Yes, We’re Going There: Let’s Talk About Genitals in Naturism

We didn’t expect our article about “liking boobs” to stir up quite so many feelings, or private messages, but apparently, the world needed a little real talk about breasts. Fair enough.
But now we’ve reached that awkward, inevitable next step: the downstairs department.
Yes. Lets talk about Genitals in Naturism.
Penises and vulvas.
The bits that even naturists don’t always know how to talk about without suddenly needing a snack or pretending they got a text.
But here’s the thing: they’re not a taboo in naturism. They’re just there. And if you’re going to spend time in a place where clothes aren’t involved, you’re going to see them. So let’s talk about it honestly, with some respect… and a few laughs.
Because, frankly, genitals are funny looking.
The Genital Gap: One Hangs, One Hides
Let’s start with the obvious. Penises and vulvas may both be genitals, but they sure don’t show up to the party the same way.
Men? Well, there it is. No matter what size, shape, or angle, it’s just… present. Dangling like it’s waiting for applause. There’s no subtle version of a penis. It’s kind of like a garden hose that forgot what it was supposed to be doing.
Meanwhile, women like Corin are over here crossing their legs, tucking towels, or strategically placing a book over their lap. And not to read it.
It’s not shame. It’s just that being that visible feels weird to her when society’s been yelling “close your legs!” since kindergarten.
Even in naturist settings, there’s a subtle pressure for women to keep things tucked, folded, or generally modest.
While men lounge like it’s happy hour at the breeze bar.

Genitals: Not Quite Fan Favorites
Here’s where we get brutally honest.
Genitals? They just don’t inspire the same cultural adoration as boobs.
Once you’ve seen a few dozen genitals, you’re kind of good. They stop being mysterious and start being… oddly utilitarian.
Like, “Oh yep, there’s another one. Neat. Moving on.”
But breasts? For whatever reason, you could see a hundred, and still find yourself thinking, Hmm. Wonder what that next pair looks like.
They’re like snowflakes… unique, inviting, and somehow endlessly fascinating.
Penises and vulvas, meanwhile, are more like IKEA parts: necessary, functional, sometimes hard to identify without a manual, and not something you show off in the living room.
Erections Happen (Don’t Make It Weird)
We have written about this before in A Naturist’s Guide to One of Men’s Most Common (and Overblown) Fears.
Look… we’re adults. Erections happen. Usually not because someone’s aroused. Sometimes it’s nerves, a breeze, a memory about a juicy burger… bodies are weird, and we aren’t that complicated.
But ethical naturism has an unspoken rulebook: If things start pointing north, you politely roll over, grab a towel, or take a little walk of reflection. No one needs to salute the sun. This isn’t a sundial contest.
Most guys get this. And if they don’t, they learn quickly… or they’re shown the door.
There’s a big difference between being nude and being inappropriate. Naturism makes you more aware of your behavior, not less. It’s not about suppressing biology; it’s about knowing when to take it offline.

Vulvas: Mysterious, Misunderstood, and Frequently Judged
Vulvas, unlike penises, don’t just hang out. They tend to be more subtle, more complex, and somehow more controversial.
Why? Because society’s expectations are ridiculous.
There’s pressure to be smooth but not too smooth. Tidy, but “natural.” Discreet, but symmetrical. And god forbid your labia show up in public looking like… well, labia. Vulvas get less air time, and when they do show up, it’s often in ridiculous, idealized form. That makes a lot of women nervous. Am I normal? Am I too visible? Is there a required grooming policy I didn’t know about?
But in naturism, you start to see what real looks like.
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t look like porn. It looks like people.
And that can be incredibly healing once women get past the part where they’re expected to fold themselves into a napkin just to avoid judgment.
Corin puts it perfectly… “Men let it all hang out, and we’re over here folding our legs like origami trying not to look too open for business.”
