Attitudes towards casual nudity

[Menocchio]

Inspired by comments in this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=429131) on the almost certainly horrible upcoming film "I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry". In that film, Adam Sandler's character, a heterosexual masquerading as a homosexual for some contrived reason, must conceal conceal his true orientation before Jessica Biel. Biel, naturally, not only undresses in front of the apparently gay man, but invites him to feel her up. My question, does anyone actually think like that?

Let's leave aside getting to second base (I suspect the answer is no, unless he's a doctor or you're getting your nipple pierced), and talk about the nudity. On a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being "if my shirt were on fire, I'd still ask him to turn around before I took it off", and 10 being "if it weren't for those pesky public indecency laws, I'd be nude all the time. Ah! Feel the breeze!") How comfortable would you feel being mostly or completely nude in front of the following people:
A: A platonic female friend who is heterosexual.
B: A platonic female friend who is homosexual.
C: A platonic male friend who is heterosexual.
D: A platonic male friend who is homosexual.
E: Your lover, in a completely non-sexual situation.
(I apologize for leaving out bisexuals, but for this poll, just consider them lumped in with the sex/orientation combos that could be attracted to you).

Assume that you know and trust all of the above enough that you feel secure that they won't be driven into a frenzy by your uncovered beauty, and won't do anything more than enjoy the view. Also assume, for this hypothetical, that you are either single or that your SO doesn't really care about such things. Please also state your gender and sexual orientation.

My hypothesis is that societal views on modesty and body image are strong enough that people would only be marginally more comfortable in front a member of the opposite sex that they believe cannot be attracted to them than one that they think might be.

FTR:
Male, heterosexual
A: 3
B: 4
C: 7
D: 6
E: 7

[storyteller0910]

Male, heterosexual
A: 2
B: 2
C: 2
D: 2
E: 10

[Helen's Eidolon]

It depends in what context, I suppose. A gym locker room? A beach? A bedroom? My best guesses (assuming the other person was comfortable - if I was making anyone uncomfortable, I'd be uncomfortable too):

Female
A: 6
B: 6
C: 2
D: 4
E: 10 (a no-brainer)

[Anaamika]

I am *very* open-minded about many things but I gotta admit I still have a lot of hangups about nudity. The only people who have ever seen me nude or close to nude are:

My doctor. And you know how doctors do it, these days they only expose the parts they need to see.
Close & immediate members of my family, and since I became an adult, never without underwear at least
Past lovers and my current SO

And that is the way it will remain. I don't change in front of my girlfriends. I don't borrow their clothes. I certainly wouldn't change in front of any male other than himself.

Female, straight.

Upon review, like many people, I don't consider "beach" or "locker room" to be in the same category. And why? Because everyone's doing it. My thought upon reading the OP was it was just me and this other person.

[cowgirl]

Female, straight-ish.

If a female friend (straight or gay) is over at my house and I need to change my clothes, I don't close the bedroom door. If a male straight friend is, I do (unless he's my lover). I can't imagine any other situation where I would be nude when nobody else is.

So aside from that I don't differentiate between the categories you list - if I'd disrobe in front of a straight female I'd disrobe in front of a straight guy; if not the former, then not the latter.

I have been nude in front of straight men who aren't my lover in the same situations in which I would be nude in front of straight women, namely, saunas and hot tubs and beaches and so on.

[RTFirefly]

Male, heterosexual
A: 8
B: 8
C: 5
D: 5
E: 10

[treis]

A: A platonic female friend who is heterosexual.
B: A platonic female friend who is homosexual.
C: A platonic male friend who is heterosexual.
D: A platonic male friend who is homosexual.
E: Your lover, in a completely non-sexual situation.

Straight Male

A+B: I'd say 4, but that is more for their benefit than mine.
C+D: 10
E: 10

I think there has to be a distinction here. If one of my male friends started walking around the house naked that would elicit a "dude, put some clothes on", but changing doesn't bother me at all.

