# Was being afraid of getting an erection in the locker room shower an actual thing among guys? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710 "2021-01-17T02:45:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/41 "2021-01-20T20:41:39Z")
> [@LivingGhost371](#): > > My parents sent me to private school in middle and high school, for various reasons but in part so I wouldn’t have to shower after gym I can imagine many reasons to send a kid to private school, but to based that decision (even in part) in order to avoid the requirement to shower after gym would never have crossed my mind. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/42 "2021-01-20T21:34:12Z")
Yes, that’s really strange. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/43 "2021-01-20T22:05:37Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > This is going off on a completely different tangent but I was told by my friends you should NEVER have an erection in front of a woman unless she’s has touched your penis already, otherwise you look like an overeager loser. > > I’ve seen plenty of bad sex comedies where this is the case too, a clothed man has a woman naked in front of him and the woman becomes offended seeing that he has an erection underneath his pants. It’s the pleats. Actually it’s an optical illusion with the pattern of the pants in the crotchal region. I’m going to take them back to the store. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/44 "2021-01-21T04:31:19Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > I guess he never wanted to get near the showers himself. Sorry to hear about the bullying situation in your school. The teacher/coach may be suspected of enjoying that (watching the students shower). People often assume there’s no sexual attraction since it’s same-sex and statistically there are more straight than gay. However, it happens. Have you ever heard of this guy, a wrestling coach who abused at least four? > **[Dennis Hastert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Hastert)** > > John Dennis Hastert (/ˈhæstərt/; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician, educator, convicted felon and child sex offender who represented Illinois's 14th congressional district from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. Hastert was the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House in history. After Democrats gained a majority in the House in 2007, Hastert resigned and began work as a lobbyist. In 2016, he I’m not offering that as a “this is how it often turns out” because I don’t think it does. But I can see where coaches would avoid any appearance of evil. Looking back on my locker room school years, the coaches were kind of “around” and might stroll through the area randomly, but they didn’t linger. They didn’t leave a “Lord of the Flies” opportunity and if a student was being bullied I think they would have known and stepped in. But they mostly relied on us to self-police and from what I saw it worked out ok. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/45 "2021-01-21T15:06:48Z")
I never feared getting a boner in the locker room, nor did I ever get one. Maybe if I was gay, but I’m not. I DID have a fear of getting a boner in Gym class with all the cute girls running around in tight spandex, and I DID a boner one more than one occasion to my horror. Also, I was hard constantly during church dances. Nobody ever said anything fortunately and I danced with many girls repeatedly. So if they knew it, I don’t think they cared all that much. My wife, who lived in another area at the time, with a similar upbringing, confirmed that I was far from the only guy with this issue. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/46 "2021-01-22T03:10:25Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I’ve always wondered about exactly that situation. I’m straight—if I’d had to shower with objects of lust—the girls from gym class—would I have been able to avoid getting hard? I guess being self-conscious would counterbalance it some. Plus, there’s always cold water. Imagine you’re starving and you’re at a buffet with all kinds of fresh delicious food, but you can’t eat the food, can’t be caught looking at the food, and can’t give the slightest indication you have any interest whatsoever in the food. That is what it’s like being a closeted gay teenager and going to gym class/summer camp/etc. You develop really good self control and burn every detail of the food into your memory for when you’re eating by yourself. I can’t remember getting an erection myself or seeing another boy fully hard out in the open, but I saw a lot of semi-erections. Especially on the boys who had a habit of seeming absentmindedly fluffing themselves. If anyone noticed me checking him out they never said a word. At least not until college. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/47 "2021-01-22T03:53:28Z")
Teachers getting off on watching kids shower is why they don’t do communal showers any more. As a girl, I only showered once after gym class (except in high school when we had swimming) and those showers were in curtained stalls. We did have communal showers at Girl Scout camp, and knowing what I do now, girls at that age exhibit all five Tanner stages. > **[Stages of Puberty: A Guide for Males and Females](https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/stages-of-puberty)** > > Puberty is a time of dramatic change. The Tanner stages of puberty outlines the developmental changes you can expect and when they might affect your teen. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/48 "2021-01-22T11:45:09Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Also, I was hard constantly during church dances. Nobody ever said anything fortunately and I danced with many girls repeatedly. Haha, this is so true; I had forgotten about those days. Yeah, basically any activity with prolonged physical contact like that, I’d get a boner and might even need to apologize (ie there was some contact) Funnily enough, I didn’t care that much about whether people had seen a trouser tent, even though I probably should have cared. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/49 "2021-01-28T11:23:20Z")
