I would really love to hear (read) what FlyingCowOfDoom has to say about this thread.
Why would anyone want to brush their teeth and shave at the GYM?
I personally wouldn’t brush my teeth at a gym, but I can see shaving. I shave in the shower, and if I were to go to the gym early in the day, then shower, I would shave (if I had to that day) in that shower. But then, no one would see me, as my gym has individual showers.
Some people just have different comfort levels. Can’t we all just accept that?
My place of employment has a gym, so most people are headed back to work after a workout and don’t have the option of going home to shower.
That also cuts down on the hanging out wasting time, naked or otherwise. Work out, shower, get dressed, and back to the desk.
I’m not particularly modest. I’ll shuck the clothes at the locker and carry a towel with me to the shower. Dry off after stepping out of the shower and then walk back to the locker and put on clothes. No tarrying, but no concerted efforts to cover up during all this.
Having said that, there is one guy who does the whole blow dry the hair walk around having conversations while naked. He’s the only one I’ve seen do this. He’s mid-40’s and of a slight build. It does strike me as strange, especially as he is the only one I see do this. Maybe it wouldn’t weird me out so much if it were more common.
Previous experience with other gyms, school locker rooms, military quarters, etc., bears out that this lounging around while naked is definitley the rare exception.
Fair enough. It just seems odd to me, personally.
Early morning gym classes. Or “I need work out and I can’t after work, but I can if I get up early.” at night, followed by “If I go straight to the gym, the second I get out of bed, I can hit snooze one more time” the next morning.
And in the haze of unclear, early morning, pre-shower thought, I can forget to do things like brushing my teeth (or at least splashing water on my face, or remembering to pack underwear). And they need brushing before work, and I won’t have time to go back home - so…
- Pretty casual. It’s a locker room.
- early 30s.
- Not really.
It’s because the location is a public place. In addition, it’s not a great inconvience for the nudist to cover up.
The nudist is doing something that is making others uncomfortable. How is he justified in doing that?
I feel the nudist is taking advantage of the fact that some nudity is unavoidable in the locker room. Just because people are fine with 5 seconds of nudity while changing doesn’t mean they’re fine with 20 minutes of nude TV watching.
A nude beach is even more public than a locker room. You’re still arguing from a point of view that everyone is supposed to regard a locker room as an essentially non-nudist place. Obviously not everyone feels that way. Why should your way be considered corect?
I have heard the same argument made against nude beaches. Doesn’t make it inherently right.
Again, you’re assuming your opinion is the inherently correct one.
Your argument is running:
(1) Locker rooms should either be prolonged-nudity-friendly or prolonged-nudity-hostile, and everyone should be OK with whichever one is correct.
(2) I (filmore) am not OK with the locker room being prolonged-nudity-friendly.
(3*) Therefore, the locker room should be prolonged-nudity-hostile.
Unfortunately, point (3*) is not the single exclusive conclusion one could draw from points (1) and (2). The correct version would be.
(3) Either the locker room should be prolonged-nudity-hostile, or I (filmore) need to become OK with it being prolonged-nudity-friendly.
To reduce (3) to one or the other option, we need extra information as to whether one option is correct and the other not. You have reduced (3) to one option for yourself, so you obviously have that extra information at your disposal. What is it, please?
The key difference is that people optionally chose to go to a nude beach. People who are not comfortable with nudity can chose to avoid the nude beach. Nudity at a nude beach is fine, and I don’t agree with people who think nude beaches should be closed.
But a locker room is not the same. A cross-section of people use the locker room. Although some people will be fine with nudity, some people will not. The nudist has many places they can freely be nude and not offend people. But someone who wants to change clothes only has one place to go.
I feel that the nudist should respect the feelings of the people who aren’t comfortable and be more modest. Especially since covering up is not a great hardship. Perhaps they are more comfortable being nude, but I don’t think that extra comfort trumps the discomfort it causes to others.
Based on the grounds of etiquette. Etiquette requires being conscientious about making others uncomfortable, even at the cost of bearing some uncomfort yourself.
If you’re amongst people who don’t mind your wang flapping in the wind as you blow dry your pubes or rub up against the sink, then all is well. If it’s making people uncomfortable – no matter that this discomfort might be considered odd – then courtesy requires that you be more circumspect.
I also wanted to address #2. It really should be that “some people are not OK …” . If the situation was really that just me, filmore, was uncomfortable, then it would be my issue to resolve with myself. It would not be fair for me to go into a nudity-friendly place and demand that everyone cover up.
