Amazon pulled the plug

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

Retired professor Stuart (Stu) Schwartz of Kensington takes the sexual stigma out of exhibitionism in a book he first published more than two years ago through Amazon, called, “Lights On, Clothes Off: Confessions of an Unabashed Exhibitionist.” Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t appear to have gotten the memo; they recently stopped working with him due to the book’s subject matter.

Schwartz used to pose regularly as a nude model for the Museum of the Living Artist at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park prior to COVID-19. He has also modeled for art students at various colleges and has given dozens of readings (with and without clothing) from his book to private groups at residences all over San Diego.

Most recently, he presented a reading for a story-telling group at the Diversionary Theatre in University Heights, and continues to schedule them, dressed and undressed, to groups and organizations interested in learning about what makes an exhibitionist tick.

“I have been doing this since the age of 18,” said Schwartz, who is now 78 years old and enjoys traveling the globe with his husband, Karl.

He went on to emphasize that exhibitionism is a misunderstood subject.

“Some people think that being an exhibitionist is illegal. That is not true if you are doing your exhibitionism for a willing audience. It is not sexual. It simply demonstrates that nudity can be fun and enjoyable,” he added.

“My posing and readings are for men and women, gay and straight,” he said, while stressing that “everyone must be over 18 years old.”

Schwartz recalls awakening to his inner exhibitionism as far back as his early teens.

“Those experiences involved play things with friends and being naked while swimming at the YMCA, back when the Y did not allow bathing suits,” he said.

Several years later, at the age of 18, he began modeling nude for art classes while attending West Chester University in Pennsylvania.

“I was looking for a job and saw a post on a bulletin board at my college to model for art classes,” Schwartz said. “It didn’t say ‘nude modeling.’ So I met with the secretary of the art department and she said they would love to have me pose for the classes. When I asked if I should wear any particular kind of outfit, she told me the job was for nude modeling.”

Schwartz said he wasn’t necessarily shocked. He did recall, however, being initially a little nervous when looking out at a class of about 20 students after shedding his clothing and stepping onto the posing stand.

“But within minutes I felt totally comfortable,” he quipped. “I realized that I had no concerns about being naked in front of an audience.”

That confidence would later lead him to dancing nude at gay bars in New York and Washington, D.C., while living in Philadelphia.

“I commuted to those cities because there were more dancing opportunities in the bars and I didn’t want to be found out by my friends at the time,” he admitted.

He also ran a nude-butler service some years ago in San Diego after working as a public information officer for a Florida fire department and as a professor at the University of Florida, where he taught and researched the subject of diversity.

Schwartz draws a distinction between his days of being a nude dancer and butler in rooms full of clothed people versus posing nude in a structured environment such as an art class. He says the former generally gave him more satisfaction because “there was a certain level of eroticism to it.”

He pointed out that writing his 395-page book, which was released in 2021, was yet another form of exhibitionism — and partly the reason he did so. In addition, he feels the book has been a way of helping other exhibitionists better understand themselves.

“Over time, I’ve met quite a few people who are exhibitionists in hiding,” he said. “They either knew I had the bare butler service or danced in clubs or wrote the book. They wanted to learn more and talk with someone they had this in common with.”

Lights On, Clothes Off covers Schwartz’s life from “my circumcision in front of family and friends” as an infant to his years in graduate school, thus highlighting many of his exhibitionist experiences throughout the book’s 42 chapters. Provocative encounters involving sexual responses from bar patrons and party goers are not excluded.

The book sold hundreds of copies through Amazon in print form and electronically through Kindle. But then in early summer, Schwartz was notified by Amazon that the book’s cover and content do not meet the company’s community standards, even though the cover illustration is an abstract painting with no frontal nudity. As a result, Amazon ceased selling the book.

“The content does have sexuality in it — but it is stories of me doing my exhibitionist thing for many years. It’s about experiences I’ve had. I don’t consider it pornographic at all,” he stressed.

After writing to Amazon three times expressing his bafflement over the decision — and receiving no concrete explanation other than citing community standards — Schwartz decided to give the book away for free electronically to interested takers via his website, lightsonclothesoff.com.

The book used to sell for $15.95, plus shipping. It can now be obtained for free through a link at the bottom of the website’s homepage. Schwartz welcomes donations through Paypal and/or Venmo, but they are not mandatory.

When asked if he might seek a publisher to re-issue and distribute the book, Schwartz responded, “Probably not. I’m not feeling the need to get the book published again. But I’m delighted when I get requests from people who have heard about it and to give them a free copy.”

Schwartz added that he had planned on penning another book chronicling his life from graduate school to present day.

“But given that Amazon dumped me, I lost my motivation to write the second book,” he said.

For now, Schwartz revels in traveling with his husband, which includes taking three or four cruises a year, and fulfilling occasional appointments from adult audiences for readings from his book, naked or dressed. If given the choice, he noted with a chuckle, “I prefer to do them naked.”

–Frank Sabatini Jr. has been writing about food in San Diego for over 35 years and enjoys the occasional feature story. He launched his own food blog during the pandemic, called, “The Hash Star,” which you can follow at thehashstar.com. He can be reached at [email protected].