[Litoris]

Female, age 35 and a-e are all 10. I figure everyone has approximately the same body parts, some may look a bit better than others, but aside from penises (penii?) being outies and vajayjays being innies...it's all just flesh.

Now, I do try to cover myself if I know someone is coming to my home, but most of the time, I am nekkid as a jaybird. Meh....just the way I am.

[Menocchio]

For clarification, the situation I'm envisioning is something more private and intimate than a locker room (and thus without the automatic implied "don't look" social contract), but still without any intent to arouse the viewer. Changing clothes in a private bedroom is a decent example.

[Jodi]

Straight female, probably would be considered pretty modest.

Female friends (don't give a shit about orientation): I would whip off tops and bottoms without a thought (underwear on), probably wouldn't mind the bra, wouldn't want to go the full monty. Things like locker rooms or changing into a swimsuit, you do your own thing and basically don't look at anyone else.

Men: Wouldn't change any underwear-revealing article in front of them unless I had to. Again, orientation doesn't matter since the issue isn't whether they will be stunned by my byew-tay, but whether I will make them or myself uncomfortable.

Lover (which would be male): Nekkid when appropriate, but I don't have the body confidence to march around buck-naked in front of anyone else without a reason.

[SSG Schwartz]

A 8
B 10
C 10
D 5
E 10

As a soldier, you get used to a lack of privacy. In addition, my wife almost never has pants on when she is home. So, modesty has gone out the window for me. I can and have taken a baby wipe bath in front of member of the opposite and same sex. No big deal as long as no one acts in a lewd manner.

SSG Schwartz

[Gala Matrix Fire]

Pretty much 10 for all of them, as I'm pretty close to the philosophy you mentioned in your op: "If it weren't for those pesky laws, I'd be naked all the time."
Not at work, of course. Not even out in public. But someday when I'm a little older I can envision myself moving to a nudist colony so I can check my mailbox without putting my pants back on.
I've been in underwear in all the situations you've mentioned, although I never know for sure whether my platonic friends are gay or not.
I'm a straight female.

[ZipperJJ]

Female, straight.

Not too shy about being naked in front of anyone. This is a stupid excuse but when you're in band in high school there's a lot of group changing that's done. I've been in my skiv's in front of plenty of casual hetero guy friends and naked plenty of times with girl friends.

I've even been to a nudist group's swim, just for fun :)

Oddly enough my boyfriend thinks I'm totally prude because I hate being in my front room with my shirt off (or more) when the blinds aren't drawn. Yes indeed I am afraid of the neighbors seeing me but that's way off of this poll's scale I'd think

[silenus]

Male, straight. I echo the "Context is everything" comment.

A. 9
B. 9
C. 9
D. 9
E. 11

I would be concerned about my nudity for aesthetic reasons, not moral or comfort ones.

[Frosted Glass]

A: A platonic female friend who is heterosexual.
B: A platonic female friend who is homosexual.
C: A platonic male friend who is heterosexual.
D: A platonic male friend who is homosexual.
E: Your lover, in a completely non-sexual situation.


Well to me the key word in the above scenarios is "friend". I am equally comfortable naked around all of my friends regardless of orientation. A platonic friend is platonic so it shouldn't matter. My only hang up in letting it all hang out is not wanting to go against their own feelings on nudity. Admittedly, I don't just let it fly whenever I'm sitting around in the living room with friends, but if you plan on staying in the bathroom to shave or apply makeup while I'm in the shower then I have no problem stripping down and hopping in. So for A-D my answer is 8. With E, my answer is 10.

[phouka]

Well, in college, I worked as a nude model for a couple of art classes. One was at a women's school. The other was coed. Context, of course, is key. I'm not interested in being naked around a person who could, theoretically, be sexually attracted to me unless it's okay in context (like, we're all at a nudist resort).

1: 9
2: 5
3: 3
4: 5
5: 10

[Patty O'Furniture]

Changing clothes in a private bedroom is a decent example.

