# Gym rats: are men in locker rooms more modest than they used to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196 "2006-11-13T04:42:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/101 "2015-10-16T17:11:18Z")
My sense of modesty has not gone out the window. I’m not sure why it’s considered some sort of moral high ground to have it do so. 😕 And I don’t care what people do like clearly some others here do. I see many levels of comfort but I don’t judge any of them. I don’t care if people do walk around naked in the locker room. I just choose not to. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Ice\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Machine)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/102 "2015-10-16T18:35:55Z")
I was about to post an anecdote but had a recollection of posting it already. Looks like I did in this [poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=537786) from several years back on similar topic of how comfortable people are naked. As I get older I seem to care less and less. Different scenario than a single-sex locker room but I went to a clothing optional beach this summer for the first time. I was quite nervous at first but my 8 year old son and I joined the locals. It was actually quite nice to be swimming in the lake without a swimsuit. The crowd was quite varied in age from 20s through 70s (we were the only ones with kids there). > [@How comfortable are you being naked in front of others?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/40): > > I chose the last one although I’m probably half way between the last 2. As long as it’s not inappropriate I’m good. I’m usually naked most of the time at home although as **corkboard** noted I’ll probably have to watch it soon as my daughter has just started kindergarten. > > Here in Texas I it seems I see a lot of folks who aren’t comfortable even in locker rooms. About a year ago we went to a waterpark and at the end of the day I took my son to shower and change and my wife took my daughter. I stripped myself and him down and showered in the open showers. Most of the guys (all ages) were wearing bathing suits and giving us odd looks. My wife had the same experience, the women were showering with their one-piece bathing suits on reaching under the suit to lather up and thought my wife odd for showering naked. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/103 "2015-10-16T20:07:12Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > My sense of modesty has not gone out the window. I’m not sure why it’s considered some sort of moral high ground to have it do so. 😕 > > And I don’t care what people do like clearly some others here do. I see many levels of comfort but I don’t judge any of them. I don’t care if people do walk around naked in the locker room. I just choose not to. Maybe you’d rather not delve more deeply into this and feel free not to comment, but may I ask why you think you choose not to be naked? As noted several times in this thread, you seem to be part of the future. It seems like more and more people feel the way you do. And I’m genuinely curious about what has happened to make your position the more common one. Not in a judgmental way. Just in a more, “Huh? So what’s with that?” way. I don’t think either attitude is ‘better’. I just wonder what is motivating this apparently broad change in behavior. I am about your age and one of the guys who doesn’t mind being naked in the locker room. I’ve played sports my whole life and so got used to locker room nudity. To repeat others, I am one of the ‘in-betweeners’. I don’t strip down and hang out for awhile. I get naked as necessary, grab a towel as soon as possible and then get dressed right away. To explain why I feel that nudity is no big deal, I would say that I was just brought up that way. My brother and I used to run around the back yard naked when we were kids. My parents would walk around the house naked as they got their clothes after a shower or whatever. I was just not brought up to see anything weird or shameful about a naked body. So that’s where I’m coming from. Where do you think your more modest attitude comes from? Do you find nudity weird or shameful? Are you worried about people taking pictures of you with their phones? Are you worried that people are staring at you and judging you? Again, I don’t mean any disrespect, I just would like to understand your point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/104 "2015-10-16T22:19:39Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Again, I don’t mean any disrespect, I just would like to understand your point of view. > [@Anaamika](#): > > Your old days are _nothing_ like my old days. Like jz says, it’s a white people thing! Other Indian women in the gym are even more conservative than me. I absolutely don’t want to speak for **Anaamika** , but I thought the above pretty much explains it - she grew up in a household that was much more culturally conservative about casual nudity. My ( quite white ) parents were definitely much more casual about nudity than I am. I avoided communal showers in HS as much as I reasonably could and I was never one for skinny-dipping as an adult. I don’t attend a public gym these days, but when I did I was roughly in the same bailiwick as **Anaamika** with how I comported myself. Showered nude, quickly - coverd up with a towel at all other times, dressed as quickly as possible and avoided interaction with others while vulnerable skin was showing ;). ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/105 "2015-10-17T00:46:14Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Maybe you’d rather not delve more deeply into this and feel free not to comment, but may I ask why you think you choose not to be naked? speaking for myself, you may ask but it’s none of your business. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/106 "2015-10-17T01:04:28Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > speaking for myself, you may ask but it’s none of your business. Whew! Close call! Good thing he _didn’t_ ask you. