Frequently Asked Questions about the Bay Area Naturists

Because naturism is not about sex, it is the policy of the Bay Area Naturists to not discriminate against quality individuals because of their gender, sexual preference, or relationship status.

We appreciate that there are many diverse lifestyle choices, and we also understand that sometimes people prefer to associate with others who share their own lifestyle, but we choose to publicize only those activities which, like we Bay Area Naturists ourselves, welcome all quality individuals regardless of their gender, sexual preference, or relationship status. We believe that sexuality is a private matter between consenting adults. While we make no judgments about anyone's personal preferences, we believe that because naturism is not about sex, those preferences are irrelevant in a naturist context like ours.

See "Advice for single men needing nudist women."

The short answer: it's not a problem. The body quickly learns the difference between social nudism and preparation for sex. While a persistent but unwanted erection every man's greatest fear (or maybe his highest dream), it simply doesn't happen.

If by chance you should feel an erection coming on, the etiquette is to turn face down, cover yourself with a towel, or jump into the swimming pool. It usually passes in a minute, and nobody is the wiser.

You may have renewed your membership in The Naturist Society (TNS) directly through their national headquarters in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Doing so does not renew your membership in Bay Area Naturists.

If instead you sent the same amount of money to BAN in San Jose, then we would not only renew your TNS membership for you, we'd also throw in a year's e-mail membership in BAN at no additional charge. TNS grants us a discount sufficient to pay for your local membership, but only if you send you dues through us.

At this point, if you want to renew your BAN membership, please do so by sending us your local dues.

If you still think you really paid your dues to Bay Area Naturists in San Jose and we made an error, then please send us a copy of your canceled check with your request to investigate.

It is impractical for either BAN or TNS to pro-rate membership dues to a fraction of a year. But there is no harm in renewing early!

At any time you can send one check to Bay Area Naturists for the same amount as you would send directly to The Naturist Society for a year's dues. When we get it, not only will we renew your TNS membership for the same price, but also we will also extend your Bay Area Naturists (by e-mail) for another year, at no extra charge. Or add $12 for printing and postage and we'll send you our newsletter The Frisky Banner by U.S. mail as well.

If you resist paying TNS dues before your membership year is up, then we recommend the following:

1. If your next renewal date for BAN comes before TNS, then renew BAN only. When your TNS renewal later becomes due, proceed to step 2.
2. If your next renewal date for TNS comes before BAN, then renew TNS through BAN. We'll also add another year to your local membership.

No, we do not accept PayPal. We would like to enter the paperless 21st century, but PayPal has demonstrated a long history of canceling service to other nudist and naturist groups, often suddenly and without explanation. For more information please see these two articles:

• "PayPal no pal of naturists/nudists." by Judy Williams.  It appears on SooNews on Monday, March 24, 2008 as "Nude People Have a Beef With Pay-Pal" and Bay Area Naturist members can also read it on page 5 of The Frisky Banner, Vol. 20, No. 2, April 6, 2008.
• "The naked truth: Nudist mag or nudie mag?" (Jennifer Parks, Edmonton Journal, Friday, April 4, 2008).

We do not publish a color brochure; our only brochure is in black-and-white, and all its information is on this web site. We do not publish videos or DVDs. We create opportunities for our members who share the value of being nude in nature to get together at our club functions in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas. You are welcome to subscribe to our newsletter to learn more, but if you're mainly looking for colorful pictures of naked people you are likely to be disappointed.

Selected clubs and resorts are consistent with the Principles of the Bay Area Naturists, and our belief that naturism is not about sex.