Are Guys More Comfortable Naked In The Locker Room Than They Used To Be?

[Hungfreeballer]

I am personally cool with being naked in the locker room, but thats because of the fact that it really is just what the locker room is meant for. It shouldnt be a big deal and it really only ever is because other people are self conscious about themselves.

 

[aries303]

I swim laps every day and the showers are all communal. There are always 2-3 of us showering at any given time and there are guys of all ages who don't seem to have any reservations about nudity. I think swimming laps every day desensitizes you to public nudity. It's no big deal.

 

[deleted15807]

I noticed this trend a long time ago and it's pretty amazing to watch without fail the younger generation's elaborate production of showering and bathing while not showing a hint of nudity. I had a roommate once that would turn out the lights as he went from bathroom to bedroom after a shower and it wasn't like he was nude. He had a towel wrapped around him but I guess that was just too much.

In a recent disquieting article for the New York Times, Choire Sicha investigates a curious new challenge for gyms: Some men want to shower and change without ever being publicly nude, and they expect their gyms to build locker rooms that accommodate that desire. Drawing upon the experiences of gym managers and architects, Sicha explains that over the last quarter-century, men have grown increasingly uneasy with being naked in the locker room. While older men generally remain comfortable being undressed among others, younger ones insist on maximum privacy, pining for a way to strip, shower, and change clothes without even a flash of nudity.

If You Are Not Comfortable Being Naked Around Other People, You Are Not an Adult
​

Apparently women don't have the issue just men.

Men’s Locker Room Designers Take Pity on Naked Millennials

But the big issue remains: gyms are still unable to provide the one thing younger men in particular seem to really want: a way for them to shower and change without actually being nude.

 

[meningreentights]

Quite frankly, it's prudes like that who should be banned from using public showers, until they get they get a grip. Ridiculous that some puritan nutter should make other people, who are using a shower as intended, uncomfortable.

In the old days of my childhood, people were more free to be naked in the locker room. It was natural and nobody thought anything about it. It was the day of people you call puritans. In fact, the YMCA required guys to swim naked. It seemed to change during the so-called sexual revolution, the coming out of gays, and people taking secret photos in locker rooms to post online.

 

[Essexboy8714]

I personally haven't got a problem with getting naked in the changing room at the gym,i dont go over the top,just get out of my gym gear and have a shower, get out dry myself and get dressed again

 

[AdamFin]

I noticed this trend a long time ago and it's pretty amazing to watch without fail the younger generation's elaborate production of showering and bathing while not showing a hint of nudity. I had a roommate once that would turn out the lights as he went from bathroom to bedroom after a shower and it wasn't like he was nude. He had a towel wrapped around him but I guess that was just too much.

In a recent disquieting article for the New York Times, Choire Sicha investigates a curious new challenge for gyms: Some men want to shower and change without ever being publicly nude, and they expect their gyms to build locker rooms that accommodate that desire. Drawing upon the experiences of gym managers and architects, Sicha explains that over the last quarter-century, men have grown increasingly uneasy with being naked in the locker room. While older men generally remain comfortable being undressed among others, younger ones insist on maximum privacy, pining for a way to strip, shower, and change clothes without even a flash of nudity.

If You Are Not Comfortable Being Naked Around Other People, You Are Not an Adult
​

Apparently women don't have the issue just men.

Men’s Locker Room Designers Take Pity on Naked Millennials

But the big issue remains: gyms are still unable to provide the one thing younger men in particular seem to really want: a way for them to shower and change without actually being nude.

This article has been out there for awhile. It is true to some extent but overstates the issue. Plenty of young guys strip and shower like men even still.

 

[deleted15807]

This article has been out there for awhile. It is true to some extent but overstates the issue. Plenty of young guys strip and shower like men even still.

Maybe it's regional. But here in my metropolitan area it's widespread. Every gym has gutted the gang showers for individual stalls and the cost was pretty much a waste as the millennials never even enter the locker room. They come and leave the gym in the same clothes. So it's not overstated in my area at all in fact it may be understated. There may come a time when locker rooms vanish entirely.

