Ever been to a bathhouse?

[goodwood]

OK -
No. I have never been to a bath house. But will anyone please explain to me the purpose of a bath house? I don't get it. really. I don't. We can take baths or showers at our own houses or at the gym if we have to be someplace that we need to be presentable.

 

[2322]

SEX!! Hot steamy man-to-man SEX!!

OK -
No. I have never been to a bath house. But will anyone please explain to me the purpose of a bath house? I don't get it. really. I don't. We can take baths or showers at our own houses or at the gym if we have to be someplace that we need to be presentable.

 

[goodwood]

Oh. Okay. Thanks Jason.
But really?
Well I suppose if that is what one is looking for then its a good thing there are such places. Right? And if hot, steamy, man to man sex is what guys want, why don't they just go get laid or go out? Are bath houses the last option for this? Or are they the first option? Clearly I am obtuse on this matter.

 

[2322]

My blog here has a good post about this (if I do say so myself).

It's about freedom.

A bathhouse is a protected place, controlled by gatekeepers. You go in and get a room and strip down and go find some ass. It is the only place like it short of a few sex clubs in a few places. Unlike a bar or a club or a bookstore, you know that the guys are gay and looking for sex. Finding gay guys is difficult enough in the real world. The bathhouse just makes it easier. You see a guy you like, make a move, and either something happens or it doesn't. You're in a completely sexual environment so there's little need to be seductive, feel out an interest, chat, or otherwise woo someone. You're horny and want sex, you go. Simple as that. There are videos, music, tiny rooms, play rooms, gang showers, jacuzzis, saunas, and steamrooms. You just do your thing.

It might be hard for straight guys to relate to this because the world is, essentially, designed for straight people. You can find a girl and go get laid in a restroom or take her someplace and just do whatever. You can date openly, go to a zillion bars, walk down the street arm in arm, duck into an alley and cop a feel or more. It just doesn't work that way for gay guys outside of a few gay ghettos in metro areas. To be freely sexual without worry of harassment, rejection, or arrest is a big deal that straight people just don't understand because it's taken for granted to a vastly larger extent than they realize. Some bathhouses are scuzzy, others are nice, and so long as you play by your own rules then you'll have a good time or, at least, leave with your self-esteem intact.

Oh. Okay. Thanks Jason.
But really?
Well I suppose if that is what one is looking for then its a good thing there are such places. Right? And if hot, steamy, man to man sex is what guys want, why don't they just go get laid or go out? Are bath houses the last option for this? Or are they the first option? Clearly I am obtuse on this matter.

 

[goodwood]

Thanks Jason. This is all very educational.
Well, that having been said - i think that scuzzy would be really undesirable - unless pulling an old Calvin Klein ad. in a 70s basement. I had no idea that being gay relied on such meeting places and moores and rules etc. I was going to say "Could straight guys have a bath house?" but clearly, the world is our bath house.
The thought of a straight bath house and getting approached by some woman who was undesirable to me would be dreadful. I imagine a straight bath house fully stocked with Sienna Miller types/Petra Nemcova model beauties who would really fancy a bit of time with me. Isn't it wonderful to have a verdant imagination? lol. I think so at least.

 

[2322]

There actually are coed bathhouses (or were before the crackdown). The infamous Plato's Retreat was coed. Whether others still exist in the US I don't know. There is one in Montreal.

Getting approached by someone dreadful does happen but it's usually polite to say you're taking a break or you just shot or you're waiting for someone, etc. You can even say, with a good-natured smile and tone of voice, that your potential playmate, "Isn't your type," as if you find your own sexual tastes far too limited to have as much fun as you want. Sometimes it's actually true! People aren't stupid, they'll usually understand what you mean and take no offense because they know what it's like and there's always the next guy to come through the steam room door.

