Also if the ratio went from more or less 50-50% M:F to now to 90%+ male and the male portion leans heavily older...

So women are not showing up and the men who show up are old geezers...

So no young woman would want to be looked and stared at especially by the old geezers who are the majority.

It's the old "why we can't have nice things". Selfish Bad apples exploiting convention and ruining it for "good citizens"

my understanding from Reddit is that most of the people on nude beaches are overweight and old (of course Reddit isn’t really a good source, but I believe them here)

It’s actually kind of the opposite: attractive women are less likely to be on nude beaches because they may get harassed by creepy men.

Only nude beach I've ever stumbled across, on a part of the Queensland Coast, was very much this way. Bunch of wrinkly older folks hanging out, very low body-consciousness in general I think, past caring and just having fun.

Must be the southern beaches ? Some of the northern beaches are definitely for younger australians and tourists.

Just North of the Sunshine Coast area, so for QLD definitely Southern!

Noosa? Of all the nude beaches in the world, the single one I know about and have been to is (at least presumably) referenced.

Ha, yes. It was about ten years ago I went for a walk around the coast of the national park area with a small group, on my way travelling up the east coast.

There is a great essay/story by David Sedaris on his experiences on a nude camp site.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4138.Naked?from_search=t...

What about swinger clubs? are they more or less popular? There's one around here that is very popular...

In my experience, the clubs cater to a niche. They’re effectively a kink in and of themselves and there’s a very explicit innuendo that sex is to be had on premise. Nude beaches on the other hand are a casual exploration of being clotheless. And while sexuality plays a part, it is not the focus of the experience and is often generally discouraged. I think nude beaches are cultural and thus more prone to the ebb and flow of said culture. Swingers clubs are a fetish and will exist regardless of culture as long as there are people with the kink.

Haven't seen stats but it sure feels like ENM and poly are cannibalizing the alternative sexuality world and reducing the popularity of swinging. Which IMO is for heterosexual couples at least a bit of a loss, as swinging seems to favor longer lasting and less self-imploding relationships.

Photography is usually explicitly forbidden in these spaces.

Perhaps it's more like "the pervasive bias and contempt towards the overweight and obese that have been body-shamed"

not to mention those of us uninterested in seeing their bodies.

"Ugh. Nude beaches are full of overweight, out-of-shape old bodies and I don't want to go there and realize I look exactly like that."

Bobs Burgers - s03e11

spot on. And that goes double for swingers clubs.

The primary purpose of a nude beach is not to look at other people naked, but to enjoy being naked yourself.

the primary purpose of sex is procreation. Doesn't mean it isn't more appealing to do it with some people than others.

Pleasure is the primary purpose of sex for the vast majority of sexual encounters, including the majority of living people who aren't able to create biological children (due to age, sexuality, medication, or medical issue).

Arguably the procreation part is WHY it's so much more appealing to do it with some people rather than others.

If you (especially as a woman) are going to get pregnant, better make sure the father either is likely to have good genes, social leverage or will help you raise the kid, or ideally all 3.

Similarly (but less strong) for men, better make sure the woman is likely to get pregnant (she's not too old), is healthy enough to take care of any baby born (she doesn't have obvious physical defects).