 

[BillnotWill]

Frfrom what I've seen it is the opposite. Guys more uncomfortable than ever…

I totally agree with you. Seems that in the locker room the younger men are self conscious about being naked, always having to get their towel around themselves as quick as possible (mist would die if my current gym had communal showers). You can tell, however, guys that have played sports...for the most part they don't really care.

 

[BillnotWill]

Maybe it's regional. But here in my metropolitan area it's widespread. Every gym has gutted the gang showers for individual stalls and the cost was pretty much a waste as the millennials never even enter the locker room. They come and leave the gym in the same clothes. So it's not overstated in my area at all in fact it may be understated. There may come a time when locker rooms vanish entirely.

So sad. I never even thought about that until you brought it up. Many guys just go back home to shower instead of using the gym.

 

[622675]

Maybe it's regional. But here in my metropolitan area it's widespread. Every gym has gutted the gang showers for individual stalls and the cost was pretty much a waste as the millennials never even enter the locker room. They come and leave the gym in the same clothes. So it's not overstated in my area at all in fact it may be understated. There may come a time when locker rooms vanish entirely.

Shower shyness has been around for some time and appears to have significantly increased in the current generation of boys/men. Since this phenomenon either began with or has been perpetuated by adolescent thinking (and peer pressure), has anyone seen any research on this age group that would explain it (and could be referenced on LPSG)?

Even on LPSG, there are some posters (both gay and straight) who mention that they have never shared space with another guy who was totally nude.

Some who research sexual issues are now commenting that:

the fact that "modesty" has reached insane levels in the newly-conservative USA, unlike most other countries. High schools have been ripping out shower rooms with a vengeance during the past 10 years as boys refuse to undress in front of one another, and parents have begun to sue school districts for invasion of privacy (forcing boys to reveal their private bits to one another in gym class). Now kids just stink as they go from gym class to history class. Even the athletes do not shower after practice after-school: they ring Mom to come get them so they can shower alone at home, out of view of their mates. The net effect of this is that most American males born today will never see another male naked in their lives until, and if, they have a son of their own. If they see him at birth they will certainly view his long, tapering penis as something quite strange and probably regard it as unnatural. Even then, quite a few American males will go to their graves never having seen a penis other than their own.

http://www.historyofcircumcision.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=8&id=73

 

[223790]

Maybe it's regional. But here in my metropolitan area it's widespread. Every gym has gutted the gang showers for individual stalls and the cost was pretty much a waste as the millennials never even enter the locker room. They come and leave the gym in the same clothes. So it's not overstated in my area at all in fact it may be understated. There may come a time when locker rooms vanish entirely.

I saw this when my university athletic centre took out the Bradley shower poles in favor of stalls. They went to all that expense and bother, and FEWER guys use the showers now than before when there were Bradley shower poles. The stall showers have never worked properly since being installed, and they are cramped and moldy. I was outraged that they did this. To me it encourages hyper modesty and body shame among younger men that they will carry forward for the rest of their lives. Ironically, it was the Bradley shower poles that forced me to get over my modesty issues when I was a student at the same university back in the early to mid 90s.

I use the Y now because it is the only gym in my city that still has an open shower room even after extensive renovations a few years ago. I threatened to quit if they put in shower stalls when they sent out online surveys asking what members wanted to see in the new locker room. I guess others did as well because they kept the shower room open.

 

[muscle_wagon]

I have been going to the gym everyday before work. I arrive dressed in gym gear. After workout I strip off naked. I go shave at the sinks naked then shower. I am not the only one. It's common practice. Same routine every day.

 

[deleted15807]

So sad. I never even thought about that until you brought it up. Many guys just go back home to shower instead of using the gym.

They sure do. Some bring their gym bags to the workout area never taking it to a locker. And who knows exactly what is in that gym bag? A change of clothes for the car? A towel to pat themselves dry? And a box of Axe body spray to disguise the lack of hygiene?

 

[Anton565]

I was a member of several gyms in my 20's. The gym was nearly always slotted between jobs, classes, and going out. There was rarely any opportunity to go home and most of the time I had to be clean and presentable wherever I went after the gym. Skipping a shower was simply not an option. I'd arrive in one set of clothes, work out, shower, shave, and leave wearing a clean set of street clothes.