This happens to me from time to time as I have male friends drop by unexpectedly, so I'll often be lounging around in my boxers. After letting them in and chit-chat for a little while, I wander into my bedroom to get properly dressed to go out for lunch (or whatever it is they came over for). Almost always the friend will tag along with me because we're involved in conversation or something, and I'll stip down and get dressed while we carry on the chat. This has happened with both gay and straight male friends.

I look at it as not much different than a locker room situation. In fact even less forbidden since (1) I'm at home and (2) the other guy is a friend. If it was a female friend or some random male stranger I doubt the same thing would happen.

1: 1
2: 1
3: 10
4: 10
5: 10

[Patty O'Furniture]

In that film, Adam Sandler's character, a heterosexual masquerading as a homosexual for some contrived reason, must conceal conceal his true orientation before Jessica Biel. Biel, naturally, not only undresses in front of the apparently gay man, but invites him to feel her up. My question, does anyone actually think like that?

That scene is nothing but soft core porn to get the target audience into the theater. I suspect much of the movie contains material of similar intellectual depth and therefore I won't be going anywhere near it.

[A.R. Cane]

With a military career behind me, I lost any bashfulness about nudity long ago. The wife, kids and I used to go camping at an isolated spot on a creek, w/ a nice sandbar. We got into the habit of skinny dipping, the kids made an issue at first, but it soon became quite natural, no sexual aspect at all, just good fun. I go every three months for a bladder exam, my doc's very gay male nurse, prepares my penis while we chat about various things, no sexual reaction or embarassment involved.

[Happy Lendervedder]

Male, het:
A: 2
B: 3
C: 8
D: 7
E: 10

Like someone else said, my primary concern for getting undressed in front of females isn't my comfort level, but their's. Not many people really feel comfortable in front of a naked man.

[Beaucarnea]

All 10's, but not because of any exhibitionistic tendencies, but because I am utterly unashamed. Plus, chances are that my audience either a) has one or b) has seen one.

[Strinka]

Male - heterosexual
A:6
B:5
C:3
D:4
E:10

[Mangetout]

It depends almost entirely on the situation, rather than the person present. I'd feel quite awkward walking naked through a busy city centre (I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, just that I'd find it a bit awkward), I'd also feel pretty awkward leaving the room to make coffee for visiting friends, then walking back in naked with the tray, but if I was changing into swimming gear at the beach, or something like that, it doesn't worry me at all. In such situations, I refrain from being naked mostly to spare the embarrassment of others, not myself.

[Freudian Slit]

Mostly hetero female.

A. 8
B. 8
C. 8
D. 8
E. 10

Except I might feel differently if the other person was self conscious or weirded out by seeing me naked...

ETA: Basically, what Mangetout said in terms of situation. My numbers basically referred to situations of nudity around people that I knew (in small numbers--i.e., being naked in front of one hetero female).

[chaoticbear]

Male, gay.
A: 10
B: 10
C: 10
D: 10
E: 11.4 (The Russian judge only gave me a 9.5.)

[TokyoBayer]

hetro male.

For me, there's a world of difference between being "mostly" and "completely" naked. It boils down to if the naughty bits are showing or not. If not, then either a 10 or maybe a 9 for boxer shorts sort of things for any of the list, and maybe a little less for something like a speedo briefs.
For "compelely:"

A: 5 -- Probably a higher number (more comfortable) but I think she would be more uncomfortable than I would.
B: 6
C: 9.5 I visit public baths a lot (separated by sex)
D: 9.5 and you have to assume not everyone is straight.
E: 10


Also, my wife would be a 1 with me being naked with a straight woman friend and I'm guessing a 2 or 3 with a gay woman friend.
(But a 1 for any case in front of my mother.)

[olivesmarch4th]

Oooh, I might have some weird answers.


