Nakedness in the Congressional Gym: The Mind Boggles

[+ quoththeraven]

Why do people keep talking about getting naked in congressional gyms? The mind reels and boggles. A quote:

 

Vice President Biden shared some affectionate reminiscences yesterday about the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, including a tale in which the senior senator from Massachusetts introduced the then-young pup to the chamber’s elder statesmen — in the locker room of the Senate gym, where the senatorial greats were, shall we say, on full display.

 

Which raises so very many questions, including these: Is everyone always naked in the congressional gyms, and why do guys keep talking about it?

I can't help but add: a great venue for chubby chasers!

[k9lover]

Why do people keep talking about getting naked in congressional gyms? The mind reels and boggles. A quote:

 

Vice President Biden shared some affectionate reminiscences yesterday about the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, including a tale in which the senior senator from Massachusetts introduced the then-young pup to the chamber’s elder statesmen — in the locker room of the Senate gym, where the senatorial greats were, shall we say, on full display.

 

Which raises so very many questions, including these: Is everyone always naked in the congressional gyms, and why do guys keep talking about it?

I can't help but add: a great venue for chubby chasers!

 

no wonder so many of them end up asexual... Old naked men gross me out, I can't even look at myself at the mirror sometimes. LOL

[Rudynate]

It's the stuff of movies. How many images of wealthy, powerful old guys sitting together in the steam room, wrapped in towels, wheeling and dealing, have you seen? Who knows how many matters get settled on a handshake by naked old men in the locker rooms of places like the Bohemian Club?

[Gar1eth]

Back when I lived in Cincinnati, a (straight) friend was a member of a (straight) gym with a lot of older members. He said the older guys would talk to each other in the locker room sans clothing-one member would even shave au naturel. I remember him talking about one guy who would stand around without clothes talking to one of the shavers.

 

My 86 year old uncle-and I think I've mentioned this before in a similar thread-said that when he was a kid, they swam nude at the YMCA except on family nights.

 

While there is a stereotype about Americans being more body self-conscious than say Southern Europeans- still I wonder in the more gender segregated days of yore when the country was more rural with air conditioning non-existent/less common, and boys played outside more, and were more likely to be around creeks, rivers, streams, and the like whether communal nekkidness might have been more common, or whether it might have been somewhat common for men in military service during WW2, Korea, and Viet Nam.

 

Gman

[mike carey]

Further to Gman's comments, I suspect it is symptomatic of modern straight society being more aware of homosexuality and not wanting to give any impression of that. 50 years ago a group of nude males would not have thought about the potentially gay look of where they stood, now they do and if they are in any way concerned back away from 'appearing gay'. I can remember being self-conscious about being nude, but thoughts of being gay didn't come into it.

[Gar1eth]

Something further I might add about the golden days of yore-people had less money for clothing, possessed less clothing, woolen fabrics were more difficult to clean, and there were fewer washers and dryers. I don't believe either set of my grandparents ever owned an electric/gas washer or dryer. My paternal grandparents had a house until the late '60's. My grandmother went to the washateria. The other grandparents lived in apartments that had laundry rooms.

 

So in a day when washing wasn't as easy-better to take clothes off than get them dirty. So this may be the culture some of the older members of Congress are from.

 

Gman

[Rudynate]

 

My 86 year old uncle-and I think I've mentioned this before in a similar thread-said that when he was a kid, they swam nude at the YMCA except on family nights.

 

 

When I was 7-8 yo, we swam without suits at the YMCA. It wasn't "clothing optional" either. It was required. They must have thought it toughened you somehow. Even though I didn't like it at the time, in retrospect, I'm glad I had the experience. It's sad when I see how prissy young straight guys are when they are changing in the locker room at the gym. They wrap towels around their waists just to change from workout clothes into street clothes.

[Guest Starbuck]

50 years ago ... swimming lessons at the YMCA ... lots of nudity ... absolutely no gay thoughts ... BUT THEN ...

 

40 years ago ... the high school locker room: gang showers after gym class ... lots of nudity ... obsessive thinking about Kevin M's cock, Gary C's cute butt, Frank P's prematurely manly physique ... desperate reminder to self to make-out more with girlfriend, focus when doing so, and keep begging her for sex.

[MsGuy]

A short article on nudity at the YMCA and in school pools too.

[Rudynate]

A short article on nudity at the YMCA and in school pools too.

 

 

I completely forgot about high school. Yep, we swam nude in high school. By then I didn't mind it that way I did as young boy. But it seemed silly - the girls didn't swim nude. The school provide suits for them that we sort of like stretched-out t-shirts.