Going home and showering would've meant giving up some combination of sleep, studying, income, or time with friends. I can't imagine that's changed. Then again, maybe the guys in a situation like I had are the ones taking the showers.

Locker rooms aside, if I'd had an issue changing clothes in front of my friends there'd have been major problems going to the beach, going to swimming pools, cleaning up from whatever to go out, etc.

I also wonder to what extent this excessive modesty affects their dating/sex life. Last I checked sex worked a lot better without clothes...... Or am I missing something?

 

[hzs3fg]

Maybe, just maybe, guys are more aware than ever that there are gay and bi guys everywhere and don't like the idea that some of the men in the locker room or showers may be taking a prurient and unwanted interest in them.

Crazy thought? Sure.

Except, spend any time at all on these boards and you know that it is taking place every day in lockers and showers all across the country - guys trying to catch a glimpse of cock or ass, trying to hook up, etc.

 

[camchain]

It is stupid and did me no harm when i was at school, We all showered together, we was clean and smelling nice and ready for our next lesson.
No personal hygiene issues then, must be loads now.

 

[Anton565]

Maybe, just maybe, guys are more aware than ever that there are gay and bi guys everywhere and....

Except that this would've meant that a huge percentage of ostensibly straight men were oblivious to the existence of gay and bi men.... for generations.

I agree increased awareness is a factor, but I don't think it explains the whole thing.

Then again you might be totally right. I frequently overestimate the inteligence and awareness of people. Maybe I'm not the best judge.

 

[hzs3fg]

Except that this would've meant that a huge percentage of ostensibly straight men were oblivious to the existence of gay and bi men.... for generations.

I agree increased awareness is a factor, but I don't think it explains the whole thing.

Then again you might be totally right. I frequently overestimate the inteligence and awareness of people. Maybe I'm not the best judge.

Twenty (thirty?) years ago I was aware of gay men and, to a lesser extent, women, but I had no idea just how prevalent they apparently we're throughout society. And, certainly not when I was in high school or college which, admittedly, was a long time ago.

 

[AdamFin]

Maybe it's regional. But here in my metropolitan area it's widespread. Every gym has gutted the gang showers for individual stalls and the cost was pretty much a waste as the millennials never even enter the locker room. They come and leave the gym in the same clothes. So it's not overstated in my area at all in fact it may be understated. There may come a time when locker rooms vanish entirely.

Interesting. I fully agree about stalls. Unless a gym puts in “camp showers” which have a little changing area adjoining the shower stall, they are pointless from the perspective of the shy guy. If he’s okay stripping at a locker and hanging his towel and walking to a stall naked he’d be fine showering in the open too. So unless a venue provides for total modesty they ought not provide any. Gym locker room culture varies from venue to venue in the same city. I’ve been to stall shower places w a very casual nudity attitude. Guys leaving curtains open, etc. And I see lots of young men acting normally. I’ve seen one towel dance last weekend, and I honestly don’t remember the time before that. I used to see it often. In my little universe shower use is up (still sub 50%) and younger men are bigger part of the mix. Could be a big exception.

 

[deleted15807]

Maybe, just maybe, guys are more aware than ever that there are gay and bi guys everywhere and don't like the idea that some of the men in the locker room or showers may be taking a prurient and unwanted interest in them.

Crazy thought? Sure.

Except, spend any time at all on these boards and you know that it is taking place every day in lockers and showers all across the country - guys trying to catch a glimpse of cock or ass, trying to hook up, etc.

Everywhere? Not exactly. If 3.8% is everywhere perhaps.

Americans Greatly Overestimate Percent Gay, Lesbian in U.S.

I agree increased awareness is a factor, but I don't think it explains the whole thing.

No it doesn't. The increased modesty shows up in other areas as well. Would any of the millennials wear for instance the swimwear that men wore in the 70's? They would freakout. The only acceptable men's swimwear today are those bloomer-style board shorts that have completely taken over men's swimwear.