Author Topic: The naked old guy at the gym  (Read 19215 times)

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Re: The naked old guy at the gym
« Reply #60 on: July 16, 2015, 09:08:59 PM »

Offline csfansince60s

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Great topic!

Quick story, my father in law goes to the same gym as I do but were never there at the same time. One day we were though and I ran into him in the locker room. While were in the middle of a conversation about the Red Sox or something stupid like that he gets completely naked and continues the conversation. Keeping my eyes up, I indicated that I had to run. So he goes, oh... no shower? The showers in that gym are open. He was thinking we were going to continue the conversation completely naked in the shower.

Like all of a sudden its cool to be buck naked 3 feet in front of me after years of dating and being married to his daughter. And were not THAT close.

But I could tell he was not uncomfortable at all. I could also tell that he and his gym buddies probably have at least one naked shower conversation a day in the gym. Its not weird to his generation while to someone my age, this could not be more uncomfortable.

I now go out of my way to go to a different gym branch.

TP for the post, but it actually brought back an uncomfortable (and now laughable)memory which could help explain the generational thing.

Back in the late 50s and early 60s, I took swimming classes at the local urban Y. Back then, you were REQUIRED to swim naked at most Ys.  I **** you not. I went to 3 classes and felt so uncomfortable I never went back. (I pleaded with my parents to just throw my ass off a pier in Snug Harbor RI where my older cousins learned,  which is how I eventually learned).

Weird and embarrassing, but true. Wore towels all through athletics in HS and college. Still do at the gym. Im from New England, and I wish I could blame my uneasiness on my Puritan roots, but my genes are from that "boot" in the Mediterranean.

TP to the OP TOO. Wish  I could say thanks for the memories.


Re: The naked old guy at the gym
« Reply #61 on: July 16, 2015, 09:58:24 PM »

Offline crimson_stallion

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First of all before I go on, apologies if any of the upcoming post is inappropriate for the forum - I don't want to post in appropriate content, but at the same time it is relevant to the thread.  If any of the references are deemed inappropriate please feel free to edit out.

I think it just comes down to being more comfortable in ones skin, and more comfortable with ones sexuality.

For example when I was in high school, none of my friends would dare admit to engaging in certain 'self satisfying' actions.  In fact people were so embarrassed about it that they would accuse others of engaging in this, in order to insult/embarrass them. 

After finishing high school once you get to maybe 20-21 eventually one guy admits to it, and before you know it everybody opens up about it and admits they were doing this all along.  Suddenly everyone is like "phew", I'm not a weird freak after all!".  From that point on, nobody has any problem discussing this with their mates.

Even at that age though, nobody in the group would ever allow themselves to be seen naked by another mate.  That's just weird.  If any two friends admitted to that happening, everybody in the group would kill them with homophobic insults and the like, regardless of the circumstances behind it.

But then once my mates got older (maybe 29-30) suddenly they all start openly admitting to their willingness to 'share a girl' and have absolutely no shame about being naked around each other in the process. Based on stories I've heard, I'd say most of my friends have probably been naked around each other by now, and none of them care. 

Not really my scene myself, but it's interesting how guys seem to care less and less about things like this as they start to get older.  It seems all it takes is for 'one of the boys' to try something like this, then share the experience with the rest of the group, and then everybody else becomes more comfortable discussing it.  Before you know it, it becomes 'fair game'.

When it comes to public 'revealing' it probably has a lot to do with self consciousness about ones equipment.  Allow me to explain in the most modest way possible.

Many years ago, studies were done to try and identify what the average size of a man was.  These studies revealed that the average man had a 'tool' of around 7.5 inches in length.  Given that many men are avid viewers of adult films, most men already have an unrealistic perception of what is 'normal' in this area.  So the whole 7.5' study probably fell well in line with what most men felt was the average for a man. 

The problem is that this study was later found to be flawed.  The problem was that the study was voluntary, asking for men to make contact and volunteer the information.  Naturally the men who are well equipped are going to be more inclined to volunteer this information, while men who are not are probably going to be quiet about it.  Likewise, many men are obviously going to lie, or at least "stretch the truth".  This all means the statistics are going to be heavily skewed.

