Locker Rooms with open showers and/or Jacuzzi

[+ sniper]

I think also it may well have varied with the cleanliness of the high school as well. My school's locker room just had a foul stench to the point i would not have wanted to be barefoot there much less naked...I just don't think the janitorial staff spent much time there at all. God knows what was growing on those tiles.

[fedssocr1]

Millennials have the most at-odds attitude about sex and their own bodies.

 

They'll splay themselves out on Instagram, but get sheepish about showering in public or being naked around other guys.

 

They show distaste for bathhouses, but have no problem treating Grindr as the digital equivalent.

 

As we say in Texas, they're all hat and no cattle.

 

It is fascinating all of these young guys sharing all of themselves on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, etc (not to mention all of the various video streaming sites), but they don't want to be seen "in public". I suppose the computer in the privacy of your own bedroom doesn't seem like a public place. And many of them probably don't expect their "private" photos and videos to end up shared all over. Do the schools even talk about this stuff with kids? Or is it up to parents?

 

And I suppose this weird "virtual" world we're living in maybe it does feel more safe to expose yourself online where you can't necessarily see how many people are seeing you than in real life.

 

I wonder if this is mainly an American thing?

[+ bashful]

I wonder if this is mainly an American thing?

 

I think it is. As a person of Nordic decent, in my late 30's spent a month visiting relatives in Europe. Was often invited to take a sauna with the guys. We were naked, sweated our asses off, got out and jumped into the cold lake, and then sat on the liar's bench and had a beer. A wonderful bonding experience.

[JBrian72]

When you posted this, I laughed out loud at how true it was

 

I don't know where this level of ultra modesty is coming from, but in the gyms I've been to, this is a routine thing to see: Younger guys who may or may not have good bodies, going out of their way to remain covered.

 

A locker room doesn't have to be overtly sexual, but having the confidence to bare it all, even just to walk to the sink to shave, is not a bad thing to me.

Wow, times have changed! I had no idea how prudish this generation is. Back in the 90's locker rooms were all about swingin' meat - big dicks on display. Guys would stand before the mirror shaving, stark naked. Great way to start the day before work! Now, I go to the 24-hour place in a strip mall at 4 am and no one is there at all. I miss the fun!

[+ sniper]

Wow, times have changed! I had no idea how prudish this generation is. Back in the 90's locker rooms were all about swingin' meat - big dicks on display. Guys would stand before the mirror shaving, stark naked. Great way to start the day before work! Now, I go to the 24-hour place in a strip mall at 4 am and no one is there at all. I miss the fun!

I have to say at least in NJ it was already changing in the 90s. There were a couple who let it all hang out but most, while not doing the towel over underwear thing, were pretty quick about getting their underwear or towel on and minimizing naked time.

[handiacefailure]

If you're ever in Cleveland check out Flex. It's the old Greyhound Bus depot and there is an open shower room and it's the same shower and locker rooms the mechanics used to shower in. It's actually really nice for a guest house, I know some guys that will use it as a hotel when they are in downtown cleveland

[SuenosAmor]

I agree about the Asian/Russian baths. They're the best places to go to be naked and let it all hang out. There's no shame or self-conscientiousness because everyone is there for relaxation. For me, the gym is just for working out so I don't spend a lot of time loitering in the showers or changing area.

[Nvr2Thick]

Yeah, the cell phone camera probably had a big effect in kids being warned about exposing themselves.

 

I suppose it varies from place to place a bit. My HS years were the early 90s and everybody showered. In college I was on a team and probably that"s a circumstance where people shower together even now-- certainly my sons and their teammates do after games, we parents have to wait for them! But my understanding is that apart from sports teams, few at their school do. And at my gym and pool, it's very generational. Older men walk around unconcernedly naked, men my age change and shower efficiently but don't hang out nude, and younger guys act as if they are afraid that if anyone sees their dicks they'll be raped. My three grew up in an all-male household where I took them with me to gym and pool all the time, so they're pretty casual about it, but I think that's not typical.

 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/minor_differences2/7.png

[BasketBaller]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/minor_differences2/7.png

Yep!

[handiacefailure]

The dorm I was in my freshman year of college had an open community shower room on each floor (was the only dorm that did, the other ones had private stalls). The lockeroom in my high school also had a community shower room and the gym teachers office had large windows that looked into the shower are and the lockerroom, you'd never see that anymore

[luvsrubs]

Just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed this discussion. As a present day geezer who used to let the promise of what was to come in the wet room of the various gyms I went to be the motivating factor for getting through my work out, I've found the discussion very informative and interesting. This doesn't add anything to what's already been said, but I have a 34 year old friend in NC who is going back to grad school and has from time to time used the university gym. He has noticed that all the younger guys seem to go out of their way to avoid exposing themselves at the gym while the much older guys just let it all hang out. I think all the explanations given for this behavior make sense given the generations and times. However I wonder if there is something else that could be a part of it and that is a current era of body shaming whether intentionally or inferred. Young men today are presented with far more images today than they were when I was growing up. Movie stars jack up their bodies to look like super heroes, soap opera stars and regularly disrobing, and the most accessible porn sites like chaturbate have hundreds of young men with beautiful and/or athletic bodies performing for anyone with a token or even jacking off for free on some sites. I wonder how some younger male who is bombarded with these images feels about being unclothed in the situations we've described. I can't help but wonder if even the most athletic of young men wonders how he measures up when he goes to the gym or participates in sports. I suspect that alone could be enough to make one shy about disrobing in public. But it's just another theory. All I know is that what you've all described above seems to be true.

