# How comfortable are you being naked in front of others? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541 "2009-10-29T01:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/41 "2009-10-29T16:39:03Z")
> [@Ice\_Machine](#): > > 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. The only thing I’d find weird is I’d hate to shower in a locker room. Public showers give me the heebie jeebies. I’d probably just wait till I got home and have a proper, relaxing scrub at home. I’d never really feel clean at a public one. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/42 "2009-10-29T16:39:59Z")
I’m a little surprised at how many people are only comfortable naked around their lovers or doctors. Who’s the person who is only comfortable with strangers? Ha! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/43 "2009-10-29T16:52:49Z")
This summer I got “trapped” in my room for a short while in the morning, because I was naked. I usually sleep naked in the summer. I have to keep the bedroom door open for the dog. Normally it works out ok because the roommate (a dude, and I’m a chick) gets up and goes right into the shower, which is my cue to get up and get dressed while he’s occupied. One morning, for some reason, roomie was milling around in the kitchen instead of going right to the shower. I swear he was there for like a half hour before he went to shower. I was fully awake and waiting nervously for him to get on with it so I could get dressed! I’m cool with random guys and my roomie seeing me in just a bra and panties (hey, they see girls in bikinis all the time), but the idea of him seeing me naked freaked me the fuck out. We’ve been friends since we were 13. I think I’d feel the same way about my brother seeing me naked, but I’m actually cool with my best friend (a dude) seeing me naked. Weird. The worst part is that I’m not afraid of him seeing me naked because he’ll be aroused and we’ll turn into some horrible porn movie. Oh no - I don’t want him to have to see this mess and get grossed out! ETA: I need to clarify that my house is quite small and the bathroom is right next to my bedroom. So roomie doesn’t have to be snooping in on me to catch me naked if my door’s open. He just needs to be anywhere near the hallway. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/44 "2009-10-29T17:10:08Z")
Really some poorly worded choices. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/45 "2009-10-29T17:18:04Z")
I used to think I was pretty uptight, but came to realize that I really don’t have a problem with being innocently and agreeably naked in large groups-- mostly because of the time I’ve spent in Japan. Onsen (public baths) are freaking awesome, and also do a lot to make you not self-conscious about your own lumpy bits, considering you’re soaking in deliciously hot mineral water with a bunch of (in my case) Japanese ladies ranging in age from three to eighty-three, and you’re the only fat pasty red-headed gaikokujin in there. The only awkwardness was really when they tried to converse with me and my Japanese skills weren’t up to the task. I haven’t had the opportunity to be naked in mixed company, but I wouldn’t necessarily mind it as long as it was all in innocent fun (non-innocent fun being reserved for my husband). ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/46 "2009-10-29T17:35:44Z")
I don’t like being naked. I’m OK in front of my wife or a medical person, but nobody else. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/47 "2009-10-29T17:36:34Z")
Shit, I’ll get naked right now. And I’m at work. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/48 "2009-10-29T18:04:21Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > This summer I got “trapped” in my room for a short while in the morning, because I was naked. > > I usually sleep naked in the summer. I have to keep the bedroom door open for the dog. Normally it works out ok because the roommate (a dude, and I’m a chick) gets up and goes right into the shower, which is my cue to get up and get dressed while he’s occupied. You couldn’t kick the dog out for a few minutes? What do you do when you need to change in the middle of the day/evening, or does that not happen? ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/49 "2009-10-29T18:15:55Z")
**Zipper** - I’m trying to figure out why, if you were in your own room, you couldn’t throw on a t-shirt and shorts to get yourself to the bathroom. Do you mean you were still in bed in view of the open door, so if you got out from under the covers he might see you? Couldn’t you just call out to him “hey- turn around for a minute” or something? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/50 "2009-10-29T18:29:42Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > You couldn’t kick the dog out for a few minutes? What do you do when you need to change in the middle of the day/evening, or does that not happen? I mean I sleep with the door open so the dog can wander in and out as she pleases during the night. When I change otherwise, the door gets shut. > [@corkboard](#): > > **Zipper** - I’m trying to figure out why, if you were in your own room, you couldn’t throw on a t-shirt and shorts to get yourself to the bathroom. Do you mean you were still in bed in view of the open door, so if you got out from under the covers he might see you? Couldn’t you just call out to him “hey- turn around for a minute” or something? Yes I was still in bed, naked under the covers (which is why sleeping naked works - I stay under the covers). It was a distinct possibility that he could walk by at the same moment I was trying to pull on some clothes. I probably could have told him to stay back but at first I was too sleepy and eventually it just became funny. I’m new at this roommate stuff. It’s taking a while to figure out! However, when I sleep naked now I keep my jammies under my pillow. Problem solved, really. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/51 "2009-10-29T19:19:19Z")
It was a combo of “opposite gender” and “OK w/others in a group”, but I chose the former because it’s been generally more consistently true. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/52 "2009-10-29T19:58:19Z")