Some years later another study was done, but this time a very large sample size of men were brought in to the laboratory and actually measured.  This time it was concluded tat the average size was actually closer to 5.5" - a vast difference to what the first study showed. 

So why is this relevant? 

Because as the information above would indicate (and other studies have also been made on this) the average man believes he is poorly equipped (i.e. significantly below average in size) when he is not.  This creates a false sense of insecurity among many men, even though they'd never admit this among their friends. 

Since most younger guys are still very much in the dating game (and hence very concerned about reputation) many younger men are probably very self-conscious about walking around nude in locker rooms and the like, just in case somebody they know happens to walk in and see them...and that news suddenly gets around to their friends (or worse, girls) that they are poorly equipped.  This self consciousness probably explains why a lot of men of younger ages prefer to cover up. I'm sure you'll find that many of the younger guys who are unusually well equipped are probably perfectly happy walking around sans-towel. 

As for older men, it's a different situation.  By the time most men are 50 or 60, they probably no longer care about any of this.  By this time they have probably come to terms with the fact that at the end of the day, nobody (especially other guys in a locker room) really CARES how well equipped you are. Everybody is just there to work out, and go home.  So because of this they have no problem going about their business in their birthday suits.

Now surely there would be exceptions, such as men who have been brought up in strict/modest households.  But I'm sure for many, this holds true.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2015, 10:41:40 PM by crimson_stallion »

Re: The naked old guy at the gym
« Reply #62 on: July 16, 2015, 10:06:16 PM »

Offline littleteapot

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Back in the late 50s and early 60s, I took swimming classes at the local urban Y. Back then, you were REQUIRED to swim naked at most Ys.  I **** you not. I went to 3 classes and felt so uncomfortable I never went back. (I pleaded with my parents to just throw my ass off a pier in Snug Harbor RI where my older cousins learned,  which is how I eventually learned).
That's crazy. Did women swim at the Y too?
How do you feel about websites where people with similar interests share their opinions?
I'm forum!

Re: The naked old guy at the gym
« Reply #63 on: July 16, 2015, 10:31:32 PM »

Offline knuckleballer

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Great topic!

Quick story, my father in law goes to the same gym as I do but were never there at the same time. One day we were though and I ran into him in the locker room. While were in the middle of a conversation about the Red Sox or something stupid like that he gets completely naked and continues the conversation. Keeping my eyes up, I indicated that I had to run. So he goes, oh... no shower? The showers in that gym are open. He was thinking we were going to continue the conversation completely naked in the shower.

Like all of a sudden its cool to be buck naked 3 feet in front of me after years of dating and being married to his daughter. And were not THAT close.

But I could tell he was not uncomfortable at all. I could also tell that he and his gym buddies probably have at least one naked shower conversation a day in the gym. Its not weird to his generation while to someone my age, this could not be more uncomfortable.

I now go out of my way to go to a different gym branch.

TP for the post, but it actually brought back an uncomfortable (and now laughable)memory which could help explain the generational thing.

Back in the late 50s and early 60s, I took swimming classes at the local urban Y. Back then, you were REQUIRED to swim naked at most Ys.  I **** you not. I went to 3 classes and felt so uncomfortable I never went back. (I pleaded with my parents to just throw my ass off a pier in Snug Harbor RI where my older cousins learned,  which is how I eventually learned).

Weird and embarrassing, but true. Wore towels all through athletics in HS and college. Still do at the gym. Im from New England, and I wish I could blame my uneasiness on my Puritan roots, but my genes are from that "boot" in the Mediterranean.

TP to the OP TOO. Wish  I could say thanks for the memories.

My uncle who is now in his 70s was on the swim team at Dartmouth.  They always swam in the nude in practice while some of the meets were in the nude and some in bathing suits.

Just out out of curiosity, I googled the subject.  Here's an article about how swimming in the nude was standard at schools and the YMCA up into the early 60s and was phased out by the 70s as people petitioned to end it.  In the article it refers to quotes defending the practice about how it builds character and helps prepare them for things later in life including military service where there is little privacy.

http://www.vocativ.com/culture/fun/fairly-recently-ymca-actually-required-swimmers-nude/