[Rudynate]

When you posted this, I laughed out loud at how true it was

 

I don't know where this level of ultra modesty is coming from, but in the gyms I've been to, this is a routine thing to see: Younger guys who may or may not have good bodies, going out of their way to remain covered.

 

A locker room doesn't have to be overtly sexual, but having the confidence to bare it all, even just to walk to the sink to shave, is not a bad thing to me.

 

Not long ago, at my gym, I saw this big, tall (basketball player tall) strapping young guy walking around without a stitch on, without a bit of self-consciousness. s a matter of fact, he was sort of strutting his stuff and showing off. He was really magnificent, and such a contrast to the behavior you normally see in locker rooms. I saw him fully dressed a couple days later and he looked a little skinny in clothes. The difference was surprising.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Not long ago, at my gym, I saw this big, tall (basketball player tall) strapping young guy walking around without a stitch on, without a bit of self-consciousness. s a matter of fact, he was sort of strutting his stuff and showing off. He was really magnificent, and such a contrast to the behavior you normally see in locker rooms. I saw him fully dressed a couple days later and he looked a little skinny in clothes. The difference was surprising.

 

As with most things in life, having confidence being in a situation goes a long way

[Guest MikeThomas]

Years ago (early 90s) I worked out at the Athletic Club on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood. It had one big shower area open to the lockers. Lots of fun!

[Guest MikeThomas]

...A locker room doesn't have to be overtly sexual, but having the confidence to bare it all, even just to walk to the sink to shave, is not a bad thing to me.

 

I've seen hot guys shave at the sink naked and with a towel. Quite frankly I like the towel. Such a turn on to see a hot guy with a great ass and abs shaving with a crsip white towel wrapped around him barely above his crack in the back and his dick in the front with his dick pushing out in the front and his ass just asking to be...

[lets go]

I don't understand why you even have to bother wrapping up with a towel while you are in the locker room in general. Isn't this the whole reason they have separate men's and women's locker rooms? I mean if you are cold that is one thing. If you are that hung up (excuse the pun ) maybe you should exercise at home. Maybe it's just me.

[Rudynate]

I don't understand why you even have to bother wrapping up with a towel while you are in the locker room in general. Isn't this the whole reason they have separate men's and women's locker rooms? I mean if you are cold that is one thing. If you are that hung up (excuse the pun ) maybe you should exercise at home. Maybe it's just me.

 

One would think. But younger men seem not to want others even to see them in their underwear. They stay wrapped in a towel, put their underwear on while wrapped in the towel, and then put their pants on as fast as they can. Some even stay wrapped in the towel while they put their pants on. It seems really silly. I sort of enjoy being naked in a locker room, but I never shower and I'm always in a hurry to get out of there, so opportunities to show off are limited.

[BasketBaller]

The guys who dress in a towel always make me wonder about their sex lives. Do they let their wives or partners see them naked? Do they only fuck in the dark?

[+ HornyRetiree]

Open all through HS & college and we were required to shower!

 

Basic training in AF open and nerve racking as there would be 50 in shape naked men crowded in the shower with just minutes to shower -- no way to avoid flesh against flesh. And my fear of an erection!

 

In the 70s - dishonorable discharge for homosexual behavior.

 

Open row of toilets - no partitions so any jerking off was at night under the covers CAREFULLY.

 

I had my only wet dream ever on night 10 of basic -- been to physically tired to JO -- woke to a dinner plate size wet circle on my top sheet! Decided after that to make myself jo even if exhausted.

 

The rest of life I have been too sexual active to have/need wet dreams

[Nvr2Thick]

I miss my college locker room for the open gym and pool, with its communal showers -- a room wide open to the locker room and bathroom, with shower head mounted on the walls and four columns. It was a nice crowded little box of male nudity. And you had to walk through the showers to get to the pool. If you were standing at the sinks the mirrors gave you a great view of the guys in the showers while you pretended to comb your hair for 5-10 minutes...

 

When I joined a gym in the '90s I was disappointed by the displays of modesty. Still, I discovered that there were a few guys who were either comfortable with the locker room or were exhibitionists. I took to morning workouts because there were always a few guys who would shower after their workouts and were naked and exposed from towel dry, through shaving at the sinks, until they dressed for work. There were three fine, built, hung specimens who I desperately stalked. It ruined my day if I didn't catch at least one of them in the locker room after my workout. I distinctly remember one guy who thumped his dick against the counter while he shaved, and hefted his package to place it on the sink counter when he'd lean in close to the mirror for his sideburns.

[Hairychest3]

I think many people hit upon possible reasons for fewer open showers and less male nudity in locker rooms:

 

1. Smart phones and cameras

2. The increased attention to idealized male bodies can lead to greater shame of one's own body for not measuring up. (What women have been dealing with for many years.)

3. The sexual abuse scandals of the 90s and 00s lead to less nudity in high schools via a decreased emphasis on showering. So being naked in a locker room was no longer the norm.

4. Greater acceptance and visibility of gay men. Out of the closet and into the streets (and gyms.)

5. Lots of gay guys work out. (Much has been written about the emergence of the fit and muscular gay ideal in response to the AIDS crisis in the 80s-90s.)

 

Having said that, I think an ideal locker room is a place where men can be naked and unashamed. And as a gay guy, I admit that I love the eye candy as well as the freedom to not have to cover up.

[nynakedtop]

late - comer to this conversation, apologies...

 

but i can tell you that the university with which i maintain my current affiliation (cue Bozo jeers....) has open showers in the gym and that I have shared some space with the rowing team on several occasions.

 

i'll just leave it at that....