Why are old men always naked in gym locker rooms?
Not always. Sometimes they’re naked at Panera.
Isn’t that the point of locker rooms? There are some things you have to do before and after athletic activity (like changing clothes and showering) that involve nudity, and so we have a special area set aside for those things.
Agreed, and I’ve seen all the odious behaviors you list and put it down to being in China. I didn’t realize that this flavor of locker room jerk is an international thing. Also, I guess I am a racist…
Right.
It’s kind of weird; I’m 48, and I don’t have any issue with changing in/out of my swimsuit and normal clothing in the locker room, but I’m only nude as long as it takes me to take of the suit, dry off, and put on my underwear. To me that seems like the normal way of doing things. But some of the younger set seem to be embarrassed to even do that much nudity, and some of the older crowd will sit there and blow-dry their nuts while talking about the weekend’s college football games, all entirely nude.
It doesn’t really bother me either way; I’m not overly disturbed by naked old men, and I think it’s kind of silly how shy some of the younger guys are.
I do wonder if some of the older guys are doing something like this though- basically doing their daily shower and grooming after whatever workout they do, and as a result, that includes the jock itch cream, ball-drying, toenail clipping, etc… as part of that.
I know I’ve read a discussion on this topic before - a few years ago. I had thought it was here, but I guess not.
One thing that came up a lot in that discussion is that, as mentioned before, is that older men grew up in a different time. Boys swam naked in school swim practice in some places until at least the 1970s. Also families used to be larger and homes smaller. So dad shaving, little bro brushing his teeth, and older bro showering all at the same time would not have been abnormal. Same sex nudity just wasn’t a problem for many.
Actually one thing that came up was that for young people today, they might never have been naked in front anyone except a sexual partner (excluding medical circumstance). That, to a degree, young people see all nudity as sexual.
I actually wonder about this sometimes when I see people freak out over a prepubescent girl shirtless, when her chest is just like a boy’s her age. Or naked toddlers/babies. I mean, there’s also a “pedophile around every corner” fear, of course. But I do wonder if they aren’t sort of sexualizing children themselves, you know?
It’s a locker room, where you change clothes, take a shower, etc. If you can do that without getting naked, then more power to you.
What’s the big deal? And I don’t think it’s an old men kind of thing. There’s something else going on if you’ve got a hang up over seeing other dude’s naked.
Well I see both sides of this.
I don’t really give a shit about seeing people naked. Aside from sanitary considerations, I couldn’t care less if we were all naked all the time. I’ve seen it all before.
OTOH, I have made the observation that the guys in the locker room walking around for ages naked tend to be the old guys. And by “for ages” I mean: I walk in the changing room after my workout, notice some old dude wondering around proudly naked. I take off my gym clothes, go shower, dry off, change into my regular clothes…and notice that same dude is still butt naked putting on talc or whatever.
It doesn’t bother me (though some of the behaviors filmore mentioned absolutely do), but the OP is accurate IME.
“Jimmy? Do you like Turkish Prison Movies?”
Now do old women stand around naked in the locker room?
My kid’s school warned that kids and parents that, as the kids had to change clothes for their annual all-in performance other kids would see their underwear in the change room. The school suggested that the kids wear clothes under their clothes, to cover up their underwear.
No wonder the kids grow up frightened of nakedness.
I think you are maybe missing the operative word in the OP…always. No one is suggesting that nudity is inappropriate in the locker room. It’s that the aggressive persistent recreational nudity is a little odd.
Personally, I have always sort of felt like most gyms seem to want to encourage this kind of behavior by making the supplied towels so fucking small. These things are so dainty that only a 7 year old could manage to get it to stay cinched up around their waist and even then, only for 2 or 3 steps. As most older dudes have more girth, wrapping up in a towel is simply not an option.
I try to be a little considerate with my Gen X nudity, and I don’t shower or primp at the gym so it’s not a big issue for me, but I don’t see that people are given many alternatives if they do decide to shower up or use the pool.
On a side note…can we get cracking on those co-ed nude saunas and steam rooms that seem to be a thing in less prudish parts of the world?
Some may not have a bathroom at home. In my relatively wealthy community, people having their bathroom remodeled do all their daily grooming at their gym.
Even if you are going home, or to your office, if you need to blow dry your crotch, well, where the hell else should you do if if not the locker room attached to the showers where you just got your balls wet? Ditto applying jock itch cream or foot powder. (Leaving a pile on the floor is different.) And while I’ve learned that some people don’t like to see toenail clipping, i can’t for the life of me understand why not, and it’s easiest to do that when they’ve been soaking for a while, like right after a shower.
I guess none of that sounds especially weird to me.
Then again, who steals tiny towels? I expect nice, big, fluffy towels would disappear regularly.
In my very limited experience, women have things to do and places to go, so they don’t appear to have time to stand around being nekkid.
I haven’t been in many locker rooms with old women. I joined a fancy schmancy gym, but I’m typically late to get back to work and don’t shower. The room with actual lockers doesn’t have electrical outlets or a TV. There’s an area near the toilets with blow dryers, but i never have reason to be in that area.
When I’ve gone to the local college gym with a bunch of mixed age friends, we all stood around chatting as we changed. I don’t recall anyone trying especially hard to keep covered while doing that.
How “aggressive”? Hitting you with their willies? I suspect what you mean is “not ashamed”, right?
Maybe it’s you, not them.
Yeah, sure…
Yep. Now that I’m older, if I go to the doctor or am in the hospital, I couldn’t care less about my body. I’m not going to pick up any nurses anyway, and they’ve seen worse (and better for sure).
If I were changing in a gym, I, too, would neither rush nor strut. “Nothin’ to see here, folks, move along”!
I think this is a dated trope. I neither seek nor see naked men at the gym.
At least in my high school, the girls didn’t have to swim naked.
Well what do you mean by “aggressively”?