And she’s not wrong. If a woman sits with her knees apart in the same casual way a man does, eyebrows go up. Whispers start. Society short-circuits. “She’s sitting like a man!”
No. She’s sitting like someone with legs and a spine who didn’t want to cramp up.
Let women sit how they want. It’s a body, not a billboard.
Not the Center of Attention (Anymore)
Let’s be honest. We all look.
At first, anyway.
You step into a naturist space for the first time and BOOM! It’s like walking onto another planet. The rules are different. The outfits are missing. And suddenly, there are penises and vulvas just… existing in the wild. Not in a magazine. Not in a browser tab. But attached to real people buying smoothies, playing pétanque, and reading books.
And yes… you compare. We did. You probably will too.
You look around and ask yourself quietly, “Is mine okay?”,“Is that what they usually look like?”,“Do other people have that same flap, fold, freckle… or unexpected hanging direction?”
And here’s the beautiful part. This is where the healing starts.
Because you start to see just how real real is.
This isn’t airbrushed, curated, filtered nudity. This isn’t gym-lighting, fake tan, perfectly waxed, porn-industry nudity. This is human nudity. And in its honest variety… the bumps, the sagging, the asymmetries, the scars… you start to feel something unexpected. Relief!
You’re not broken. You’re not the odd one out. You’re just like everyone else. Delightfully imperfect!
And once the novelty wears off, the comparisons stop. Genitals, breasts, bellies, body hair. All of it starts to fade into the background. Not because you’ve gone blind to it, but because your brain finally stops screaming “OH GOD LOOK” every time someone walks by.
Eventually, genitals just aren’t interesting anymore. They’re not the main characters in the story. They’re just… background characters. Like elbows. Or feet. OK… maybe not boobs!
You start to notice and remember people by their kindness, their energy, their jokes, the way they handed you a drink on a hot day. Not by the shape of their bits.
And that, honestly, is one of the best parts of naturism… realizing how little your “private parts” actually matter when no one is trying to turn them into a performance.
Because once you’ve seen a whole campground of genitals, you stop wondering who has the best one. You start wondering why we ever gave them so much power in the first place.
“Comparison is human. Obsession is learned. Naturism helps you unlearn it.”
You start seeing people instead. Their posture. Their energy. Their laugh. Their really questionable hat choices.
It’s beautifully boring.

The Funny Little Moments
Naturism isn’t just body acceptance and deep philosophical realizations under the sun. It’s also a comedy show. And your body is both the main character and the punchline.
Because the truth is… being naked is weird sometimes. Not bad, just funny. And if you can’t laugh about it, you’re going to miss half the joy.
Let’s start with accidental eye contact. Not face-to-face… no, we mean you were making conversation, and then boom: one foot goes up on a bench, and now you’re at unintended scrotum height. You try to stay cool, but your brain goes:“Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Oh no. You looked down.”
Also… when talking to newcomers who are clearly trying not to look at your bits while also desperately trying not to look like they’re trying not to look at your bits. Their eyes bounce around your face like they’re trapped in a pinball machine.
And don’t forget the sit-down surprise. Ever plop down on a lawn chair a little too quickly and instantly regret forgetting how cold (or hot) plastic feels? Or worse, that moment where you realize the chair has those gaps. Those unforgiving slats where your balls fall through looking like a gym speed bag. Those chairs that leave behind a grid pattern of your dignity?
And yet… it’s all okay.
Because everyone’s been there. Everyone has a story. And everyone learns very quickly that the best naturist moments aren’t when you’re posing like the statue of David. They’re when you’re laughing, awkwardly, in a moment that only a fellow nudie could understand.
These funny little moments are naturism. They’re the bridge between awkward and awesome. The reason so many people fall in love with the life like we did.
Because once you stop taking nudity so seriously, you start taking life a little less seriously, too.
And honestly, once you’ve made it through an entire pool party while trying to keep your junk off a hot vinyl lounger, you’ve earned the right to laugh. Loudly. And naked.