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/107 "2015-10-17T02:01:10Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Whew! Close call! Good thing he _didn’t_ ask you. well, given that **Anaamika** and I have been advancing similar viewpoints, I felt I could answer. But I’m glad you felt you could stick your ass into the conversation while adding no value whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/108 "2015-10-17T02:09:39Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > well, given that **Anaamika** and I have been advancing similar viewpoints, I felt I could answer. But I’m glad you felt you could stick your ass into the conversation while adding no value whatsoever. Yeah, because you answering when you weren’t even the one being asked, only to basically say, “not telling!” _really_ advanced the dialogue here in a very meaningful and relevant way. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/109 "2015-10-17T09:44:53Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > STOP LOOKING. I mean, why do you care? This is the part I don’t get. I’m at the gym to work out, not to flash my girlie parts everywhere. Do you ever think this kind of shit is maybe why people stop going to the gym? Why can’t you just mind your own freakin business? > > And again, I don’t wear my underwear in the shower, and how would you know anyway, unless you were creeping? I care, not about you personally, but in general because I see it as part of a larger trend of increasing body image alienation (leading to psychological problems, eating disorders, excessive plastic surgery, having unrealistic notions of what humans look like when your only reference are photoshopped porn images and porn movies, etc.), and of general sexualisation (naked sexualised tits on commercials are ok – real life nursing mother not, and 5yo girls must wear bikinis). Anyway, Europe doesn’t seem to have progressed this far. My daughters still shower after gym class (doh), and the gyms I’ve been to in Europe aren’t controlled by nudity angst. In the gyms I’ve been to in Germany, Ukraine and Russia, the cleaners were always women, and they’d clean while the guys would take showers. Nobody gives a damn. In Denmark the female locker room had workmen doing some repairs and painting. The girls didn’t seem to mind. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/110 "2015-10-17T10:54:29Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > I care, not about you personally, but in general because I see it as part of a larger trend of increasing body image alienation (leading to psychological problems, eating disorders, excessive plastic surgery, having unrealistic notions of what humans look like when your only reference are photoshopped porn images and porn movies, etc.), and of general sexualisation (naked sexualised tits on commercials are ok – real life nursing mother not, and 5yo girls must wear bikinis). > > Anyway, Europe doesn’t seem to have progressed this far. My daughters still shower after gym class (doh), and the gyms I’ve been to in Europe aren’t controlled by nudity angst. In the gyms I’ve been to in Germany, Ukraine and Russia, the cleaners were always women, and they’d clean while the guys would take showers. Nobody gives a damn. In Denmark the female locker room had workmen doing some repairs and painting. The girls didn’t seem to mind. I… wish I would have said this from an Old Person POV (when did I get old? When my oldest hit 18 years old, I guess). From my heritage POV… our women apparently ran around topless according to all the really old paintings/inkings/prints/whatever old images are called except for cartography because that’s the wrong Continent. And then they got dressed as time Progressed. I’m skeptical … native mosquitoes and gnats are annoying and downright crazy-making a few months out of the year with chemicals… without them? I guess I would be making excuses to stay inside of the lodges for quite a few months of the year… an extra itchy month is added for the Asian skeeters. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/111 "2015-10-17T15:02:21Z")
> [@Malienation](#): > > Good point. When I was growing up, I shared a room with my brother until we were split up by college. When my sister went away to college (she’s the oldest), we still shared a room…too used to it to care, I guess. Only one bathroom, too, so dad/son/son in there shaving/showering/taking a leak all at once was common too. My brother and I always shared a bedroom growing up, as did most other same sex siblings in the neighborhood. The houses weren’t small, but back in the day the builders tended to skimp on bedrooms in favor of the “public” areas of a house like the living room. There were usually multiple bathrooms but those would almost always be off the hall, rather than ensuite. I was so used to sharing a bedroom that, on a couple of occasions when I decided to move into a different room, I’d ended up moving my things back to the shared bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/112 "2015-10-19T03:48:11Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > speaking for myself, you may ask but it’s none of your business. Well, there you go. You won’t advance this discussion. As is your right. Hopefully, others will be more forthcoming to fight ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/113 "2015-10-19T13:57:12Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Anyway, Europe doesn’t seem to have progressed this far. My daughters still shower after gym class (doh), and the gyms I’ve been to in Europe aren’t controlled by nudity angst. In the gyms I’ve been to in Germany, Ukraine and Russia, the cleaners were always women, and they’d clean while the guys would take showers. Nobody gives a damn. In Denmark the female locker room had workmen doing some repairs and painting. The girls didn’t seem to mind. Yeah, I was just going to say the same thing about locker rooms in Europe – still a lot of prolonged nudity here. And I second the thing about opposite sex cleaners. Slightly off topic, but the thing I hate about the communal showers without dividers is the people who come out of a sauna and take a COLD shower right next to you, dousing you with their cold spray… ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/114 "2015-10-19T14:49:06Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > My