The Bashful Locker Room Male

[mako shark]

If people would simply remember that being naked isn't being sexual then they would realize that it's no big deal.
Growing up in the 60s and 70s in the US we rarely saw guys hiding like they do these days.
I don't really buy the Bible Belt thing much because folks were far more religious back then.

 

[Alex Sommers]

Yeah, I don't think nudity in the locker room was a problem in the Bible Belt until it became stigmatized everywhere else. Lost of hardcore conservatives did not have a problem seeing nudity and being seen naked.

 

[mako shark]

It's super easy AND convenient to blame the Bible Belt but having lived many places outside of "that area" I can tell you that is far more common now than in years past.

 

[cycleguy]

Ive seen the full transition from compete comfort being nude in the locker room to today where young men walk around in two and three towels with a pad lock at the top.
I reject that consevatives and the bible belt got us here. I do believe however two things played a major part.
First is straight men have this idea that all gay men desire them and want sex with them- which is far from reality.
Second is as acceptance has grown so has cruising- we've all seen it and walked in on it. The fact remains if youre going to have sex in public you're going to go to jail and have all of us labeled perverts. Taking a viagra before heading to the nude beach- its not cool and straight people dont like it.
I find a naked man a thing of natural beauty. A naked man with an erection however is sexual and to be shared in private.

 

[Triplexintx]

I went to take a shower recently after working out, it's a communal shower. I walked into the shower and there's a guy in there "showering" in swim trunks, I was naked. I kept thinking one of us should fill awkward.

 

[LGX]

As a millennial, I think several factors created the prefect storm for us not to be comfortable in lockers. Religion, gay rights and the internet. The early days (especially post AIDS) of gay rights created this discourse that the ''gays are hiding among us''. No one wanted to be seen that way, so most people would do everything they can to not be in that realm. So you don't look at naked men or be naked yourself.

For me, high speed internet was around when I hit puberty. My first penis i've seen were on men who were well above average. I never experienced being in place where men average men were naked (religious family). So for me, NAKED=Sex.

I'm also a black guy, so I've always been self conscious. I'm decent sized (7''), but feel very undersized for someone black not to mention I'm a grower. In the US at least, being black is very negative and the one thing I'm supposed to be good at (besides sports) puts me in a place where I feel like I've disappointed people.

You know when beautiful models have children, everyone wants to know what their kids will look like? Then if the kid turns out to be average, the kid kind of gets compared to the parent as if were their fault? That's what its like for me.

 

[Alex Sommers]

Do you really believe that being black in the U.S. is negative? Many black people in America live happy, productive lives and have good relationships with people of all races. Yes,racism continues to exist, but so inroads have been made against it. To make such a bold statement is troubling.

You are probably correct about AIDS playing a factor, but I think there would still be distrust -- just because the is more awareness of gay people than there was before.

In the 70s, religion played no role in whether or not someone showered in gym class. I guess that could have been different somewhere else -- but that would not be considered normal. I think you alluded to the main reason some/most Millenials won't shower in public -- it was not part of their experience growing up -- and now they are uncomfortable with it. Millenials who particpated in organized sports or were in the military got over this fear. I think the main reason that showering was pretty much removed from phys. ed was parents being overprotective. Thus, the snowflake generation..

One last thing. I"ve seen a few black guys naked in real life -- some in college, some at the gym. My roommate in college was a tall dude -- and he was definitely packing. But he was in the minority compared to the other guys I"ve seen who were all about the same size as the rest of us. It's only a big deal -- if you make it a big deal.

 

[Buddie]

Ive seen the full transition from compete comfort being nude in the locker room to today where young men walk around in two and three towels with a pad lock at the top.
I reject that consevatives and the bible belt got us here. I do believe however two things played a major part.
First is straight men have this idea that all gay men desire them and want sex with them- which is far from reality.
Second is as acceptance has grown so has cruising- we've all seen it and walked in on it. The fact remains if youre going to have sex in public you're going to go to jail and have all of us labeled perverts. Taking a viagra before heading to the nude beach- its not cool and straight people dont like it.
I find a naked man a thing of natural beauty. A naked man with an erection however is sexual and to be shared in private.

I can tell you it wasn’t you being awkward, I would be right behind you in my birthday suit as well, with no bathing suit.

 

[Buddie]

Western society has long has an issue where nakedness is seen as shameful. I guess this has biblical roots, where shame of nakedness and sinfulness become intertwined. This has, to some extent, become so ingrained in society that naked is seen as shameful even by many non-believers. I have to admit that I was once very conscious of this, to the point where a sleeveless shirt seemed indecent. A quick look at my photos will show that I have been completely cured of such feelings. (Blame Palm Springs and San Francisco.) So I walk to and from the showers with the towel over my shoulders, then lay it out on the floor and stand on it while dressing, rather than trying to use it as some sort of tent in which to dress invisibly.