Female, heterosexual

A: A platonic female friend who is heterosexual. -- 5
B: A platonic female friend who is homosexual. --8
C: A platonic male friend who is heterosexual. --2
D: A platonic male friend who is homosexual. --5
E: Your lover, in a completely non-sexual situation. --10

Yes, I am actually more comfortable with undressing in front of lesbians than any other sort of person (my husband notwithstanding.) I have actually sat around naked for hours and hours in front of lesbians and a gay dude (well, I was really drunk--but it was hot outside, dammit!)

Can't really explain why there. Maybe it has to do more with the personalities of the people I have in mind than their sexual orientation, per se. The girls in question are some of my best friends and not particularly image-conscious. When I'm around them I feel like I'm a personality, not a body.

The idea of undressing in front of a straight guy friend squicks me out the most. But that is most likely because I'm married. Take me back to my single days and I might not mind, if he had the right sort of personality. But I would still mind more.

[panache45]

A. 4
B. 7
C. 4
D. 2*
E. 10

Gay male. *The strange thing is that even though I'm in a long-term monogamous relationship, I still think of a hypothetical gay man as a possible partner. And you know how critical we can be. Of course if he's a troll, change it to 10.

[SSG Schwartz]

Female, straight.

Not too shy about being naked in front of anyone.

*cite?

SSG Schwartz

[Frosted Glass]

Well to me the key word in the above scenarios is "friend". I am equally comfortable naked around all of my friends regardless of orientation. A platonic friend is platonic so it shouldn't matter. My only hang up in letting it all hang out is not wanting to go against their own feelings on nudity. Admittedly, I don't just let it fly whenever I'm sitting around in the living room with friends, but if you plan on staying in the bathroom to shave or apply makeup while I'm in the shower then I have no problem stripping down and hopping in. So for A-D my answer is 8. With E, my answer is 10.

I forgot to say that I am a hetero Male.

[Muffin]

I'm a hetro male.

Given a few decades of wild water kayaking, I have no problem with being nude in front of anyone who does not mind me being nude. When you come off an icy spring flood river, totally out of energy, all you want to do is get your cold, shrivelled self out of your wet paddling togs and into something dry and warm, followed up by a warm sugar drink. Male, female, whatever, you all congregate on the side of the vehicles that keep you out of view from the road, and then strip down, towel off, and bundle up. Believe me, no one looks good naked at the end of a day dodging bergy bits. One of my paddling friends once said that "There's nothing as sexy as a woman wearing fuzzy rubber" as he set off on a two thousand mile quest to find a paddling girlfriend. True enough about the fuzzy rubber, but once that suit comes off after an early spring paddle, there's nothing sexy -- just another shivering human prune, just like you, with only a slight difference in the vaguely recognizable dangly bits. Modesty takes the back seat when it stands between you and a warm sweater. After enough of this, you simply stop caring if another paddler sees you nude, for you are no more interested in looking at them then they are you, other than friends teasing about who is shivering so badly that he or she needs help being un-suited or needs someone to hold his or her warm drink, or, for females, who has goose bumps bigger than their nips, or, for males, who's penis has simply disappeared from the cold. Point, look, laugh -- 'cause you and your friends all look like drowned rats.

A: A platonic female friend who is heterosexual.
10. That would be my sauna buddy. I love her dearly, but only platonically, not sexually. It would be very odd to not be naked with her when enjoying the löyly together, or massaging, or while cooling off under the stars (or belly flopping from the sauna's deck into a few feet of snow). There are some things in life that should be done in the buff -- saunas and massages are two of them. The first time she had me over for a sauna, she simply asked if I would mind if she did not wear a bathing suit. I had no problem with that, given that wearing a bathing suit in a sauna is worse that wearing one in the bathtub or shower. I don't know if she has ever looked at me "that way", but if she did it wouldn't bother me, and if she wanted my massaging to move into sexual territory, I'd be glad to do that for her. The other platonic hetro female friend of mine with whom I don't mind being naked together is an ex-girlfriend. Although our friendship has been strictly platonic for several years, we are nude when sauning and massaging (she gives a wonderfully powerful massage (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8780521&postcount=45)), and we still get dressed in front of each other out of habit. I have several close female hetro friends whom I simply can't imagine the circumstances in which we would ever be naked together. I wouldn't be bothered by being naked in front of any of them, for they are close friends who can (and do) tease me without ever being mean to me, but being in the duff together simply is not a situation that would ever arise.