[rguer]

It's sad when I see how prissy young straight guys are when they are changing in the locker room at the gym. They wrap towels around their waists just to change from workout clothes into street clothes.

 

I've noticed that, and it is sad, but it's prissy young gay guys too.

 

Seems like too much work to me, arranging all that fabric. I could never be a drag queen.

[Rudynate]

I've noticed that, and it is sad, but it's prissy young gay guys too.

 

Seems like too much work to me, arranging all that fabric. I could never be a drag queen.

 

I guess I don't pay that much attention to the young GBs.

[Epigonos]

What an interesting topic.

 

I vividly remember that when I was in high school in the 1950's after P.E. class we all used a large gang shower and nobody thought anything about it. During my last years of teaching in the late 1990's locker shower rooms were NEVER used. Only freshmen and sophomores took P.E. and they refused to shower together at the end of class.

Athletic teams would go home after their practices and games and shower there.

 

I served in the Peace Corps in the mid 1960's and on one occasion some of my fellow male volunteers and a group of local male co-workers visited a rather secluded site by a river with a large pool area. We volunteers immediately stipped down and jumped in without a second thought. We had to flight to keep from laughing watching the local guys trying to strip down and enter the water without exposing themselves.

 

As anybody else notice that fewer and fewer men are using the urinals in public restrooms? They wait until a stall is free and use the toilet there.

[Gar1eth]

What an interesting topic.

 

I vividly remember that when I was in high school in the 1950's after P.E. class we all used a large gang shower and nobody thought anything about it. During my last years of teaching in the late 1990's locker shower rooms were NEVER used. Only freshmen and sophomores took P.E. and they refused to shower together at the end of class.

 

We had to take PE 7th and 8th grade. And then you had to get 5 quarters in for graduation so I took it in 9th and 10th grade to get it over with. This was 1973-1977. In 7th and 8th grade we had to take showers around the pole. I hated it because I was chubby. I don't really remember getting a thrill out of seeing other guys naked at that point. In 9th and 10th grade I avoided showering as much as possible because I was still ashamed of my body. As for now- I've done it occasionally the few times I've been to a bathhouse. But I'm still not incredibly fond of it.

 

As anybody else notice that fewer and fewer men are using the urinals in public restrooms? They wait until a stall is free and use the toilet there.

 

I haven't noticed this at all.

 

Gman

 

PS I've never actually been skinny dipping outside a bath house pool either.

[+ quoththeraven]

I'm interested in whether this is also a gendered thing. In HS in the early 70s, girls never took showers after gym, nor did anyone expect them to. (Not an athlete, so I have no idea about those involved in team sports, but suspect they didn't shower then either.)

 

I never knew if the boys acted any differently. I see references to group showers in the 50s, but what about the late 60s/early 70s?

 

I can tell you that in law school I briefly lived in a dorm clearly built with the expectation that men would be living there (communal showers, IIRC no curtains at all). Even though my floor was all-female, sharing open showers was uncomfortable for me as much for privacy (I'm an introvert) as anything else.

 

On the other hand, changing clothes at the YMCA no problem. When they had cubicles, I used them, but when they redid the locker room w/o cubicles, I changed into and out of swimsuit without stressing about being naked. Used/wrapped myself in towel to facilitate drying and was naked only minimum amount of time necessary. (Also an issue because most lockers were near the door to the locker room.)

 

FWIW, went skinny-dipping once (lakeside property owned by provider of auxiliary services to college used as a nude beach) and didn't much like it. I'd rather not expose my private parts to the weeds and dirt in the lake, thanks. (Toplessness not a big deal. Also suspect pool would be similar issue considering chlorine bothers my eyes.) Nudity only a problem when another student I knew from work in the dining hall walked by while I was seated. Craning my neck to look him in the face rather than staring directly at the penis in front of me was tricky.

[Gar1eth]

I'm interested in whether this is also a gendered thing. In HS in the early 70s, girls never took showers after gym, nor did anyone expect them to. (Not an athlete, so I have no idea about those involved in team sports, but suspect they didn't shower then either.)

 

I never knew if the boys acted any differently. I see references to group showers in the 50s, but what about the late 60s/early 70s?

 

I can tell you I started junior high-7th grade in 1973 and graduated from high school in 1979. If I didn't make it clear, I dreaded the showers in 7th grade and 8th grade. I honestly can't remember if I showered or not the last year in junior high or the one year in high school I took PE. I would bet the guys in competitive sports had to take showers -for some reason I'm betting this would have been enforced by the coaches.

 

At my university -all of the dorms were community bathrooms/showers. But the level of community varied. I was one semester in a newer dorm which had individual stalls. After that I stayed in a dorm that had formerly been a women's dorm, and it had stalls also. My cousin stayed in a longtime men's dorm around the same time, and it had some variation of the poll.