Totally agree with you put the towel on the floor to stand on and possibly have a second just to dry of a little bit more but I wouldn’t wear it to do a towel dance in the locker room.

 

[Clean Cut and Hung]

I'm also a black guy, so I've always been self conscious. I'm decent sized (7''), but feel very undersized for someone black not to mention I'm a grower. In the US at least, being black is very negative and the one thing I'm supposed to be good at (besides sports) puts me in a place where I feel like I've disappointed people.

You know when beautiful models have children, everyone wants to know what their kids will look like? Then if the kid turns out to be average, the kid kind of gets compared to the parent as if were their fault? That's what its like for me.

1. A 7” cock is more than “decent.” My hard dick is 7 1/2”. I’ve had guys ask, “Wow. Is that nine inches?” And say, “That was awesome. I’ve never been fucked by a nine inch cock before.” These are guys from the US, not guys doing conversions from the metric system! So if your cock is truly 7” you have a good size bone.

2. It still amazes me how much weight a guy’s soft cock carries. Yeh, aesthetically, a big soft cock is nice to look at. But that’s where it should stop. I dated a guy who had a nice, but average-ish soft cock. However he had the biggest hardon I’ve been with. It was 9 1/2”. Yes, I measured it with a tape measure. LOL And yes, it was two inches longer than mine. I’ve also been with guys who had nice meaty soft cocks that I thought were going to be big when hard and but we’re only about six inches when boned up. (And I had a great time with them!) And I dated a guy who was six inches completely soft, with a little more hang at times. We were the same length hard. When he got hard his cock didn’t stretch out in length proportionally as much as mine, it mostly got hard and thick. While I love to check out a good looking guy’s cock in the lockerroom, or wherever, I never judge him — I’m usually taking in his whole body and thinking I’d like to see him boned up, among other thoughts.

3. The flip side of your comment about the models’ kid is how much beautiful people (the models) get praised, PRAISED, for something they had nothing to do with — or excludes all the work they’ve had done. There have been plenty of studies that show how beautiful people have a much easier time succeeding in a number of situations than average looking people. I am always amazed at how some beautiful people can be so absolutely fucked up! Fucked up gay hotties are the worst! I’ve always dated guys who were nice looking but not super hotties. They knew how to take care of themselves, stay in shape, eat healthy, dress appropriately and, importantly, make do with what they had and not obsess over every little normal “flaw” that we as humans have! Most importantly, they were good guys, with good values, who worked hard. For me it was the mix of the complete package.

I guess that’s a long way to say — be proud of your 7” cock!

 

[Brett222]

Im a alright somewhat athletic looking guy 6'1 blond and when Im at the gym I do my thing .I change, getting totally nude and I walk to the communal shower nude . I also sit in the sauna nude. I talk to the other guys and Im naked, some of the guys are nude too and some aren't. Guys check me out ,its cool though. I have a small penis plus I'm totally shaved and I'm not circumcised. I just a guy at the gym thats comfortable with his body

 

[ronin001]

As a millennial, I think several factors created the prefect storm for us not to be comfortable in lockers. Religion, gay rights and the internet. The early days (especially post AIDS) of gay rights created this discourse that the ''gays are hiding among us''. No one wanted to be seen that way, so most people would do everything they can to not be in that realm. So you don't look at naked men or be naked yourself.

For me, high speed internet was around when I hit puberty. My first penis i've seen were on men who were well above average. I never experienced being in place where men average men were naked (religious family). So for me, NAKED=Sex.

I'm also a black guy, so I've always been self conscious. I'm decent sized (7''), but feel very undersized for someone black not to mention I'm a grower. In the US at least, being black is very negative and the one thing I'm supposed to be good at (besides sports) puts me in a place where I feel like I've disappointed people.

You know when beautiful models have children, everyone wants to know what their kids will look like? Then if the kid turns out to be average, the kid kind of gets compared to the parent as if were their fault? That's what its like for me.

 

[Always lookin]

I just strip off at the locker and go to the showers naked, the showers in my gym are open gang showers along the side wall of the lockerroom so everyone can see, I love it.

Remind me to hit up your gym next time I’m in Dublin

 

[Alex Sommers]

This is a first. The other day, a Milllenial near my locker stripped to his boxer briefs and headed to the showers. The previous week, I heard him talking to a buddy in a shower near mine -- and his underwear were hanging over the shower curtain rod. I figured he undressed behind the curtain -- and would possibly dress behind there. I've been known to wear underwear into the shower room, but I take them off outside of the stall.

Anyway, the twist was that on this second morning -- I saw him return from the showers -- and he was already wearing pants --- not underpants, full length trousers! I thought -- where did he have those hanging while he showered?

