Cypress Cove Denounces Social Media Nudity Purge

News Release:
Cypress Cove Denounces Social Media Nudity Purge

KISSIMMEE, FL, February 14, 2019 – Following the recent nudity bans by social media outlets Tumblr and Chatspin, Cypress Cove Nudist Resort, one of the largest and most well-known nudist resorts in North America, is asking why social media platforms are including simple and artistic, non-sexual nudity in their bans of “adult content.”
 
“Since the American nudist movement began nearly one hundred years ago, nudists have worked diligently to educate society about the difference between showing the human body in a natural way versus exploiting it as a sexual object,” said Peter Sewall, General Manager of Cypress Cove Nudist Resort. “Members of Cypress Cove and our visitors understand this.”
 

 
What they do not understand, Sewall explains, is why social media outlets such as Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, Chatspin, and many others include simple, artistic, or wholesome depictions of nudity as being pornographic. The nudist philosophy has historically stood against exploitative and sexualized depictions of the nude human body, and nudist resorts like Cypress Cove offer safe places where people can recreate, socialize, and relax in an environment that respects the human body and encourages right thinking.

“Nudists understand why Tumblr would want to ban pornographic media,” added Dan Whicker, Cypress Cove’s Director of Sales and Marketing and former Executive Director of the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR). “But adding basic nudity to the ban sends the wrong message.”

According to Whicker and the nudists that Cypress Cove represents, one of those messages is that all nudity is bad.

“Most rational people would agree that there are times when nudity is perfectly acceptable. The human body is a work of art, not a subject of shame.”

Sewall notes that banning all nudity on social media platforms also sends the message that the providers are lazy.

“It’s easier to simply lump it all together and say that all nudity is banned,” he explained. “That way, no one has to decide what content passes and what fails. But that’s a very lazy approach, showing a lack of caring about your users. When it comes down to it, it’s not difficult to figure out if a portrayal in a photo is pornographic or simply unclothed. Don’t be lazy. Just set realistic parameters.”

Sewall and Whicker recognize that social media filters made to detect nudity and adult content are far from perfect. Oftentimes, appropriate nudity gets flagged or deleted right along with the inappropriate. In Tumblr’s recent purge, Cypress Cove’s account was quickly shut down with little warning.

“We’re a family-friendly nudist resort,” Whicker clarified. “We’re not in the adult entertainment business. Images that we use in our social media and advertising are non-sexual and quite natural. For our account, or for any other honest nudist account, to be grouped together with pornographic material and purged is an uninformed and disrespectful act.”

Sewall believes that such knee-jerk reactions only cause more harm to the providers and to their users. Instead, he says that the social media providers should consider what proper content they are banning along with the improper.

“They’re not helping society to deal with its sexual schizophrenia,” he stated. “They’re making it worse. Take a lesson from nudists. There really is such a thing as wholesome nudity. Why not create an online environment where this is recognized instead of fostering the very things they are trying to ban?”

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About Cypress Cove:

Since 1964, Cypress Cove Nudist Resort has been the premier family-friendly, clothes-free vacation destination in Florida for visitors from around the world. Conveniently located in Central Florida near all the Orlando attractions, the 300-acre family-owned resort boasts 84 luxurious villa hotel rooms and apartments, a modern RV park, campsites, a 50-acre lake for water sports, 2 sparkling pools, tennis and pickleball courts, and a residential community. With weekly entertainment, themed weekends, and annual special events there is always something fun happening at Cypress Cove. Enjoy Florida naturally! Visit CypressCoveResort.com or connect with us on Facebook @cypresscove and on Twitter @covenudist.