Women in Focus

Helen talks to Steph Durbin

Helen talks to Steph Durbin, newly appointed Director without Portfolio at British Naturism and board chair of Ashdene Naturist Club. She shares her journey that began with grief and arrived — three years later — at joy. Steph discovered naturism in 2022, drawn in by her late mother's lifelong passion and a determined search for purpose after loss. Helen and Steph explore what it means to navigate naturism as a single woman — the trust, the safeguarding, the assumptions people make — and the particular depth of connection that forms when women gather without clothes or pretence. They also speak about Steph's rapid rise to leadership roles, both at Ashdene Naturist Club and British Naturism. And if you are interested in joining Helen and Steph on the BN Ladies Only holiday in Vritomartis [https://www.vritomartis.com/] in Crete for a week from the 1st June, email Helen at Women in Focus [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk] for details. Links for Steph Durbin: * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/steph-durbin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/steph-durbin] * Facebook: facebook.com/stephdurbinwood [https://www.facebook.com/stephdurbinwood] * Instagram: instagram.com/stephdurbin66 [https://www.instagram.com/stephdurbin66/] * British Naturism: bn.org.uk/profile/27577-Stephdurbin/ [https://bn.org.uk/profile/27577-Stephdurbin/] * NEW: British Naturism Shop: shop.bn.org.uk/collections/british-naturism [https://shop.bn.org.uk/collections/british-naturism] * British Naturism Events: bn.org.uk/events-home [https://www.bn.org.uk/events-home] * Join British Naturism: bn.org.uk/membershipinfo [https://www.bn.org.uk/membershipinfo/] * Women In Naturism: womeninnaturism.uk [https://womeninnaturism.uk/] Contact Women in Focus: womeninfocus@bn.org.uk [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk]

Helen talks to Sarah Mexico Christenson

Sarah 'Mexico' Christenson is a Florida-based social media content creator who has built a following by normalising nudism online without apology. She and Helen met aboard the Bare Necessities Big Nude Boat 2026 cruise earlier this year and discovered they shared many ideas in common. Sarah talks about how a group holiday to a Tampa nudist resort in 2019 sparked her unexpected epiphany, how leaving corporate life gave her the freedom to take her advocacy public, and how naturism helped her unpack a childhood steeped in purity culture and body shame. Together, Helen and Sarah explore the de-sexualising effect of nudity, the surprising ease of connection in clothes-free spaces, the differences in terminology across the Atlantic, and what it actually feels like to spend eleven days on a boat with two thousand naked strangers ... and love every minute of it. And if you are interested in joining Helen and Sarah on the BN Ladies Only holiday in Vritomartis [https://www.vritomartis.com/] in Crete for a week from the 1st June, email Helen at Women in Focus [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk] for details. Links for Sarah Mexico Christenson: * TikTok: tiktok.com/@sarahmexicochrist [https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahmexicochrist] * Snapchat: snapchat.com/@sarahmexicooh [https://www.snapchat.com/@sarahmexicooh] * Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/sarahmexicochrist.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/sarahmexicochrist.bsky.social] * Facebook: facebook.com/sarah.christenson.7 [https://www.facebook.com/sarah.christenson.7] * Instagram: instagram.com/sarahmexicochristenson [https://www.instagram.com/sarahmexicochristenson/] * Women In Naturism website: womeninnaturism.uk [https://womeninnaturism.uk/] * British Naturism Events: bn.org.uk/events-home [https://www.bn.org.uk/events-home] * Join British Naturism: bn.org.uk/membershipinfo [https://www.bn.org.uk/membershipinfo/] Contact Women in Focus: womeninfocus@bn.org.uk [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk]

Helen talks to Maja Penko

Maja Penko is a tour guide from Ljubljana, Slovenia, and is a former long-serving president of the Slovenian Naturist Federation. Maja was raised in a naturist family and shares the charming moment she first realised, at age ten, that not everyone lived quite so freely — a discovery that shaped a lifelong commitment to body acceptance and naturist advocacy. Together, Helen and Maja explore what it means to grow up without body shame, the fight for nipple equality, and why women's own attitudes are often the first barrier to overcome. Maja's message is refreshingly direct: start by looking in the mirror, accept what you see, and take it from there. And if you are interested in our BN Ladies Only holiday, we will be heading to Vritomartis [https://www.vritomartis.com/] in Crete for a week from the 1st June. Email Helen at Women in Focus [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk] for details. Links for Maja Penko: * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/maja-penko-01139544/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/maja-penko-01139544/] * Email: majapenko33@gmail.com [majapenko33@gmail.com] * Association of Naturists of Slovenia (ZDNS): naturist.si [https://naturist.si/] * ZDNS Email: info@naturist.si [info@naturist.si] * Women In Naturism website: womeninnaturism.uk [https://womeninnaturism.uk/] * British Naturism Events: bn.org.uk/events-home [https://www.bn.org.uk/events-home] * Join British Naturism: bn.org.uk/membershipinfo [https://www.bn.org.uk/membershipinfo/] Contact Women in Focus: womeninfocus@bn.org.uk [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk]