 

[ericbear]

This is a first. The other day, a Milllenial near my locker stripped to his boxer briefs and headed to the showers. The previous week, I heard him talking to a buddy in a shower near mine -- and his underwear were hanging over the shower curtain rod. I figured he undressed behind the curtain -- and would possibly dress behind there. I've been known to wear underwear into the shower room, but I take them off outside of the stall.

Anyway, the twist was that on this second morning -- I saw him return from the showers -- and he was already wearing pants --- not underpants, full length trousers! I thought -- where did he have those hanging while he showered?

I've seen guys take their whole gym bag back with them and hang it on the towel hook outside the shower. At first, I thought maybe the forgot their padlock and couldn't lock the bag up. Later I realized theyvwere using the shower stall as a private changing room.

 

[txviewer]

I've seen guys take their whole gym bag back with them and hang it on the towel hook outside the shower. At first, I thought maybe the forgot their padlock and couldn't lock the bag up. Later I realized theyvwere using the shower stall as a private changing room.

To me, that's kinda where I draw the line in terms of getting changed. If the place has lockers, then use them. Get changed at the locker to either go and work out or to go use the shower afterwards, but to use a shower stall as a changing room? Geez. Not even I'm that self conscious to do that! Plus, I'm to the point now where it's like, I don't care if someone sees me naked if I change in a locker room.

 

[kelvinza]

I've seen guys take their whole gym bag back with them and hang it on the towel hook outside the shower. At first, I thought maybe the forgot their padlock and couldn't lock the bag up. Later I realized theyvwere using the shower stall as a private changing room.

I have seen this kind of way at my gym too. I know that nudity in our culture is not common even in a locker room. We usually change from work attire to gym outfit, using same underwear. SO it's quite common to see guys changing in the locker area. Still a few people are too scared to do so. And i feel pity for them.

 

[Alex Sommers]

As a rule, I try not to change in front of never nudes. Sometimes, it can't be helped unless I want to do a towel dance (which is just too much work, IMHO). But if I see a never nude lingering or sitting on a bench using his phone -- I move to a different section to put on my underwear -- and then return.

Some of the never nudes expect everyone to be like them -- and come across as a little exasperated if they have to witness nudity. I'm not really conscious of that when I'm changing, but it's more of a tit for tat. If you are uncomfortable changing in front of me, then I will be uncomfortable changing in front of you. If you throw caution to the win -- I will do the same. It's interesting that you usually make more friends with guys who aren't as shy than with those who are overly shy. There is a very social aspect of undressing in front of others -- that is not sexual (though for some, it is).

 

[223790]

I think that when locker rooms and open showers were normalized and common in popular media in the 1980s, there was less modesty going on. Somewhere along the line, it became sexualized and taboo to some guys. I think this happened when popular media stopped including it in movies, etc. One example that comes to mind is the movie "Footloose" from 1984. It's one of my favorite films, and I remember seeing it when it first came out (I was a teenager then). In the scene I have posted below, you can see guys using the open shower and a clear view of a guy's ass to the left of Kevin Bacon's head while he's talking to his buddies in the locker room after leaving the open shower. You also see some pubes (no penis) of another guy (to the right behind the guys talking) using the open shower.

You can see the character Woody's ass at the beginning of the shower scene. It wasn't shocking that the scene was in the movie. I honestly don't remember it even raising an eyebrow because it was so normal and common place to see that in movies back then. Compare the original Footloose to the God awful remake of the movie in 2011 (which I knew would be a disaster and didn't disappoint), and that scene was removed completely.

The shower scene begins at 1:05

 

[223790]

I think that when locker rooms and open showers were normalized and common in popular media in the 1980s, there was less modesty going on. Somewhere along the line, it became sexualized and taboo to some guys. I think this happened when popular media stopped including it in movies, etc. One example that comes to mind is the movie "Footloose" from 1984. It's one of my favorite films, and I remember seeing it when it first came out (I was a teenager then). In the scene I have posted below, you can see guys using the open shower and a clear view of a guy's ass to the left of Kevin Bacon's head while he's talking to his buddies in the locker room after leaving the open shower. You also see some pubes (no penis) of another guy (to the right behind the guys talking) using the open shower.

View attachment 23785431

You can see the character Woody's ass at the beginning of the shower scene. It wasn't shocking that the scene was in the movie. I honestly don't remember it even raising an eyebrow because it was so normal and common place to see that in movies back then. Compare the original Footloose to the God awful remake of the movie in 2011 (which I knew would be a disaster and didn't disappoint), and that scene was removed completely.

The shower scene begins at 1:05

It was also common to see guys showering together in communal showers in TV ads in the 1970s. John Travolta was in a Band-Aid and Safeguard commercial where he was showering with other guys. Again, this was common back then and normalized the practice of guys showering together without any hangups about nudity. While you didn't see any nudity in these ads, it was clearly implied.