Game changers
Francelli Renteria and Hector Martinez, the poster couple of naturism in Mexico.
INTERVIEW: Meet Francelli Renteria and Hector Martinez, the poster couple of naturism in Mexico.
Many people have a mid-life crisis, and decide to reassess where they are going. But making major changes before you reach that age can be equally difficult.
For Mexican couple Francelli Renteria and Hector Martinez however, inspired by their shared passion for naturism, change seemed the logical thing to do.
“It’s not the first time I have altered direction in my life,” admits Hector, acknowledging that it can often take a while to figure out what you really want to do. “Before discovering naturism, I studied political science, but ultimately decided that I didn’t really like Mexican politics! So I worked as an English teacher online. Encouraged by friends, I took part in my first World Naked Bike Ride in 2014. Growing up, nudity was never something I would see at home. It wasn’t considered shameful; just something you wouldn’t really talk about. The WNBR was an experience that transformed the way I saw and felt about nudity. Before then, I didn’t have body issues, but also wasn’t super body-confident. I’d say I was a pretty average person who happened to stumble upon something great.
“Two years later, Francelli and I founded a local naturist community in Guadalajara named Naturaleza y Nudismo Guadalajara (NNG), and in 2017 started a YouTube channel to show short films on various aspects of naturism. We were delighted with the response, and saw it grow to 1.3 million subscribers, with over 200 million views. But we perhaps went a little too far for social media sensitivities, and it was shut down by YouTube in 2020.
“It was disappointing, but not the end of the world. By that stage, I had already resigned from my day job to concentrate full-time on promoting social nudity, and was delighted to be elected president of our national naturist association, Federacion Nudista de México (FNA).
“After a two-year term, I passed on the reins to the current incumbent, Gustavo de la Garza, and am now focusing on growing our local naturist community and working on a number of personal projects promoting the normalisation of nudity in Mexico. This summer, I organised the first nudist pride march in Guadalajara, with the title Día al Desnudo (A Day in the Nude). Around a hundred people took part, and I intend to expand the idea nationwide, adding more cities each year.”
Turning point
The aforementioned ‘Francelli’ is Francelli Renteria, then Hector’s girlfriend, now his wife, and an equally keen advocate of naturism in their home country. She too discovered the enjoyment to be had from the lifestyle in 2014, when Hector invited her to a clothing-optional temazcal (a traditional Mexican ceremony held in a sweat lodge) in Guadalajara. Needless to say, both of them chose the non-clothed option, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“It was a turning point for both of us,” she recalls, “both in our personal relationship and in our decision that we wanted to do whatever we could to promote naturism in Mexico. And we’d like to think that we have been successful. When we started NNG, we had just 12 members. Now we have nearly a thousand.
“Ironically, I studied fashion design,” she laughs. “But I’d never really had a problem with seeing other naked bodies. It wasn’t something I could shout from the rooftops, though. Until last year, I was a professor at a university in Guadalajara, and since I taught minors, I didn't want to risk getting into any trouble, or having people make the wrong assumptions, so I carried on working behind the scenes within the nudist community without having a public image. But as the pandemic dragged on, I decided to quit my job and start promoting naturism publicly, and revealed my identity on my social networks. Now I am dedicating myself entirely to the normalisation of everyday nudity and the promotion of nudist philosophy.”
It’s not as easy as it might sound. “Naturism is a foreign concept in Mexican society,” explains Hector. “It’s not that it’s necessarily a problem. Just that most people have probably never heard of it. Which I see as an area of opportunity, because at least there are few preconceived ideas, like in other countries. In our experience, people have been pretty receptive when we talk about nudism, and certainly most appear to understand what the goal is. Some are curious and want to learn more and others appear indifferent, and in general I’d say most people either see it as something positive or at the very least are neutral on the subject: few are actively against it.
“As yet, there aren’t that many places where nudity is officially recognised and encouraged, but we spend a lot of time naked on quiet beaches and in secluded areas all over the country, and the vast majority of people who pass by are super-friendly and just go on with their lives, and let us do the same. Mexicans, despite what you might think from our history, don’t really like conflict!”
Message
Unsurprisingly, given the generation they come from, both Francelli and Hector use social media to help get their message across. But as we all know, the media (in all its manifestations) has its downside.
“Before participating in naturism,” says Francelli, “the only naked bodies I really saw were those in magazines and in the early days of social media. And most of those were what were deemed to be ‘perfect.’ There’s no such thing of course, and whilst you might have some self-doubts, thankfully because of my open-minded education, I didn’t really have any problems with self-esteem.
“I think that’s why it was so easy for me to get naked the first time I went to the temazcal. And as I have gone on to experience social nudity, I have discovered that there are so many benefits, including seeing so many different bodies, and realising that they are all perfect in their own way.
“One of my goals as a promoter of naturism therefore is to make people, especially other women, accept that there is nothing wrong with their body. Accept it as it is. Yes, take care of it, and do whatever makes you feel comfortable in maintaining your health and vitality. But don’t get sucked into this vicious spiral that leads to low self-esteem or eating disorders.”
Having fallen foul of YouTube, Hector has gone on to promote naturism through a variety of other media including youncensored.com and Vimeo (neither of which censor genuine naturist films), Patreon, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Francelli meanwhile has her personal Patreon, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok accounts, as well as being an administrator for NNG, which in turn has its own Patreon, Twitter and Instagram accounts, together with a WhatsApp group, a website and a Facebook page.
Content-wise, the couple promote their various group-related activities, together with personal visits to naturist beaches and events, as well as filming everyday situations from swimming to cooking, all part of normalising nudity. In Tulum, they also met up with Miami TV star Jenny Scordamaglia.
“Currently, there aren’t that many places in Mexico to practice nudism within the strict letter of the law,” notes Hector, “although things are slowly changing with some new resorts being opened. The only legally-recognised public beach is Zipolite, which we love, and visit every year during the Zipolite Nudist Festival. Francelli and I have a saying however that any quiet and difficult-to-access beach is potentially a nudist beach.”
With a coastline of over 9000km, and beaches looking out onto the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of California, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, they’re not short of choice.
Where to get naked in Mexico…
RESORTS: Desire Riviera Maya Pearl Resort, Desire Resort Riviera Maya, Azulik, Temptation Resort, Punta Serena, Hidden Beach, Playa Sonrisa, Intima Resort, Energy Tulum
BEACHES: Zipolite (with its various naturist hotels) is the only officially-recognised naturist beach in the country. However, along its extensive coastline, you will find many secluded beaches and/or beaches frequented by naturists, including Maruata, Sonrisa, Matanchen Bay, Secreto, Puerto Angelito, Yerababuena, Carey and Coronado Island.