Helen talks to Prof. Annebella Pollen - part 2

In part two, Helen continues her conversation with Professor Annebella Pollen from the University of Brighton, author of Nudism in a Cold Climate. Pollen explores why women have always been central to naturism despite being present in smaller numbers. She speaks about Maurice Parmelee's radical 1929 claim that "nudism is a powerful aid to feminism" and "the logical continuation of the women's movement," showing how early advocates saw naturism as breaking down artificial social barriers. Pollen traces women's roles as not just models but photographers, editors, club co-owners, and pioneering thinkers who created platforms for future generations. The conversation examines how the same issues — women's participation, diversity, body representation — have persisted across a century from the 1920s to today. And if you are interested in our BN Ladies Only holiday, we will be heading to Vritomartis [https://www.vritomartis.com/] in Crete for a week from the 1st June. Email Helen at Women in Focus [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk] for details. Links for Prof. Annebella Pollen: * University of Brighton: research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/annebella-pollen [https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/annebella-pollen/] * Instagram: instagram.com/annebella_pollen [https://www.instagram.com/annebella_pollen/] * Book - "Nudism in a Cold Climate": atelier-editions.com/products/nudism-in-a-cold-climate [https://atelier-editions.com/products/nudism-in-a-cold-climate] * Paper - "Utopian Bodies and Anti-fashion Futures: The Dress Theories and Practices of English Interwar Nudists": muse.jhu.edu/pub/2/article/686648/pdf [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/2/article/686648/pdf] * Paper - "Indignities Imposed by Arbitrary Adult Rule?": muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/933826/pdf [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/933826/pdf] * Siobhan Hazzan: www.cnfellowship.org [https://cnfellowship.org/] * Women In Naturism website: womeninnaturism.uk [https://womeninnaturism.uk/] * British Naturism Events: bn.org.uk/events-home [https://www.bn.org.uk/events-home] * Join British Naturism: bn.org.uk/membershipinfo [https://www.bn.org.uk/membershipinfo/] Contact Women in Focus: womeninfocus@bn.org.uk [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk]

Helen talks to Prof. Annebella Pollen - part 1

In the first of a two-part conversation, Helen speaks with Professor Annebella Pollen from the University of Brighton, author of Nudism in a Cold Climate. Pollen discusses her decade-long research into the visual history of naturism in Britain, revealing how photography shaped the movement's public identity from the 1920s onwards. The conversation explores a fascinating paradox; whilst magazines like Health and Efficiency once sold hundred's of thousands of copies per issue, featuring idealised bodies of professional models, actual naturist membership numbers were much lower. Pollen explains how early practitioners hid behind pseudonyms to protect their professional reputations, and how the movement's own promotional imagery created tensions between philosophical ideals and practical recruitment. Drawing on archival research conducted during lockdown, she offers an outsider academic perspective that complements lived experiences, examining how naturism has been publicly mediated rather than privately practised. And if you are interested in our BN Ladies Only holiday, we will be heading to Vritomartis [https://www.vritomartis.com/] in Crete for a week from the 1st June. Email Helen at Women in Focus [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk] for details. Links for Prof. Annebella Pollen: * University of Brighton: research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/annebella-pollen [https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/annebella-pollen/] * Instagram: instagram.com/annebella_pollen [https://www.instagram.com/annebella_pollen/] * Book - "Nudism in a Cold Climate": atelier-editions.com/products/nudism-in-a-cold-climate [https://atelier-editions.com/products/nudism-in-a-cold-climate] * Paper - "Utopian Bodies and Anti-fashion Futures: The Dress Theories and Practices of English Interwar Nudists": muse.jhu.edu/pub/2/article/686648/pdf [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/2/article/686648/pdf] * Paper - "Indignities Imposed by Arbitrary Adult Rule?": muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/933826/pdf [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/933826/pdf] * Women In Naturism website: womeninnaturism.uk [https://womeninnaturism.uk/] * British Naturism Events: bn.org.uk/events-home [https://www.bn.org.uk/events-home] * Join British Naturism: bn.org.uk/membershipinfo [https://www.bn.org.uk/membershipinfo/] Contact Women in Focus: womeninfocus@bn.org.uk [womeninfocus@bn.org.uk]