ARE MOST GYM GUYS SHY IN THE LOCKER ROOM?

[Guest IndyEric]

Thanks for the kind words about my post!

 

It does boggle my mind that I have to get permission to discuss a student's grades, etc., with his or her parents. Most students are quite willing to give that permission when necessary, and some parents make it a condition that the student do this before if they are going to pay for college (I certainly would!)

 

Our whole society has become increasingly litigious. I just got off the phone with a roofing contractor who won't come make some minor repairs to the roof on the home I am buying and then write a letter saying the roof has 3-5 years of life, becasue they are afraid of the liability issues if the roof should leak. Even though I said I would be willing to sign a waiver releasing them from liability, they said that the lender could still sue them. Sheesh!

 

Similarly, so much of what goes on in education at all levels is lawsuit prevention and/or defense against potential lawsuits. I have to put in my syllabus that I may be sick once in a while and that the students should expect that a few or possibly more days of class may be cancelled during the semester. Why? Because parents have threatened to sue for a partial tuition refund if a class didn't meet all the days it was scheduled to meet!

 

So I am sure that schools are afraid of being sued for causing emotional distress/damage if they were to insist on students taking a shower together. The movement to ban dodgeball and certain kinds of competitive sports, captains picking teams, etc., is related to this, too.

 

The military is different. No one sues the military for being embarassed or humiliated (sexual harrassment is about the only exception)! It's part of the culture. I've never been in the service, but my understanding is that part or the purpose of basic training is to strip away one's sense of individual identity and create a new identity as a soldier and part of a team. I've read that in the service academies, there is almost no privacy. I think that it is at the Air Force Academy where I read that there are windows in the room doors, no private toilets, and that the new students have to report all their bowel movements!

 

I'm sure that in the service people quickly discover that there is such a thing as non-sexual nudity. Same thing happens to naturists--whole traditional famililies go to nudist campgrounds. Evidently, it becomes non-sexual very quickly, and even teenage kids get very comfortable being naked with members of the opposite sex.

 

While I had some fears back in school locker rooms in my teenage years, I'm really glad that I got comfortable with being naked around other guys. There is something very nice about it, especially in non-sexual situations. I have had really enjoyable times sitting naked with 4 or 5 colleagues in the sauna. In places like the baths, that doesn't happen, because everything is about whether you are going to mess around or not.

 

I think it is really sad that there are so many younger men who enter adulthood still uncomfortable and anxious about being naked in a locker room!

 

(And I really miss the pleasures of seeing athletic college guys naked, too!)

[pacnwescort]

Everything that glitters is at Golds

 

Suggestion: join Golds.

 

The only time I was in the sauna at the South of Market Golds Gym this year, there were about 6 guys, all pretty hot. Most had erections, one was actively jacking off, we were all watching each other.

 

The hottest guy (other than me LOL) was a Latin dude who kept rubbing the sweat off himself, using this exquisite stroke that started at his neck and worked down from his pecs and abs to his mostly hard cock, which he very gently stroked until his hand went down his thigh. 5 minutes later him and the other Latin boy in the sauna ended up in the shower behind a curtain together.

 

My only disappointment is that when I tried to pick this stud up as he was leaving, I found out he already had plans with the guy he had been in the shower with. :-(

 

So much for shyness! (Of course, I never shower naked at the gym).

 

Steven

pacnwescort@aol.com

[buckguy]

Interesting thread. It's funny because I haven't noticed the "issues" at my gym here in Atlanta. It's mixed on a number of dimensions and, depending on day/time the male clientele is probably 15-25% gay. I haven't noticed that people have issues with showering, however, the showers are more or less private. Still, I don't recall this being an issue in my old gym in DC, either. What's funny here is that people bring enormous gym bags filled with more or less nothing (calling Dr. Freud). And many come in athletic looking drag and then changing into more or less the same thing. Still, I've noticed rather little heavy duty modesty and we're talking about a part of the country where guilt, shame, etc. are pretty well ingrained into the culture (Atlanta's progressive rep, like many things about it, is pure hype).

maybe things are worse where showers are opne---I don't remember that from prior experiences, tho. those were a decade or more ago in university settings.

 

BTW, the steam room at my gym is definitely the "gay" place, esp. on weekends. The straight gays seem to have the message and avoid it.

 

BTW II; I'm not altogether sure the European style of body conciousness is a plus. After seeing beachs filled with gelatinous middle aged tits & midriffs (on the women & a lot of men, too) plus fat ugly men in thongs, a little Puritanism doesn't so bad (note I said only "a little"). Indeed, the Puritans weren't without an appreciation of sensuality, they just tended to keep it out of view.

[Will]

>BTW II; I'm not altogether sure the European style of body

>conciousness is a plus. After seeing beachs filled with

>gelatinous middle aged tits & midriffs (on the women & a lot

>of men, too) plus fat ugly men in thongs, a little

>Puritanism doesn't so bad (note I said only "a little").

>Indeed, the Puritans weren't without an appreciation of

>sensuality, they just tended to keep it out of view.

 

After having read this entire thread for the first time, I had decided not to comment here, but to begin a new thread altogether. I still plan to do that.

 

However, I cannot let go unremarked the appalling cynicism, narcissism, and heartless contempt packed into these sentences of the penultimate (as of now) post. If one were looking for a precise expression of why gay men frequently seem to be as bloody-minded as hungry sharks, all you have to do is read these revolting words. They're particularly repellant in light of the extraordinary range of views expressed above, most in tones of civility and mutual respect that make it the pride of M4M threads thus far, at least in my view.

[bluenix]

>>After seeing beachs filled with

>>gelatinous middle aged tits & midriffs (on the women & a lot

>>of men, too) plus fat ugly men in thongs, a little

>>Puritanism doesn't so bad (note I said only "a little").

 

>

>However, I cannot let go unremarked the appalling cynicism,

>narcissism, and heartless contempt packed into these

>sentences of the penultimate (as of now) post. If one were

>looking for a precise expression of why gay men frequently

>seem to be as bloody-minded as hungry sharks, all you have

>to do is read these revolting words.

 

Gee, Will, you bring a lot to your reading.

 

Here's a quick summary of my own in light of your polemic: no cynicism, no narcissism, no contempt. A lamentable absence of "precise expression," not to mention bloody-mindedness.

 

You'll feel better after your nap.

[Will]

You're right. Go snaps some more snaps while I snooze.

[DaninWA]

The straight gays seem to have the message

>and avoid it.

 

The "straight gays"?

 

lol Just teasing. ;-)

 

Dan

[buckguy]

My, aren't you the one with the delicate sensibilities. I just don't think bearing it all is something I want everyone (including myself) to do.