 "Photo: Katie Petroski")
Ryan Hailey doesn’t do it for attention. He doesn’t do it to offend anyone, and he doesn’t do it to get girls. Hailey takes his clothes off simply because he enjoys being naked.
“It’s the most inoffensive act you can do,” Hailey said. “It’s a visual representation of ‘Hey, I’ve got nothing to hide.’”
The radio-television-film senior lives at the 21st Co-op and takes advantage of the clothing-optional option. The co-op’s mindset of anything goes as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone appeals to Hailey, who frequently wanders around the acre property without wearing clothes.
“It’s so ingrained that people just don’t question how silly it is to wear clothes,” Hailey said. “But your body is literally trapped in clothes when you go outside.”
For those looking for outdoor nude recreation, Texas is actually home to 22 sites, including a number of resorts and clubs such as Healthy Hides of Houston and Roamin’ Bares in Gorma.
Not only does our state boast more recreational nudist sites than any other in the country, but a number of support groups make their name here as well. Hill Country Nudists has been around since 1985, and according to club member Steven Bosbach, the group adds a social element and support structure for others with similar inclinations so they don’t have to feel weird.
The group promotes several events a month in which they party at members’ homes, skinny-dip at Hippy Hollow and even participate in nude yoga.
“We’re about acceptance and equality,” Bosbach said, who added that tolerance is a funny thing these days. “We tolerate in a lot of areas. Bad music, green hair, bad driving. But nudity? Let’s get the law involved on that one!”
Austin’s few nudity laws are difficult to interpret clearly. Indecent exposure is covered in Section 21.08 of the Texas Penal Code and says “a person commits an offense if he exposes his anus or any part of his genitals with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.”
While the intent part may be hard to prove, officers can also pull the disorderly conduct card to issue tickets to people who might be baring more than normal.
With that said, there are no public nudity rules that relate to men or women going topless in public, and it isn’t uncommon for women to nonchalantly show themselves off at places such as Barton Springs.
To practicing nudists, naked feels normal. After all, we were born naked. But society seems a long way from understanding nude as neutral. Clothing mirrors our situations — at formal functions where we want to make a good impression, we dress nicely. When a person just wants to kick back with a few friends, that’s also reflected by dressing more casually. What does naked represent? We wear our brand names and develop our own unique fashion to make a statement about our personalities. What statement does naked make?
“A lot of people look at me and make some extreme assumptions,” Hailey said. “There’s a lot of people who consider themselves classy because they can admire the statue of David and appreciate the natural beauty of nude art, but then they think that only crazies are naked? They’re just fooling themselves.
“In order for society as a whole to become more accepting of nudity, people are going to have to start taking themselves less seriously,” Hailey said. “We need more peace, love and understanding in this world. The day we can all be naked together will be great.”
Have fun, don't worry, be happy.