These moments happen. They’re funny. And part of naturism is learning to laugh about the weirdness of being human.

Who’s Looking at What (and Why)?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Men and women don’t always look at the same things… or for the same reasons.
Men, generally speaking, are more visually wired. It’s not a flaw, it’s just biology (and a lifetime of being handed beer commercials with cleavage).
Yes, men look at women but they also look at men. They always have. But in naturism, what they’re looking at changes pretty quickly.
Let’s start with other men’s penises because we all know it happens. It’s not talked about much, but most guys have had at least one quiet moment of: “Okay… so that’s how I measure up?” It’s not competition (okay, sometimes it is). But more often, it’s about making peace with your own body by seeing the honest range of what’s out there. In porn, everyone looks like they were cast for a very specific job involving suspension bridges and tripod jokes.
But in naturism? There’s variety. Shape, size, hang, direction, scars, grooming (or lack of it). It’s oddly comforting. And yes… we have all had the “HOLY SHIT!” moment when you see that one dude. Every club or beach has one. The guy whose genitals has its own gravitational pull. He’s not doing anything wrong, but your brain still whispers, “Okay… good for you, Sir Loin of Beef.”
We already discussed boobs in our previous article. But then there’s the part no one ever says out loud. Men also look at vulvas. We want to see them.
Not in a leering way, at least not in ethical naturism, but with curiosity. Because let’s face it… many men haven’t seen a lot of real, relaxed, un-posed vulvas and labia in natural light. No filters. No sexual framing. Just… a person, sitting on a towel, existing.
For some guys, that’s quietly mind-blowing. Because the version of female anatomy they’ve been shown is usually one very narrow, curated, edited version. So they look.
Not because they’re objectifying, but because they’re realizing: “Oh. That’s what real looks like.”
Women, on the other hand? Their mind is thinking “Beige… I think we should paint the house beige!”
More often, women look at other women… but not sexually. In both naturist and textile environments, women report more body comparison behavior. They’re scanning the room for reassurance. It’s not for competition. Breast size and shape. Pubic hair grooming. Visible labia. Skin tone and texture. Weight, curves, posture, and confidence. They’re asking: “Am I okay?” “She looks like me… and she’s not hiding. Maybe I don’t need to either.”
And when women see the stretch marks, the soft skin, the labia that aren’t airbrushed… it’s powerful.
Women are often taught to judge their bodies through the lens of perfection, not curiosity. So when you’re suddenly surrounded by real bodies, not posed or edited, you start to recalibrate. It’s realizing you’ve been comparing yourself to fantasy, and now you’re finally seeing reality.
So… we are sorry to burst your bubble guys, but most women don’t usually stare at penises like men stare at boobs. They’re too busy figuring out how to finally stop judging their own bodies.
Sure, we’ve heard women say they’ve noticed penises. Usually with phrases like “Huh,” or “Well, that’s different.” But it’s rarely with the same fascination or attraction that men often have toward breasts.
Women might glance at men’s genitals out of curiosity or for novelty, especially in naturist settings, but the stronger instinct tends to be comparing themselves to other women, not caring much about men.
Men are just not that fascinating! Penises are not exactly aesthetic masterpieces. They’re more like functional equipment (some semi-functional) that someone accidentally left outside.
But here’s the thing about both men and women… they get used to it, fast. Because unlike the internet, where everyone looks like they’ve been 3D printed and professionally oiled, naturist spaces show you the full range of real bodies. And when we see that… the softness, the stretch marks, the labia that aren’t folded into invisibility, the brain shifts. From curious to casual. From fixated to familiar.
Not because they stop noticing but because once you’re around people who aren’t performing, the urge to watch goes away. You stop viewing bodies like search results. You start treating them like furniture… interesting for a second, and then mostly just… there.
(Of course, all of the above varies based on individual sexuality… just like everything human.)
Final Thoughts from Below the Belt
In the end, genitals are just another part of the whole. They don’t need to be focused on, hidden, worshipped, avoided, or dissected.
