SSbrownbear says:
Generationally, there is a huge difference in how men treat nudity. Men of a certain age - nowadays those 35 or even 40+ - grew up in a time when communal nudity just wasn't a big deal. Notice how many of these posts talks about "old guys." Most of us HAD to shower after gym - we got used to being naked with our peers.
Younger men have a completely different set of experiences. They have almost NO experience of
No right or wrong here - just different generations and experiences.
communal nudity. I bet only a handful of guys under 35 reading this ever had to shower after gym class. Larger homes and privacy mean that casual nudity - seeing a brother or dad nude probably doesn't happen. There is no context for nude being "okay" except under very specific circumstances.
The only time I'm ever completely naked in the men's locker room is while changing in and out of my clothes. Usually, I'll bring a towel with myself when using the sauna or steam room. With that said, most men I have encountered in the locker room are nude at some point or another. If your not comfortable with nudity then cover up. If you want to avoid seeing other men change...don't go into the changing room.
Dr Evil says:
Its about time this was brought to light. The locker room is not a buffet for you damn homos. Wrap your towel aroud you and qiut staring.
Normally I change under a towel, wrap a towel around my waist when walking around the locker room, and drape a towel over my privates when using the sauna or steam room. However, the last time I used the men's locker room while staying at a hotel in Abu Dhabi I decided to branch out. I emerged from the steam room and walked over to the changing area to find another hairy Middle Eastern man with a towel around his waist. After pulling out my clothes, I noticed him undo his towel, stretch his legs and dry of his crotch, pubes aplenty. For the first time this vivid display of the male body seemed normal and comfortable. Then and there I dropped my towel, completely naked for the first time in front of another man. I didn't even care if he was looking at my penis. Why should I? He has one too.
jezstar says:
i'd hate 2 get erect in a locker room, you would always be
known as "that guy who got hard in the showers" then
people would reply "oh... that guy..."
do we?
Most guys at my gym in the UK, particularly the East Europeans, seem pretty unfussed about being naked, often going into the sauna without nothing on. The ones that seem to have a hang up are the younger English guys who can be seen showering with their trunks on or putting on their boxers with their towels wrapped around them - all of which seems a bit odd to me. Most of the guys there are regulars and used to being naked. I admit when I first joined the gym it felt a bit awkward being naked around other guys, as the showers don't have seperate stalls, but after a couple of times those feelings of being self-conscious soon disappear. The worst a guy will do is have a quick glance at your bits, which if we're being honest we all do from time to time.
Chilled says:
I only get naked with women and plan on keeping it that way.
atlhockey says:
Yeah, we have one guy at my gym who is unbelievably hairy. I mean I've always considered myself hairy, but this poor guy's got a total body pelt. Anyway, he actually dries off standing under one of those hand blowers meant for, well, the hands. Pretty funny.
I'm a gym trainer and the worst thing to see is guy bent over trying to dry his arse with the hair dryer
not nice
Look, but don't touch..thats a no/no..May be the only looks some of you guys can get anyway...
This discussion has got me paying more attention to what goes on in the locker room. The other day I saw an older Chinese guy at the sinks shaving, with only a t-shirt on (naked below the waist). He was a short, stocky guy with a craggy face who looked tough and hard-bitten. Nothing remotely weak or gay about him. Perhaps an immigrant (had that "come from a tough life in the old country" look).
He wasn't looking around or paying attention to anybody else.
Before I might have wondered if he was trying to make a point by not having shorts or a towel on. But after the other guys' comments here, it actually seemed like he was just comfortable and not fussing about something unimportant. He was very relaxed. I won't necessarily do that myself, but he set a good example.
Anotherguy, I have never chosen a locker for its proximity to the showers, I generally walk nude from locker to shower room, carrying my towel or slinging it over one shoulder. This keeps it dry and clean and I'm gonna be naked in 30 seconds anyway, so what would be the point in covering up?. I hadn't really thought about "the walk" as being awkward, but everybody's different.
I agree that we should use common sense in a locker room. Be naked when you have to. We're all grown up men and there's nothing to be ashamed of. But don't over do it.
I have one question though.The ackward thing for me in my locker room is the walk from my locker to the showers. I know I can put on my towel, but I'd rather keep it clean for when I come out of the shower. And yes, this means me having to walk naked to the shower area. I always try to use the locker that is closet to the showers.
