# Question for women who use locker rooms **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039 "2013-12-11T02:04:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/61 "2013-12-13T00:48:14Z")
I don’t go to gyms, so I don’t use locker rooms. I imagine that if I did, they would only be places where I would store my clothes and my towels. I’d change either once I got home or once I got to work. I’m not ashamed of my body as much as I just feel awkward, which is why I avoid gyms in general. I’m also a situational germphobe. You will not find me walking around barefoot in a public locker room. Or sitting my bare-ass on the bench where a bunch of other bare-asses have been sitting. I have a difficult enough time dressing and undressing when I’m not dealing with these strange restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/62 "2013-12-13T01:17:33Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > I’m comfortable with changing outer clothes in the public area, but I’m still shy about underwear. > [@monstro](#): > > I’m not ashamed of my body as much as I just feel awkward, which is why I avoid gyms in general. I’m also a situational germphobe. You will not find me walking around barefoot in a public locker room. Or sitting my bare-ass on the bench where a bunch of other bare-asses have been sitting. Oh. You don’t know. You get a big towel that covers you more that most dresses. (You feel more comfortable with all that material.) You sit on the bench (yes, on your towel), drop the towel loosely around your waist and put on your bra or t-shirt. Then you slide your ‘panties’ over both feet and in a single fluid motion stand up and pull them all the way up. After awhile facing the locker might take the place of sitting on a bench with the towel around you. This is modesty & good hygiene, not body shame. [I think most of us think the weird chick who wanders around the locker room stark for half an hour is a bit … weird.] ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/63 "2013-12-13T01:54:51Z")
> [@Turpentine](#): > > It takes me about 45 seconds to change. If somebody can’t hold it that long, that’s not my problem. > > Anyone who isn’t comfortable being naked in front of strangers (which, before I read this thread, I assumed was most people) shouldn’t be forced to flash everyone in the room just because some **nosy** woman with a **teacup bladder** wants everyone to change out in the open. > > I really thought that changing in public was a pretty literal realization of that dream that many people have about being naked in school. I don’t think you’re being very fair here. What is it about needing to pee that makes someone nosy? And if you’ve just finished a 60 or 90 minute pilates / yoga / circuit I don’t think that really qualifies as “tea-cup” bladder. What’s more, as already stated - there is a lot of ground between “out in the open” and needing to change in a stall. Also, I’ve NEVER seen a woman get dressed in 45 seconds, hell, that’s barely enough time to enter the stall and lock the door, let alone put on a bra and panties. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/64 "2013-12-13T01:57:08Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > And if you’ve just finished a 60 or 90 minute pilates / yoga / circuit I don’t think that really qualifies as “tea-cup” bladder. Probably while hydrating. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/65 "2013-12-13T13:44:00Z")
I also don’t think it’s fair to tell a woman who doesn’t like to change in public that she must have a social phobia, that she shouldn’t be going to a gym unless she likes to undress in front of strangers, that she must have some deep-seated issues of shame with her body or anything else. If she just doesn’t want to, nobody should be pressuring her to do so. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/66 "2013-12-13T15:16:48Z")
I was on the swim team in HS and college, and I still am deeply uncomfortable changing in locker rooms. Whenever possible, I change at home. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/67 "2013-12-13T15:35:50Z")
> [@Turpentine](#): > > I also don’t think it’s fair to tell a woman who doesn’t like to change in public that she must have a social phobia, that she shouldn’t be going to a gym unless she likes to undress in front of strangers, that she must have some deep-seated issues of shame with her body or anything else. You don’t see a problem with someone going to the gym and then complaining that going to the gym makes them uncomfortable, so “everyone else should be inconvenienced”? Change at home, it’s not that hard. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/68 "2013-12-13T15:49:11Z")
I’m not very shy nor modest, at all. Hell, I’ll change right here in my office without pulling the blinds or closing my door. :: shrug :: When I taught pole fitness (at a women-only studio), I often didn’t have time to run to the changing rooms, so I’d just whip off my pants and pull on booty shorts right there in the studio’s dance room, door wide open, students streaming in & out. I’m built like a boy with hips so my thinking is nobody is going to be much impressed when I’m nekkid, so why fuss over it? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/69 "2013-12-13T18:21:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > You don’t see a problem with someone going to the gym and then complaining that going to the gym makes them uncomfortable, so “everyone else should be inconvenienced”? > > Change at home, it’s not that hard. I don’t feel comfortable exercising in front of coworkers. So I very seldom go to the gym (naked, not a problem - working out at the gym at work where my coworkers can see my ass in my running pants and realize that I only run at 5 mph, while I turn beet red and gasp for breath, or realizing that after years of yoga class, touching my toes is still a dream - damn hamstrings - not the image I want my coworkers to have. I’ve always said if I improve to the level where I can look competent while I exercise instead of looking like the worlds biggest doofus - you know the first episode of the West Wing with CJ Cregg on the treadmill - that’s me - I’d start doing it at work - I retired first). So instead of insisting on them clearing out the gym and no one else using it while I run, I exercise at home where my own personal weirdness on the issue doesn’t inconvenience anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Grapefruit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@Grapefruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grapefruit)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/70 "2013-12-13T19:05:15Z")
Two pages in, and no one has mentioned how gross toilet stalls can be? If there’s no dedicated changing stall, I’d rather change out in the open than hover around a toilet wondering whether that puddle on the floor is just shower water or someone badly-aimed pee. The bathroom stalls here are also not roomy enough to hold my gym bag, towel, shoes, and other knick knacks that comes with being a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/71 "2013-12-13T19:47:54Z")
> [@Cerealbox](#): > > Be naked if you need to be sure, but don’t brush your damned teeth before putting some underwear on. Thankfully it didn’t happen in front of me, but a buddy of mine had this exact situation happen to him. Only thing the guy had on was a pair of boots while brushing his teeth. Meanwhile, it’s not uncommon for people to strip completely down, before jumping on a scale to weigh themselves. A bit unnecessary, if you ask me, but yeah… ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/72 "2013-12-13T21:00:30Z")
> [@Krouget](#): > > Thankfully it didn’t happen in front of me, but a buddy of mine had this exact situation happen to him. Only thing the guy had on was a pair of boots while brushing his teeth. > > Meanwhile, it’s not uncommon for people to strip completely down, before jumping on a scale to weigh themselves. A bit unnecessary, if you ask me, but yeah… So am I sick for the first thing coming to mind is "how is he going to get his pants on? And how did he get them off? And if its a germ thing, maybe shower shoes and not boots? The second thing was a naked guy standing in front of the mirror brushing his teeth in big workboots- but maybe they were motorcycle boots, or cowboy boots. Part of me MUST know. It is needed for the image. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039/73 "2013-12-13T22:06:18Z")
> [@Grapefruit](#): > > Two pages in, and no one has mentioned how gross toilet stalls can be? If there’s no dedicated changing stall, I’d rather change out in the open than hover around a toilet wondering whether that puddle on the floor is just shower water or someone badly-aimed pee. The bathroom stalls here are also not roomy enough to hold my gym bag, towel, shoes, and other knick knacks that comes with being a woman. I’m surprised to know that people regularly change in there too, for the reasons you indicate. There’s probably no floor space dirtier than the area around a public toilet, and an invisible film of excrement layers everything in the stall. Call me immodest, but I have no problems getting naked and changing without cowering behind a towel or locker door. And I don’t rush as I put on my clothes either. It’s too much of an inconvenience to act in a self-conscious manner. The last thing I’m thinking of is someone else’s body, and I assume they are like-minded. If they are not, I don’t care. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-women-who-use-locker-rooms/676039.md?page=3)