 

I'm sure part of this newfound 'prudishness' has to do with all the warnings on inappropriate touching people receive in childhood these days.

 

Gman

[+ quoththeraven]

My take is it's more likely to be an interest in privacy/personal autonomy. I know some folks don't appreciate it if you continue holding a conversation with them while they're in a toilet stall. I am not one of them.

[Epigonos]

Again interesting I'm one of the guys who will NOT carry on a conversation while in a toilet stall. Yet I have never had a problem using a gang shower.

 

When I first moved into a college dormitory the shower room was wide open. A couple guys complained and the administration put in dividers. Then the shit hit the fan because we all ended up getting soaked with cold water because the sides of the stall prevented us from getting out of the way of the water when it was first turned on. The school administration then came back in and removed the partitions from one side leaving them it on the other and we were all more or less happy.

 

I'm convinced it is generational thing. We old farts grew up swimming nude at the YMCA, showering in group showers and using urinals without dividers. That all seems to have changed or is changing and I really don't understand why unless it has something to do with the current US obesity factor.

[TruHart1]

This does bring back some memories for me. When I was 6 or 7 years old, my mom took me to the YMCA for swim lessons (we're talking about the late 1950's) and all the younger boys, including me, were required to swim nude. The instructors and any teenager (I seem to recall it was anyone who already had pubic hair) were required to wear jockstraps. I felt we younger boys deserved to wear jockstraps too and felt it was a bit unfair. I do still remember enjoying looking at those bulges and hair showing around the edges of the jockstraps but not really understanding why I liked it.

 

Later, in Jr. High, (during the 60's, when I was 13 or 14) we had a coach, about 22 years old, who was built like a Greek god and had (to my eyes) a very impressive endowment (which I only saw soft.) I always hung around the glass enclosed coach's office during changing times before/after gym class just so I could see him change out/into his gym clothes. That's when jockstraps and that coach's beauty became the stuff of my jack-off fantasies!

 

Then, in high school, I hated gym so much that I worked it out with my counselor and principal that if I took gym class every day (usually it was every other day alternating with study hall) of my sophomore year and the first half of my junior year, I could have the choice of another elective course for the remainder of my time in high school. I ended up being in the last hour gym class which was set aside for the football and basketball jocks so they could go directly into their practice time during their respective sport's seasons at the end of the school day.

 

I had the one comfort of taking gym class every day by being privileged to see all the hottest athletes naked! I especially remember two guys, both assistant football team captains, whose lockers were next to each other and just a few lockers down my row. They used to engage in some very suggestive horseplay with each other all the time they were changing, including slapping and grabbing each other's naked asses and playing with each other's (soft) dicks while saying really suggestive things about fucking and sucking each other until they "turned each other queer!" One was all beefy muscle while the other was quite hairy and had a very defined swimmer's build! Oh my, those guys gave me many an orgasm when I got home and re-lived their hi-jinks!

 

I am quite the voyeuristic slut to this day, it's just that now I can hire my Greek god dreams and not just be a voyeur!!!

 

TruHart1

[+ quoththeraven]

I should say that I was never aware that swimming and swim lessons at the YMCA were conducted au naturel. My mother occasionally helped out in the nursery/childcare at the local YWCA (why we had both, I don't know, but we did), but if I ever saw the pool there, I'm certain the ladies weren't swimming nude. I learned to swim in a coed classes at a local outdoor pool, so swimsuits were required.

[Gar1eth]

I should say that I was never aware that swimming and swim lessons at the YMCA were conducted au naturel. My mother occasionally helped out in the nursery/childcare at the local YWCA (why we had both, I don't know, but we did), but if I ever saw the pool there, I'm certain the ladies weren't swimming nude. I learned to swim in a coed classes at a local outdoor pool, so swimsuits were required.

With the fairer sex being only a little lower than the angels and the need for modesty so as not to inflame the desires of undesirables, I'm not surprised that the young ladies did not swim nekkid. Modesty, purity, and chastity being important virtues for the virtuous.

 

G

[Nvr2Thick]

http://theoatmeal.com/pl/minor_differences2/locker_room

[nate_sf]

http://theoatmeal.com/pl/minor_differences2/locker_room

 

I particularly like that the cartoon features one of those blow-dryer guys. I'm always amused when I see someone doing that... like really, is that necessary? Whatever floats your boat!

[anotherjohnindupont]

Barney Frank naked would be a kind of gay conversion therapy... I might turn straight for a couple of minutes

[marylander1940]

Barney Frank naked would be a kind of gay conversion therapy... I might turn straight for a couple of minutes

 

LOL...