B: A platonic female friend who is homosexual.
10. Platonic is platonic, so it wouldn't make any difference to me. I used to have a lesbian friend (we both moved away and have now lost touch) with whom one or the other of us would occasionally come across the other naked (usually changing to go out for the evening). We were very sexually open in our conversations (having crushes on the same women, talking about what we enjoyed in bed, etc.), so nudity in front of each other was no big deal given the intimacy of our platonic friendship. The friendship had initially started as a sexual one, but she came to the decision that she was gay rather than bi. Unfortunately for me, she told me about her decision when she was on top, so it put an immediate, frustrating, and hilarious ("What, I just turned you off men? Couldn't you have waited a few more minutes before coming to that conclusion?") end to our physical relationship, but the platonic friendship that followed was a lot of fun.

C: A platonic male friend who is heterosexual.
10. School and sports showers since grade five. Nothing new here. The only time I ever felt uncomfortable was when a male hetro friend in the sauna asked me to pop a zit in a hard to reach place on his back. I said no. Ick. But that was zit popping, not nudity, that squicked me out.

D: A platonic male friend who is homosexual.
10. Again, platonic is platonic. Besides, my body really is nothing to get excited over; I'm a short, stout, middle aged guy. If a gay man came across me nude, he'd probably toss a carpet over me, or stand some potted plants in front of me, simply to improve the aesthetics of the room. If, by some remote chance, a fellow did get a rise, I'd be very flattered. I haven't had a gay male friend since grade school -- it never bothered me to be nude with him. The only downside was that the friendship was platonic on my side, but at first not on his side, for he was very frustrated by my lack of interest in having sex with him (and yes, we tried it quite a few times, but it just didn't do a thing for me at all, so we stopped, but continued to be very close platonic friends).

E: Your lover, in a completely non-sexual situation.
10. Of course. 'Nuff said.

I'm usually nude at home, and nude while swimming or lazing on beaches in the wilderness. As long as I am certain that no one will accidentally come across me in a place where nudity is not the norm, and that my friends who are with me are entirely comfortable with my nudity, I prefer not to wear clothes.

What it comes down to is that I really don't like clothes. Clothes are a necessary evil.

[Muffin]

I wonder if my aversion to clothes runs in the family. When my sister was three years old, she would would wander about the neighbourhood (yes, kids did that back then -- you'd be amazed at how many doors down a three year old can hustle), stripping along the way and hiding her clothes. My mother used to pay rewards to kids who found and retruned my sister's clothes. (Unfortunately, my mother could never get my sister to tell her where she had hidden her clothes, for my sister only said my name until she was four, at which time she suddenly started talking in full, coherent paragraphs.)

[gallows fodder]

Heh, my family has always teased me for being abnormally modest -- looks like they're right. :)

Female, heterosexual.
A: 2
B: 1
C: 1
D: 1
E: 6.5

[Like Fry]

Hmmm, I used to be much more shy, but even though I have done some skinny dipping, I was very uncomfortable. However, around my SO I am completely comfy. Im ok around Doc's, and I can be in my underwear around people mor eor less, just not nude. I forgot to mention, around the time I was skinny dipping I was more comfy being naked, but the poll reflects my current feelings.

Male, Heterosexual

a 1
b 1
c 1
d 1
e 10



Fry

[Cat Fight]

Female, pretty comfortable in front of anyone but the hetero guys. But only because I can sense their discomfort. My level of comfort is often linked to that of whoever I'm with -- a certain friend of mine has no qualms walking around my place naked while deciding what to wear, and it sort of relaxes all the other women present. Even those who wouldn't normally change clothes in front of other women. Rubs off on us, so to speak.