Yes, I am not ashamed or anything if I walk a few steps naked to the showers.
What do you guys think?
mytetop says:
What the heck has happened to being a man, its a locker room, I played sports in high school and college, act like you have got some sense, its bad enough that we are being flooded with all the womans movement now we can't even be men in an all male enviroment. We have let the younger guys become afraid of their own bodies, and where will that lead too, FEAR, we all have the same male equipment. Grow up men, grow up and have some common sense, you know when incidents are taken to far. Respect women but also respect that you are a man too. I have grown so tired of this catering attitude towards the rights of women and the lack of respect toward men, again, grow up. Deal with your homophobia, afterall that is what is not being addressed too.
Mel says:
I switched gyms because I got "the goated" from the older men too many times.
More power to you, NUDE MEANS NOTHING. We should all feel comfortable in the locker room, and you're right, it's none of my business how long somebody stays nude. I basically just do my thing and don't let myself get too jazzed by others. After all, locker rooms are what they are. And for most of us nudity around other males, especially if you've played sports, is no big deal. Now nudity around females??? Co-ed locker rooms?? That would be interesting!
YOU GUYS ARE SICK, I HAVE BEEN TO GYMS AND SPAS ALL OVER THE WORLD IN AUSTRIA THE MEN AND GIRLS ARE IN THE SAME AREA NAKED EVERYTHING HANGING OUT,JUST BECAUSE AMERICA OR AMORICA IS UPTIGHT OVER NUDITY MEANS NOTHING... IF I WANT TO RUN AROUND NAKED I WILL. I DONT CARE IF YOU DONT LIKE IT. GET CHANGED AT HOME...BUT THE GYM IS ONE PLACE I CAN BE NAKED IF I CHOSE TO BE....GET OVER YOU..NUDITY ISSUES
atlhockey says:
Hey Rye 3111, don't get me wrong. There is a point when too much nudity is too much. But I think it's an imprecise definition. It's like you know it when you see it. That ONE GUY who insists on nudity until it's not feasible to be naked anymore. He can throw off the whole equilibrium of the locker room -- can, in effect, make the rest of us naked guys actually feel naked. And that ends up feeling weird. I pay no attention to the exhibitionists. I am nude for an appropriate length of time. I'm not embarassed in the least to be nude but the locker room is not a place for me to flaunt my body. It's a place to change and wash and, frankly, socialize. It sounds like your lacrosse team is a good example of what I would call healthy locker room behavior. Guys being guys.
Rye3111 says:
atlhockey:
so guys being guys is hanging out for extended periods of time with our pieces dangling for all to see.
I think I know what you mean, rather that guys being guys is hanging out, just not really worrying too much about what other guys are doing, i agree with you on that front.
Listen, I've been in locker rooms since I was 2. I've probably seen more naked men than Madonna. I really don't care what you do and it doesn't actually make me uncomfortable. Maybe it just seems the new social norm to at least toss a towel on when trancing around the locker room.
I don't know, the right answer, probably isn't really a right one. but considering how easy it is to put on your skivies, or wrap a towel, why do you think these guys seem to want to be naked so much?
atlhockey says:
What makes a locker room comfortable is people who are relaxed. That usually comes from familiarity -- either with using locker rooms in general or using the same locker room every day. I generally see the same 20 or 30 guys every morning at my gym. We know each other by sight, we strike up conversations in the showers, while we're shaving, getting dressed/undressed. The fact that we might be nude is superfluous. I feel sorry for guys who are uptight in locker rooms because they are number one, a fact of male life, and number two, the last places on earth where guys can be guys and not worry about females getting pissed off about it. As for inappropriate/weird behavior -- I've been using locker rooms for 30 years and can recall only three instances in which I was uncomfortable.
Older guys were in the military. That knocks the modesty out of you.
Leonhardtx says:
One more thing about Rye3111's last comment that just struck me, then I'll shut up: He said a locker room is a public place, and implied we should be modest or whatever there. It just hit me -- I don't agree with that at all.
The only reason men and women don't change together, to me, is that we don't want to expose women and girls to the possibility of guys getting aroused and hitting on them when their clothes are off.
There are no similar reasons in a men's locker room to say that a guy should cover up. Historically men didn't do so -- they went skinny dipping, they crapped & pissed in full view of each other in communal pits or outhouses, etc.
So it isn't a "public" place where we need to be modest. That said, it's still weird to prance around naked all the time.