brother and I always shared a bedroom growing up, as did most other same sex siblings in the neighborhood. The houses weren’t small, but back in the day the builders tended to skimp on bedrooms in favor of the “public” areas of a house like the living room. There were usually multiple bathrooms but those would almost always be off the hall, rather than ensuite. > > I was so used to sharing a bedroom that, on a couple of occasions when I decided to move into a different room, I’d ended up moving my things back to the shared bedroom. I think the lack of bedroom-sharing is a factor too. My brother and I at least shared a room for a time when we were little kids. OTOH, I have a friend who grew up in a house where he and his brother had a joint bathroom “suite” between their two rooms, each with his own private sink, and a common shower and toilet. So not only did he never share a bedroom, the greatest number of other people he ever had to share a shower or toilet with was 1. And he’s very squeamish about changing or even going shirtless around other people. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/115 "2015-10-19T18:07:55Z")
Interesting… apparently my experience was pretty rare for people of my generation. I graduated high school in 2002. Most guys, me included, showered sans clothing in the communal showers after gym class and after sports practices. I currently play men’s league ice hockey. I’d say 99% of guys shower in the community showers after skating. I can only think of one guy who I’ve noticed does not. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/116 "2015-10-19T18:15:23Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > Interesting… apparently my experience was pretty rare for people of my generation. I graduated high school in 2002. Most guys, me included, showered sans clothing in the communal showers after gym class and after sports practices. > > I currently play men’s league ice hockey. I’d say 99% of guys shower in the community showers after skating. I can only think of one guy who I’ve noticed does not. I don’t think the showering after hockey is rare. I think sports teams, especially as adults, are more apt to be comfortable enough to do that. Especially if you go out for beers/food after. I’d say showering after gym class in 2002 is definitely rare. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/117 "2015-10-21T11:37:44Z")
For women, I think it’s changed a lot in the past twenty years or so. I’ve been going swimming about weekly for that long, either alone or with my daughter, and have definitely noticed a change. So it’s not just confined to men, and I think that means it’s just about homophobia, which tends to be more directed towards men than women (and I’m a lesbian, btw). It’s no big deal. I’m not even sure that changing takes longer, even though it should, because we’re all waiting for cubicles. Maybe you use the space better when it’s briefly your own, rather than juggling swimsuits and clothes, and still have the social pressure to get out of the cubicle quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/118 "2015-10-21T20:49:53Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > I don’t think the showering after hockey is rare. I think sports teams, especially as adults, are more apt to be comfortable enough to do that. Especially if you go out for beers/food after. > > I’d say showering after gym class in 2002 is definitely rare. I don’t know whether by mentioning going out afterward, you meant to invoke the general idea that a sports team has that much camaraderie to be comfortable with showering, or specifically the idea that they’re heading somewhere else immediately afterward. But if it’s the latter, that reminds me of a way in which this increased squeamishness actually does affect the rest of us, and that is that many people will only shower at home, which causes an extra trip, which takes extra time. I notice a lot of the younger guys at the gym not only will not get changed in front of other guys, they won’t even shower in a private stall. They show up to the gym in their gym wear, and leave in their gym wear. My friend whom I mentioned earlier is like this. He won’t use public showers at all, even with private stalls (in addition to being skittish about changing around others, he’s a bit of a germophobe.) So he can’t come straight from his gym or tennis club to meet up. He has to go home and shower first. ---
**Author:** ![St\_john](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@St\_john](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_john)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/119 "2016-01-21T03:51:19Z")
I’m one of the old guys. I grew up with out being concerned about my body. I shared a room with my sister till we were 10 and 11, she a year and a half is older then I am. Then I started sharing a room with our older brother. We had only one bathroom and the door was never locked. If it was closed you knocked. We also walked to and from the bathroom nude. The last few years I have worked with the youth at church and I was amazed that no one even the sports teams did not take showers. On a retreat I shared a room with the youth pastor and he changed under the covers because he was afraid of anyone seeing him undressed. I asked him about this and his response was he had never changed in front of anyone not even family members. He shared a room with his brother and always went into the bathroom to change. I wander how he deals with his wife now that he is married. I have also used change rooms in Europa. I have seen men bring their daughters, as old as 11 or 12, into the showers with them and no one has a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196/120 "2016-01-21T05:34:52Z")
**St\_john** , I want to thank you for reviving three different threads today about nudity. I am pleased that you are so relaxed and mature about your own and others’ naked bodies. On the other hand, maybe you could find additional topics to talk about, just, you know, for a little variety. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gym-rats-are-men-in-locker-rooms-more-modest-than-they-used-to-be/380196.md?page=7)