They’re just… there.
And once we stop overthinking them, judging them, or pretending they hold all the power in a room, we get to experience something better… real connection, full-body acceptance, and the joy of not giving a damn whether your labia are visible when you sit cross-legged at the picnic table.
So yes, we went there. We had to. And we’re glad we did.
Because talking about this stuff with honesty and humor is part of building naturist spaces that actually feel natural.
And if nothing else, maybe someone will finally let Corin sit comfortably.
We hope you enjoy our human experiences in naturism. Please share, like, leave a comment and subscribe to get notified when we post something new. You can also Buy us a coffee if you liked our article!
28 Comments
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Goodness gracious!!!! I really LOVE how you bring the Brutally Honest REALITY home of the TRUTH of what most people think but don’t say ( out loud ) without being offensive .!!! You say it exactly as it is. ……YES when we look at each other’s body, we look at the WHOLE Body and that does include the ” private bits” which by now aren’t that private really are they…. and I still say they are all different shapes and sizes. That goes for male or female. ” THE BEAUTY OF THE HUMAN BODY”
Yes, I have to admit , I’m still learning to accept mine too. THANK YOU !!
But reading your articles is helping with that too and making me see things differently ( no pun intended) .
Every body is different , and beautiful with its ” imperfect perfections ” it’s what makes us human. The arms , legs ( including whats between them) , chest ( whatever is there), . Penis , vagina/ vulva. whats on top of our shoulders, list carries on..it’s all part of who we are and it makes us human beings.
LOVE YOUR WRITINGS…
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Thanks Peter! 😊😊
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Wow, this is spot on!
My first year or so visiting nudist resorts I carefully kept my legs closed, just years of training to be modest. I noticed other women sitting on their poolside lounge chairs with one knee up and legs spread, and not hiding anything. My mind couldn’t process this. Eventually I determined that I was the only one who noticed. These women were not on display for attention but for comfort. Slowly I adopted the same practice and now I don’t even think about it. Sure some people walk by and take a glance but so what.
A-
Exactly. It takes time to reverse societal conditioning!
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A good read and as always, truthfully. I luv it, good work and thoughts. John.
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This perspective would have helped me in my first social nudism adventure. I had just thru hiked the AT and was very skinny. Terrified and self conscious in approaching Sunny Haven continued thru the gates. In my walk around I met 2 very nice ladies one of which I noticed was checking me out. I raised my hands in the air and turned around saying “Yah I don’t have a but because I just lost 25 pounds hiking the AT” We laughed and it was comfortable after that and has been since. Just a body but with amazing people. Thanks for you words.
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We apologize for not writing it sooner! 😃😁
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I just enjoy the encouragement now. Thanks.
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A wonderful essay. Humor is the best way to discuss this topic I think.
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So this is something I’ve thought about a lot when posting nudist photos. I used to worry about this subject and I’d try to make myself look bigger in photos. I’m on the little side and I have accepted that and want to let other tiny guys know that we’re ok. We can be nude too! I also have a prediction for getting hard easily too. Just ignore it! Just enjoy nudism!
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It’s really refreshing to read a “real” take on this topic. Awesome job, as usual!
I remember one day where my wife and I were lounging by the lake at the resort, and she dozed off in a “relaxed position”, meaning legs ajar. A friend saw us and walked up to us, awaking my wife; and said to her something along the lines of “Hi; I can see you’re really relaxing!” Even my “usually modest” wife could see the humor in it, and that he was being “cheeky” without “purient intent.” And she shared a laugh about it. No sense in denying or taking offense to the fact that he had seen her genitals and brought it up; just being “in the moment” and acknowledging it was a positive demonstration of “naked confidence.”
Unless “gawking” is involved, genitals being seen is going to be a natural part of social nudity. And it’s not that serious – although some people do have a hard time with modesty. Also, I would not crack a joke about seeing someone’s genitals without knowing them!