But I don’t think it’s just me who feels this way. I think a lot of people do not feel the locker room is a nudity friendly place. I’ve seen people change in the shower stall or keep their towel on while they’re changing clothes. And most people are just nude for the shortest amount of time that is necessary. Most people are only nude while they’re changing clothes or showering. With 20 people in a locker room, I’ll see one prolonged-nudity guy. So I’d have to assume that most people are not prolonged-nudity people and therefore it’s not just me who feels this way.
Not so. Many in this very thread have opined that they can simply change at home. Saves the trouble of carrying around a change of clothes.
Covering up is not a great hardship, true. Neither is not looking.
Once again, you’re still arguing from a viewpoint that says there’s some eternal unwritten rule that says that in a locker room, only the briefest necessary nudity should be tolerated. I say no such rule ever existed.
How is the naked person to know that others are uncomfortable?
Unless there is a universally understood rule against it (and I have already offered my opinion on the hypothetical existence of such a rule, so provide cites if you think otherwise), the only way to know is if the clothed person says “Hey, cover up those genitalia, will ya?”
Now the person, who was simply going about there own business realizes that there are people of unknown character hanging around in the locker room with nothing better to do than stare. Knowing that would make me very uncomfortable.
Shouldn’t etiquette, as you describe it, have told the clothed person to keep their mouth shut and look away if need be?
Ah, the “50 million Elvis fans can’t be wrong” argument.
Surely you aren’t saying that people have no choice in whether they go to a gym?
Anyone who quotes Monty Python to support a point should win. Isn’t that a rule?
This thread seems to have turned into some kind of debate over acceptable levels of nudity in locker rooms, and in society in general. That was not my intent. By all means carry on if you’d like. My thoughts on the matter is I wouldn’t hang out nude the way I’ve described, but I’m not out to stop it with rules, nor am I terribly upset at it. I find it strange…I noticed a trend…and that’s really about it.
So…In my locker room I find it odd that folks would stand over a sink and shave in the nude…I wouldn’t. That’s just an opinion. I don’t think there should be changes in the rules or anything. I respect your right to be as nude as you want.
I also find it strange that this phenomenon doesn’t seem to occur with anyone under 40 or so years of age. The poll here seems to somewhat support this.
Also…I asked my fiancée about the difference between fiancé & fiancée and she hadn’t heard of such a thing either. Well, I’m ignorant…but at least I’m not alone. 
Also, in regard to the fat guy referenced in my OP, I just discovered an added feature to the locker room that wasn’t present last year…the locker room now has a steam room! I’d find that sitting in a steam room might take a lot out of you, so my fat guy in the OP may have just come out of the steam room & was woozy. I think I’d still put on a towel, but at least my image of him leaving the shower & just sitting naked waiting to dry has a little more of a possible explanation.
For the record, I’ve never used a steam room. I have no idea of the etiquette involved, or what it feels like afterwards. Is it a steamy room full of naked guys? Can you even do it wearing a towel?
Does the fact that the uncomfortable person is polite enough not to comment somehow excuse the rude naked person making others uncomfortable?
You seem to be under the impression that only one person in this situation needs to behave with decorum. Everybody does. That’s what etiquette is for.
If it’s not an issue at whatever naked-place you’re going to, then it’s not an etiquette problem there. Based on this thread, it seems to be an issue with some people, and the for the rest of us to ignore that discomfort would be rude.
The “unwritten rule” here is “don’t be rude”. How difficult is that to follow without protesting Help! Help! I’m being dressed! ?
I use the one at the Y. It is co-ed. The users wear swimsuits or workout clothes. Same-same for the sauna.
Again, where is this universally recognized rule that it is considered rude to be naked in a locker room? Many requests, not one cite.
As a young lad my father had occasion to take me on a visit to MIT, his alma mater. I needed a rest room at one point, the nearest one was in a locker room. Nearly every single man in there was buck naked. Going about various activities, not all of them in the middle of changing. I have seen the same thing at a number of other facilities since then.
So within the last 25-30 years, in various locker rooms in my experience, nudity for any length of time was considered an acceptable norm. Now you categorically classify it as rude. On what grounds, I ask for the umpteenth time?
A cite in IMHO?
Again, the “universally recognized rule” isn’t about being naked in a locker room. It’s being considerate of making others uncomfortable.
If you need a cite about whether some people are uncomfortable about nudity in the locker room, re-read the thread.