And that's not entirely due to the gruesome grizzliness of our exhibitionists. At Susan Gilmore, for example, it is men spreadeagled on big rocks - being offended by what's on offer here is running the risk of being accused of being homophobic - and at Burwood it's men with a passion for suncream. In, ahem, my fishing expeditions to these beaches I've not been visually assaulted by any nude women.

So what do you see as driving these people to shed their clothes on the beach? Are police assessing community standards fairly? And wouldn't it make life easier for both nudists and decent people if Newcastle and Lake Macquarie had designated nude beaches?

Posted By: Jeff Corbett on 23/02/2010 4:46:00 PM | Comments (25)

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Jeff, the northern end of Dudley beach is a quite a seedy place. If you see a man walking alone towards the north end, always with a backpack he is usually going to join his other nude males. Some walk straight into the bush behind the north end (National Park) and usually some other gross nude male follows. It is a great beach littered with families and surfers. Scattered along the beach watching their masters surf there can be six or so dogs waiting patiently. On the southern end, families gather around the rock pools, playing tennis on the hard sand at low tide. I have seen one incident where a local mature surfer threatened a old nude man at the southern end, he quickly replaced his clothes and moved off. I think the locals only just tolerate them at their seedy northern end. To me it is obviously nude sunbathing by men with homosexual sex thrown in. Does that make me homophobic?

Posted by Buell, 24/02/2010 9:28:23 AM, on The Herald

The meaning of homophobia appears to have changed from fear of homosexuality or homosexuals to disapproval of homosexual sex in public places, and so I'm afraid, Buell, that you are homophobic. Tsk tsk.

Posted by Jeff Corbett on 24/02/2010 9:51:22 AM

Would it have been different if they had big congwongs?

Posted by moron, 24/02/2010 9:38:23 AM, on The Herald

Hey Jeff If you and I both go to the area, get our gear off and parade, we would clear the beach with mass panic in 5 minutes, but you must agree to no touchie-feelies first and no peeking.

Posted by MizJasper, 24/02/2010 10:38:26 AM, on The Herald

I haven't been to one of those beaches in years. I used to go surfing there sometimes but I avoid them like the plague now. I am apparently "homophobic" for a reason and proud of it. Keep your fat bellied, oily, wrinkly, old, nude bodies to yourselves. You do not look good. You look stupid. Put some clothes on. If you had some good looking ladies with you I might forgive you. But you don't and therefore I won't. These same males most likely haunt Braye Park Lookout at night. Getting your gear off can be fun (right place, right time) but flagrant exhibitionism is a different matter. Especially when you are damn gross. Go to the assigned beach and do it. Fine them on a scale according to how painful they are on the eyes!! Maybe get JC to run around naked next to them for a while and they may not come back.

Posted by ffs, 24/02/2010 11:13:17 AM, on The Herald

maybe it;s a slow form of suicide, by exposing more of their body to the sun = a higher chance of skin cancer?????

Posted by leahkf, 24/02/2010 11:17:19 AM, on The Herald

Years ago next to our work place was a home with a shop front and a small general business was conducted by two unmarried sisters.They operated for decades but as the years went on the shop, the business and sisters (in their eighties) became old,frail and deteriorated to the extent that the stock became only a few chocolate bars,sweets and a handfull of newspapers.One sister was so frail she remained in the home while the other sat behind the counter on a stool and took the money from the few customers who served themselves. One morning we went in for the paper to find the elderly lady had fallen from the stool and as we helped her up discovered she was naked from the waist down,she had been having trouble with diarrhoea ,she told us ,and had to be ready to go!

Posted by chaff and oats, 24/02/2010 11:18:50 AM, on The Herald

Geez, chaff and oats, thanks for that!

Posted by Jeff Corbett on 24/02/2010 11:33:04 AM

I've never understood why society finds nudity offensive. Let's face it you're not really going to be shocked by what's underneath my speedos as it's exactly the same as 50% of the population and my partner looks like the other 50%. OK it's not as taut and attractive as thirty years ago but it's still basically the same arrangement of bits. We're not hesitant to get our gear off on our rare visits to Birdie Beach on the central coast. We find being able to sunbake and swim naked rather refreshing and the Mrs likes the lack of any tan lines. In my middle age I'm far more concerned about what hangs over the top of my swimmers than people seeing what's underneath them.

Posted by Brando, 24/02/2010 11:30:06 AM, on The Herald

Jeff visited a nude beach once, but he was just there with some mates and he didn't drop his speedos, eh Jeff? Best to have designated nude beaches with ultra-high opaque walls, so there's no chance of seeing something out of the cast of "Little Britain" wandering along with it all hanging out. As with many things, it seems that those most likely to get their gear off in public, really shouldn't.....

Posted by Scott Hillard, 24/02/2010 11:31:38 AM, on The Herald

Many years ago my brother went to Samurai beach on a surfing weekend and eventually they all ended up nude sunbathing. He got a little too much sun on certain parts of his body that don't usually see the sun (unless you're a state labor pollie and the sun shines from there on a regular basis). To see him try and walk around when he came home was hilarious.

Posted by G, 24/02/2010 12:19:05 PM, on The Herald

As a person with both the same experience and reaction as Jeff when it comes to Newcastle naturism, I cannot tell you how p'd off I was some years ago whern Phil from ABC 1233 did an onsite interview at Bardots, and came across some young, blond female sun lovers. They obviously kept well away from Susan Gilmore. Also it is a blight on the cancer prevention community that even the run of the mill toplessness of female 20somethings that was commonplace in the 70's and 80's is but a distant memory. Think of all that vitamin D that they are now deficient of.

Posted by harold, 24/02/2010 12:38:59 PM, on The Herald

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