Thanks Jason. This is all very educational.
Well, that having been said - i think that scuzzy would be really undesirable - unless pulling an old Calvin Klein ad. in a 70s basement. I had no idea that being gay relied on such meeting places and mores and rules etc. I was going to say "Could straight guys have a bath house?" but clearly, the world is our bath house.
The thought of a straight bath house and getting approached by some woman who was undesirable to me would be dreadful. I imagine a straight bath house fully stocked with Sienna Miller types/Petra Nemcova model beauties who would really fancy a bit of time with me. Isn't it wonderful to have a verdant imagination? lol. I think so at least.

 

[Mr Ed in Mass]

I've never been to a bathhouse,I usually go to the carwash.It's faster and I get just as clean!

 

[johnson1000]

There is a bathhouse here in San Jose called The Watergarden. I'll tell you, some days it was hot hours of sex, others it was boring fight off the trolls. I've fisted a few guys, been fucked by a penis the size of a coke can, lined up 4 guys side by side and pounded ass after ass.

if you have done all this why have you only stated that you are 90% straight 10% gay, should it be more gay?- im not trying to have a fight just curious. dont take this question badly just trying to figure out what to put my percentages as.

johnson1000

 

[guyface]

In a small town I visit occasionally (on an island), of a 100 maybe 200 people, there is a public hot spring bathhouse. The hours for men and women are different so sexes aren't mixed. Nude bathing only. Since most people in the town have limited plumbing, most people use the public bathhouse. That means that anyone, fat, old, fit, young, can use it.
I really enjoy taking a hot spring bath whenever I am there and so far nothing interesting has happened yet. I just bath, relax, and usually no one comes in. If someone does, it doesn't matter, we see each others dicks and naked bodies, but it doesn't matter at all, the bathhouse is for bathing.

Hot spring baths are a slightly (but potentially very) interesting experience that everyone should try.

 

[deleted142346]

I like the description of bath-houses as a miniverse for gay guys to freely get jiggy. But there are some ridiculous aspects to it that I haven't been able to get over, but I guess that's the same with the universe proper:
1) the towel thing -- they have been invariably cheap and small and how do you walk around being sexy wearing a towel, no less seeing every other guy walking around wearing towels. Are they sexy, even though it seems everyone is looking nonchalant while strenuously attempting to keep their towel up and wrapped?
2) the theme park thing. It's like (Jon) Watersland (instead of Disneyland) where there are all these "environments" that are supposed to make you hot and encourage fantastic sex. Hmm...
3) The getting a room thing (more like a flimsy partitioned examination cubicle). Should you? Are the hotter guys in the rooms? Are you cheap if you don't? Are you hot if you don't? But what about those theme areas...

Too much for me to negotiate...

 

[9inchcanadian]

My partner and i used to regularly visit the Chariots at Liverpool st/shoreditch in London UK. We rarely left without having been satisfied by very attractive guys in a safe and generally clean environment. There were of course some older and less attractive guys there. The good thing about the bathhouses are that they have pretty clear rules about what you do and where you do it not to mention who with.
Eye contact is the key. If you dont like the guy who is giving you the eye, a polite shake of the head or mouthing NO is sufficient to send them on their way.
It can be nerve racking the first time you go. i was always very glad to have my other half with me. We never went off without each other so my view is slightly skewed. If you have a fuck buddy who is up for it then take them along for the first few times till you get a feel for the place. You may find that it isn`t for you.
The best advice is not to go with the expectation of boinking Brad Pitt. If you come away not having got any at least you have tried something new.

 

[B_Nick4444]

different hours/days provide different experiences ... you'll find hot young studs after closing time, and weeknights late at night ... the rest of the time is a mixed bag ... older, more outwardly conservative (and married) types, for example after 5:00 pm ... not that I've done that sort of thing

 

[Gay Joe]

I think going to one is very entertaining. If your good looking or have it going between the legs you would be very popular. My opinion it is a great place to be excited but also a better place to jerk off, remember there are to many STD's you could get and a bathhouse is probable a good place to get one. Be safe but have fun it is a great place to show off....

 

[MattBrick]

OK -
No. I have never been to a bath house. But will anyone please explain to me the purpose of a bath house? I don't get it. really. I don't. We can take baths or showers at our own houses or at the gym if we have to be someplace that we need to be presentable.