The number of men with 9 or 10 inch penises is so rare they don’t even exist in size studies or measure proof anywhere on the internet. I was insecure about mine, like a lot of boys/men because I went through a long and slow puberty that included growing wider but not taller for the first few years and having a thumb-sized erection at a time when some peers were becoming sexually active and I could not imagine having a girl see it ever. My adult size is somewhere around the 95th percentile for length and 60ish for girth, so you would think i would be secure now, but nope. As such, you could say that statistics on this topic have been an interest of mine for a good 25-30 years. There are a few places on the internet with collections of measured proof of “monster” porn performers and large monetary offers to any regular guy who can show measured proof of a 10-incher and no one has outside of laughable photoshop or guys who start the ruler near the rectum or angles behind their legs. Some of the true “monsters” in pro porn productions have been measured at 7-8 inches, and there are heated debates over whether certain guys ever hit 9 at their peaks or were “only” 8.5 or so, and these are the very biggest guys chosen for their sizes. And even if there were 9 or 10 inch guys in the locker room, some could have 3 inch flaccids or they could be “showers” with 6 inches hanging but 'only" 7-8 erect. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/50 "2021-01-28T11:34:32Z")
If the woman is already naked and some sex act is expected I think an erection is welcome and an attractive indicator of attraction. I remember living with my first GF for awhile when her school was closed, she was surprised how “small” (above average flaccid, thanks) I was unexcited because she had never seen it like that before, since every situation we had was sexual prior to the mundane day to day experience of cohabitation. Also, I’m surprised at the number of guys saying they never got spontaneous erections. I always have just looked at it as a normal healthy biological process. So I could not with 100% confidence say I wouldn’t get erection around other guys “because I’m not gay and wouldn’t get turned on” because it just happens and I find that has nothing to do with it. I wouldn’t want to, though, because of the bullying that others have mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/51 "2021-01-28T20:48:04Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > Also, I’m surprised at the number of guys saying they never got spontaneous erections We do get spontaneous erections. But mostly not when we’re shy and frightened. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/52 "2021-01-29T04:01:25Z")
I knew a guy with a giant penis in college, his penis was so big he couldn’t actually fit into the biggest athletic cup for football. His coach and teammates thought he was totally bullshitting but then he tried putting the athletic cup in front of them and supposedly it was true which is how everyone around campus knew about it. The one time I actually saw it it dangled 2/3rd down his thighs so I believed it. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/53 "2021-01-29T14:15:34Z")
> [@LivingGhost371](#): > > My parents sent me to private school in middle and high school, for various reasons but in part so I wouldn’t have to shower after gym That’s funny - I was in a private school from 7th-10th grades, and it was group showers or stink on the bus home. (Athletics were at the end of the school day.) Re the OP, never had or saw a hard-on in the showers. Never even thought about its being something that might happen. That was my only experience with group showers: in elementary school, we didn’t have showers at all, and in our public school, PE was only required through 10th grade, and I was perfectly happy to leave it behind. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/54 "2021-01-29T15:50:30Z")
Went to a boarding high school, we had nicknames for everyone and everything. Being the evil, miserable, hormonal bastards that we were, one poor guy got branded as “Pop Up”. Rulers were placed hanging off the edge of a desk and flicked when he entered a classroom. What a bunch of assholes. I never said it to him but I am sure I used it in reference to him. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/55 "2021-01-29T15:57:27Z")
A couple guys would shower in the evening to avoid the morning masses. If you tried avoid showering at all, usually a small group would approach you and give you a “silicon shower” with brushes to encourage better hygiene. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/56 "2021-01-29T20:35:08Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > > [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > > > This is especially true during the puberty years, as all the boys are going through puberty at different times. So, the late bloomers will be even more shy about being naked around peers. > > Actually the early bloomers too. In the middle school showers almost all other boys were hairless with those little boy ‘buttons’ down there, while I had pubic hair and a rather adult schlong; it was mortifying as hell. In 6th or 7th grade I had a friend who was an early bloomer and actually doodled a set of pubes on his jeans with a ball point pen, because he was so proud of having them. I don’t think he wore those pants to school a second time. ---
**Author:** ![Crazymonkey2022](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Crazymonkey2022](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazymonkey2022)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710/57 "2023-10-24T13:55:52Z")
This is stupid I mean seriously I would have just said something along the lines of I was thinking of a really hot girl [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-being-afraid-of-getting-an-erection-in-the-locker-room-shower-an-actual-thing-among-guys/930710.md?page=2)