# Men in dorms - where did you find privacy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388 "2013-09-09T04:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [September 9, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/1 "2013-09-09T04:09:43Z")
For masturbation, that is. Before I went to college (a loooooong time ago) I had my own room at home, which I think is pretty standard for teenage males. Then I suddenly was sharing a very small room with one other guy. The showers were communal, no privacy at all. The only real privacy was the toilet stalls, I guess, unless you were lucky enough to have a roommate with whom you could negotiate some kind of privacy time-sharing on the room. Did you reduce the number of times per day? Did you have other coping strategies? Poll to follow, but stories also welcome. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/2 "2013-09-09T04:35:55Z")
Without admitting anything, there’s also when your roommate goes to shower, meals, classes and extra-curriculars. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/3 "2013-09-09T05:01:06Z")
I don’t dare share any personal stories, but it was a pretty open “secret” that all the guys in my dorm used the shower. There were already lots of reasons to wear sandals into the shower, but…well, that was one more. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/4 "2013-09-09T05:36:48Z")
I’d wait till the roomie was away! Jeez, obvious! He goes off to dinner, I pull the old throttle! (I once came back early from dinner, and caught him! Heh!) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/5 "2013-09-09T05:50:19Z")
Yeah I might have snuck one or two in “under the radar” when my room mate was asleep (he was a deep sleeper who talked a lot in his sleep). Most of the time I just planned it around his schedule so if I knew he was going to be gone for a while due to classes or whatever, I’d take care of business as part of the routine. Don’t think I ever used a public area like toilet stalls or showers. They were all individual/private stalls though, so I could have. ---
**Author:** ![Mathematics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@Mathematics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathematics)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/6 "2013-09-09T05:54:29Z")
Why is this question only for men? In fact, I’d say it’s a much bigger problem for ladies who are used to using a vibe all the time. Not exactly possible in many college situations. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/7 "2013-09-09T06:33:56Z")
> [@Mathematics](#): > > Why is this question only for men? > > In fact, I’d say it’s a much bigger problem for ladies who are used to using a vibe all the time. Not exactly possible in many college situations. Do you mean they aren’t having constant hot lesbian sex with their roommates? Did I misunderstand this college thing completely? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/8 "2013-09-09T08:15:08Z")
Never lived in a dorm, but man kids today are spoiled with their tablet computers and bathroom stalls. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/9 "2013-09-09T11:26:07Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Do you mean they aren’t having constant hot lesbian sex with their roommates? Did I misunderstand this college thing completely? Don’t forget about pillow fights 101. I think it was a mandatory class or something. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/10 "2013-09-09T11:41:56Z")
Spent 4.5 years in the dorms for undergrad. Typically I just waited until I knew my roommate would be out - at classes, partying for the evening, or gone home for the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/11 "2013-09-09T12:17:52Z")
Shower stalls and toilet cubicles wouldn’t have worked, as the dorm I was in didn’t have doors on either. What’s the problem here? In college, I had girlfriends, who needs to go solo? The only problem we had was finding dark spots at night that weren’t already occupied by other couples. And that was before co-ed dorms, too. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/12 "2013-09-09T13:31:53Z")
In the shower. We didn’t have the open shower stalls so it was easy. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/13 "2013-09-09T15:15:53Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Never lived in a dorm, but man kids today are spoiled with their tablet computers and bathroom stalls. Yeah, I was going to say that I think open/communal showers in college dorms are a thing of the past at most schools, and have been for a while. Answer me _this_ college masturbation question, though… A girl I knew always complained that at least once a week the guys in her dorm would get together in a living room (these were like dorm apartments) and watch porn. What I could never figure out was…what would they _do_ then? Call me uncreative, but I thought the point of porn was to get off. She said they didn’t watch with girlfriends, and I highly doubt this was a prelude to a group masturbation session. So what would they do? One by one run to the restroom to “take care of business,” to the full knowledge of everyone else? Watch porn but _not_ masturbate? (Unlikely: these are 18-19 year old guys, remember.) I could never figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/14 "2013-09-09T15:16:59Z")
I have kind of the same question about the stag films of yore. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/15 "2013-09-09T15:19:08Z")
My roommate had a girlfriend and was gone a lot. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/16 "2013-09-09T15:27:06Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Yeah, I was going to say that I think open/communal showers in college dorms are a thing of the past at most schools, and have been for a while. > > Answer me _this_ college masturbation question, though… A girl I knew always complained that at least once a week the guys in her dorm would get together in a living room (these were like dorm apartments) and watch porn. What I could never figure out was…what would they _do_ then? Call me uncreative, but I thought the point of porn was to get off. She said they didn’t watch with girlfriends, and I highly doubt this was a prelude to a group masturbation session. So what would they do? One by one run to the restroom to “take care of business,” to the full knowledge of everyone else? Watch porn but _not_ masturbate? (Unlikely: these are 18-19 year old guys, remember.) I could never figure it out. When I was in college (I was in my late 20s and did not live in a dorm, BTW), I worked with a guy who had a roommate who was a lesbian, and one evening, he came home and she and several of her very butch friends were watching a lesbian porno movie. He had no idea any such thing existed, and I did tell him, “If people do it, someone’s filmed it.” He asked me if straight women ever got together to do that, and I replied that I hadn’t, but some of my friends said they did that thing as a joke - watched it on fast forward, that kind of thing. 😛 And my first go-around in college, when I did live in a dorm, was in an era where sex toys weren’t as easy to get as they are now and not really talked about except as gag bridal shower gifts, and I had a roommate who had a boyfriend who lived off-campus, and she spent several nights a week at his place. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/17 "2013-09-09T17:51:24Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > My roommate had a girlfriend and was gone a lot. Problem solved. Solved problems for both of you, each in his own way. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/18 "2013-09-09T18:04:19Z")
Interesting topic, one of those things a girl always wanted to know but was afraid to ask. Doesn’t semen have a rather strong smell? And the sweating smells too…Wouldn’t you have to open the dorm windows afterward ? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/19 "2013-09-09T18:10:32Z")
Any odor from ejaculate would be lost in the olfactory assault that is a collection of 18 year old boys in charge of their own washing and laundry schedules. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388/20 "2013-09-09T18:22:55Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Any odor from ejaculate would be lost in the olfactory assault that is a collection of 18 year old boys in charge of their own washing and laundry schedules. Teenage boys don’t fail to clean or do laundry out of laziness; it’s camouflage!(and laziness) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-dorms-where-did-you-find-privacy/668388.md?page=2)