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Thanks for sharing the story! Loved it! 😊
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Great article . Thanks for the insight and the humor.
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Loved this interesting, amusing and frank discussion. So very true. You’ve “covered” all the bases, if we can be punny. Thank you for this, Kevin👍😂❤️ Jan&Gary😊
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This was great – now I want to see a 5,000 word dissertation xon butts, LOL…
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Oh boy! Lol! We probably could. 😂😂
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Great article again. Funny but gets the point across. I look but only in a glance way like you would looking at a guy’s tie colour, not too compare – I have a congenital deformity where the left side of all me developed more than my right including my penis so it is twisted so I don’t look to compare as none seen like me! 😂. Took me a long time to accept my body but now in my mid-50’s with a new girlfriend who loves how I look even though odd, I am now happy to go to beaches and naked 5k runs – no one judges and all ages and sexes talk to me as I were normal. I am so glad that I now accept myself.
Thanks for all you both do – really great. -
Wow !! That’s a lot to take in, but it’s spot on. !!
T & K
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THANK YOU for addressing the subject that (if I’m correct) once was taboo, in naturist circles! I’m encouraged to find someone else who acknowledges that he also looks at other men’s and women’s genitals! Yes, you’re right; we all do. But I’ve found that, not very long after I am nude, with other nudists, that I actually forget that I’m nude, and it’s not hard to keep eye contact. One of the personal benefits that I’ve gotten was being at ease with looking people in the eye while I was talking to them. I didn’t want to stare; that’s rude. I also deal with depression, so I looked down, a LOT. People who get into naturism just to see naked bodies are short-channging themselves. But I think penises are fascinating! There’s enough differences in all penises that each one is unique. Not like fingerprints, of course. I see God’s hand in that; God deliberately created penises and scrotums to be outside a man’s body, knowing they could and would be seen by others. And what other part of the body has TWO totally separate and necessary functions that operate independantly from each other? OF course, God created women’s breasts and vulvas so they, too, could and would be easily seen by others.
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I think everyone is very curious at first about how other’s bits look but that doesn’t last long in the face (?) of more evidence than anyone really needs.
Since becoming involved in naturism three years ago, my wife and I have had a few conversations about the appearance and artistic merit of human genitals. There is a “Seinfeld” TV show episode about nudity that has the best line, I think: “Women’s bodies are a work of art. Men’s bodies are utilitarian — like a Jeep.” Artsy or utilitarian, the human form is amazing and worthy of attention, but not inappropriate attention.
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Fascinating and funny Kevin, well done. Genitals aren’t that interesting when you get used to seeing them in a naturist environment. And yes there is always that one guy, usually in his 70s, who has biggest penis and droopiest balls you’ve ever seen. Pubic hair very rare to see nowadays and will probably get a 2nd glance. Keep it up Kevin…… Oh. Oops.
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No pun intended!!! 😅🤣
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Andy, I’m in my 70s. I wish. 🤣🤣
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Another home run, guys, brimming with honesty and some good chuckles. Thank you for your wisdom.
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Some of us are more curious about genitals than others. If I were ever to be around other nude people, and have to act like I wasn’t glancing at their genitals, I would be in agony! After all, it is only the exposing of our genitals that makes one nude, and a person should NEVER be offended by a person’s appreciative looking! After all, a person can be nude in their home without strangers seeing them, BUT, as soon as they want to be nude around nude strangers there is an element of curiosity involved, and people should quit denying this!!!
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We mentioned the newbies! Your may see things very differently after you experience it. 😊
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In our 11+ years of social nudity, we have never seen an erection. What we have seen is a wide variety of genitals, including people in transition between sexes. It was our pleasure to make friends with a person doing that on BNB ’23. She had full breasts and full male genitals. Only in our community would it be possible for a senior couple and 30 something to bond.
Rich and Cathy
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❤️ this comment!!!!
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