Alone in my own shower is fine; anything else I’ll go to great lengths to avoid. I’m really uncomfortable in the locker room at the gym, because I’m apparently the only woman there who doesn’t feel totally comfortable strutting around naked for no particular reason. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/53 "2009-10-29T20:15:11Z")
For me, the key question is whether whoever else is present will be comfortable with my nakedness. If they’re going to take it in stride, then the composition of the group is incidental. Whether I’d be comfortable being the only naked person in a group would depend on how large a group, and how well I knew and felt comfortable with the people. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/54 "2009-10-29T21:34:42Z")
> [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](#): > > And it doesn’t bother me a bit that the neighbors have probably seen me without clothes hundreds of times. Me too. My windows are a bit out of reach so I don’t bother drawing the shaded when I’m walking around in the buff, and it’s a pretty busy sidewalk just a few feet from my door. But [you could be charged with a crime for doing that](http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/101909_man_caught_making_coffee_naked_faces_charges). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/55 "2009-10-30T08:01:18Z")
While I’m sure I’d be okay with my spouse seeing me naked, I’m not married, so I had to pick the top. It’s not that I wouldn’t maybe do some of the others, but that it just makes me uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/56 "2009-10-30T13:49:09Z")
I voted “…as long as I’m not the only naked one”, but I have been an artists’ model and was OK with it then, but now, I don’t know, I don’t look as good and would feel more self-conscious if I were the only one. ---
**Author:** ![cromulent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cromulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cromulent)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/57 "2009-10-30T16:47:56Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I didn’t vote because I really don’t know, but I came in to tell my recent naked story (in the recent polless thread.) > > In Vegas, if you go to the spa at Caesar’s Palace and get a massage or something you get a free day pass to the whole spa, which is a sex-segregated Roman Bath - it has a big room with a frigidarium/tepidarium/cauldarium, and also a sauna and an herbal steam room and an Arctic cold room and showers and servants to bring you tea and such. You’re issued a locker and robe and all at the beginning, and all of that stuff is either nude or you brought a bathing suit (and imagine how many people thought to bring a bathing suit?) So I’m hanging out in the big Bath room with the three pools on one of the heated marble loungers (!) but I say, I’m not going to go naked no way no how. I don’t even know these people! This sounds just like a Korean Spa. There is a big one in College Point, Queens, that I love. The nekkid parts of the spa are also sex-segregated. At first it was odd, but now I really enjoy it – it feels so relaxing, like you’re just too laid-back to have to put on clothes while in one of the many hot tubs/saunas. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/58 "2009-10-31T02:54:40Z")
When I’m at home I’ll usually be as naked as the temperature allows. Which isn’t very much so at the moment, but during the summer I’ll wear under or less around the house. My wife is photosensitive so all the windows are covered with light-blocking curtains anyway, so it’s not as if I have to worry about the neighbors seeing. Around other people - friends or neighbors or whatever - my concern is for being presumptuous or offensive, since around here most people aren’t comfortable with casual nudity. I haven’t had much opportunity to be casually naked around people. I have no problem with it, I’m just not in that kind of situation often. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/59 "2009-10-31T02:59:11Z")
Let’s just say I am entirely comfortable in a non-sexual context with anyone no matter their gender or any other factor, highly uncomfortable in a sexual context with anyone but my partner. I am cold a lot though so I usually wear not only clothes but multiple layers. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541/60 "2009-10-31T03:06:34Z")
#1 - uncomfortable in front of ANYONE, and even back in my younger days, too. I’m even uncomfortable in hot summer without a bra in front of anyone. I’ve been a gym member and never saw any naked women there in the showers, either. Must be because we live in the repressed Northeast U.S. where we have to dress for cold weather 9 months of the year, maybe it’s different in California where it’s hot and physical perfection is a prerequisite for living there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-comfortable-are-you-being-naked-in-front-of-others/515541.md?page=4)