The purpose of a bathhouse is to get a bath.
Public bath houses reached their pinnacle in greek and roman times.

In much of Europe, it wasn't until recent times that most people's houses were equipped with the extent of luxury indoor plumbing they are today.
There were a lot of public baths in cities from the 1800's until the mid 20th century.

In the USA, bathhouses came from 1) Russian immigrants. Even today the Russian Banya - like the Scandinavian Sauna - is a big social custom.
Russians traditionally take this kind of steam bath weekly for health, and brush themselves with birch twigs.

The other source of US bathhouses was the 2)Jews, for whom bathing had/has ritual importance. They still exist here in New Jersey

 

[cocktails]

I have been to bathhouses/ gay saunas in South Africa, UK, France, Thailand (Has the best in the world called Babylon, it's more like a 5 star hotel) and Rio. They have all been clean and I certainly have never come across any junkies. The age of the clientele has ranged from 18 to 60 but i gues the average age is 25-40. There's always free condoms and lube so safe sex is encouraged. There's normally private booths if your shy. I say you should experience every thing once so you should go, If it's not your scene just leave no one will force you to do anything you don't want to do. I have a feeling that you think it's a place for sad lonely ugly fucks - This is not the case. Let us know if you do go i'd like to know how your experience was.

 

[HellsKitchenmanNYC]

There are @ 4 baths left in NYC. Had fun at one about a month ago.

 

[Eboomo]

Would love to try steamworks in Chicago. I keep hearing its one of the better ones....and i'm only 2.5 hours away

 

[Meniscus]

...It might be hard for straight guys to relate to this because the world is, essentially, designed for straight people. You can find a girl and go get laid in a restroom or take her someplace and just do whatever. You can date openly, go to a zillion bars, walk down the street arm in arm, duck into an alley and cop a feel or more. It just doesn't work that way for gay guys outside of a few gay ghettos in metro areas...

I'm a bit confused by one thing. As someone from rural New England, I was under the impression that the only places that had gay bathhouses were gay ghettos and metro areas. That is, they only exist in areas where it's pretty safe to be openly gay, and where there are other options for hooking-up (e.g., gay bars, nightclubs). It's not like they exist as some kind of safe haven in areas that otherwise have no places for gay people to go.

...if hot, steamy, man to man sex is what guys want, why don't they just go get laid or go out? Are bath houses the last option for this? Or are they the first option? Clearly I am obtuse on this matter.

I guess I'm just as obtuse on the matter. Bathhouses are less common than gay bars or nightclubs. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, there are only a few of them in the entire country, and mostly in major metropolitan areas (e.g., LA, NYC, Denver, Chicago, etc.) Gay bars are far more common, and can sometimes be found in smaller towns (although sometimes the nearest one can be over an hour's drive away).

 

[2322]

Yes Matt, very true. Here in the NY area there are many Russian or at least eastern European bathhouses which are not remotely gay. The banya are a great tradition in eastern Europe though I've heard the majestic marble temples of public bathing in some cities have gone gay; particularly in Budapest.

This type of bathhouse is alien to American knowledge. The closest are Americans who have been to Japanese onsen. Otherwise, "bathhouse," connotes a singularly gay place to most Americans.

The purpose of a bathhouse is to get a bath.
Public bath houses reached their pinnacle in greek and roman times.

In much of Europe, it wasn't until recent times that most people's houses were equipped with the extent of luxury indoor plumbing they are today.
There were a lot of public baths in cities from the 1800's until the mid 20th century.

In the USA, bathhouses came from 1) Russian immigrants. Even today the Russian Banya - like the Scandinavian Sauna - is a big social custom.
Russians traditionally take this kind of steam bath weekly for health, and brush themselves with birch twigs.

The other source of US bathhouses was the 2)Jews, for whom bathing had/has ritual importance. They still exist here in New Jersey

 

[2322]

Four?? I thought there was just the East and West! What are the other two?

There are @ 4 baths left in NYC. Had fun at one about a month ago.