4 ms·

I'm surprised at the comments here. I wonder how many of you experienced bullying in gym class over your body's appearance. The privacy of one's naked body is p

I'm surprised at the comments here. I wonder how many of you experienced bullying in gym class over your body's appearance. The privacy of one's naked body is pretty important thing to a lot of people, but particularly to young teenagers, many of whom would opt out of gym class if they could, and who often enter puberty at very different ages. Even if you are or were comfortable walking around naked in front of others, it's cruel to force all people to face something that just isn't necessary. Now, I agree that "comfy couch corners" and "sexy glass escape pods" seem silly and unrealistic (albeit typical of such NYT articles) but just basic privacy for showers and dressing ought to be a no-brainer for locker rooms for any age.

amyjess 11y ago
Fortunately, when I was in high school (1999-2003), guys didn't get naked in the locker room before and after PE. I don't know what the girls did, because this was years before my transition, but in the guys' locker room, nobody ever took off their underwear. We all swapped our regular clothes and our gym clothes out while leaving our boxers in place. We didn't shower, either, which is something the article mentions in passing (with a link to a more detailed article on the subject). The only time I ever saw people naked (as much as I tried not to) was on the rare occasions we'd go swimming for gym class.
- sehr 11y ago
  Exact same years as you, the girls never fully undressed either at my HS. Some of the more bullied would try to change in the bathroom, but our PE teacher shut that down really quick for some reason.
- nkozyra 11y ago
  Same here. Many years later my sister became a teacher and her main complaint about teaching was "the kids stink." In retrospect I have no idea how bad I smelled after running several miles or playing kickball and then not showering because it was just not done by anybody in gym. The stigma of showering among peers was great enough that nobody seemed to care, although this may be more a symptom of a general lack of self-awareness among kids that age.
- Tharkun 11y ago
  What do you mean, 'fortunately'?. Not only is it disgusting from a hygiene point of view -- especially wrt sweaty teenagers! -- it's also a great way to come to terms with nudity. With porn as the main source of nudity, it's no wonder that so many teens have self-image issues.
  - eastbayjake 11y ago
    I think the 'fortunately' was in reference to OP saying she was pre-transition, which I imagine might make a men's locker room experience anxious and painful, and I thank OP for bringing up that perspective because I hadn't considered it while thinking about my own locker room experiences. I agree with you that showering after wrestling practice forced me to come to terms with nudity, and I'm grateful for the confidence boost that comes from seeing that most men look the same under their clothes. (But I don't think "size anxiety", if you will, is limited to special snowflake Millennials who haven't been naked in front of others... it seems like many men of all ages worry about it and feed into a thriving industry of enlargement scams -- at least judging by the contents of my spam folder!)
flog 11y ago
This is also, as far as I know, an American concept - growing up in NZ we never had to group shower. The only place I can remember such nudity would be the at the pools, which as a young lad you went into the changing rooms with your dad, who proceeded to strut in the nuddy around with the other old hairy men care-free... and you knew then that until you had the self-confidence of hairy old men you'd never truly be able to call yourself a man.
- david-given 11y ago
  I'm from the UK. It seems to be a bit more complicated here; increasingly, environments consisting of perfect strangers --- such as public pools --- are getting individual changing cubicles. (Possibly, I suspect, because you can make them unisex[1] and not have to have outfit two complete changing rooms.) [1] People keep using that word. I don't think it means what we think it means. But environments where people know each other, even by association, still have the locker room thing. e.g. gyms, sports centres, etc. Also, bear in mind that this is all hugely culture-specific. When I went to Korea and visited my hotel sauna, discovering that there were two, one for men and one for women, and the one I saw was populated almost entirely by elderly Korean completely naked businessmen, was a bit of a culture shock. It didn't take long to get used to but I wouldn't say it was ever pleasant. Man, humans are ugly without sexual attractiveness tilting the scales...
macjohnmcc 11y ago
Is the article about teens? They aren't talking about putting these into schools. These are for adults.
dragonwriter 11y ago
> I wonder how many of you experienced bullying in gym class over your body's appearance. I did. > The privacy of one's naked body is pretty important thing to a lot of people, but particularly to young teenagers This isn't about school gyms, and the youngest group this article discusses is millenials, who are almost entirely adults (though the label includes some late teens, as well.)
- skywhopper 11y ago
  I was specifically responding to the commenters in this thread who suggested that forced communal nudity of the sort that (used to?) go on in middle- and high-school gym class is a character-building exercise, and that people who prefer privacy for their naked body are "precious" and weak. I understand the article is not strictly about that experience, but it refers to it, and the trend towards privacy in locker rooms may well be because younger adults were not forced into getting naked in front of their peers. If so, that's all for the good.
- amyjess 11y ago
  > This isn't about school gyms, and the youngest group this article discusses is millenials, who are almost entirely adults (though the label includes some late teens, as well.) The definition of "Millennial" consists of people born from 1982 to 2004, so right now it still includes all teenagers and preteens, as well as adults (ages 11 to 33).

amyjess 11y ago

Fortunately, when I was in high school (1999-2003), guys didn't get naked in the locker room before and after PE. I don't know what the girls did, because this was years before my transition, but in the guys' locker room, nobody ever took off their underwear. We all swapped our regular clothes and our gym clothes out while leaving our boxers in place. We didn't shower, either, which is something the article mentions in passing (with a link to a more detailed article on the subject). The only time I ever saw people naked (as much as I tried not to) was on the rare occasions we'd go swimming for gym class.

sehr 11y ago
Exact same years as you, the girls never fully undressed either at my HS. Some of the more bullied would try to change in the bathroom, but our PE teacher shut that down really quick for some reason.
nkozyra 11y ago
Same here. Many years later my sister became a teacher and her main complaint about teaching was "the kids stink." In retrospect I have no idea how bad I smelled after running several miles or playing kickball and then not showering because it was just not done by anybody in gym. The stigma of showering among peers was great enough that nobody seemed to care, although this may be more a symptom of a general lack of self-awareness among kids that age.
Tharkun 11y ago
What do you mean, 'fortunately'?. Not only is it disgusting from a hygiene point of view -- especially wrt sweaty teenagers! -- it's also a great way to come to terms with nudity. With porn as the main source of nudity, it's no wonder that so many teens have self-image issues.
- eastbayjake 11y ago
  I think the 'fortunately' was in reference to OP saying she was pre-transition, which I imagine might make a men's locker room experience anxious and painful, and I thank OP for bringing up that perspective because I hadn't considered it while thinking about my own locker room experiences. I agree with you that showering after wrestling practice forced me to come to terms with nudity, and I'm grateful for the confidence boost that comes from seeing that most men look the same under their clothes. (But I don't think "size anxiety", if you will, is limited to special snowflake Millennials who haven't been naked in front of others... it seems like many men of all ages worry about it and feed into a thriving industry of enlargement scams -- at least judging by the contents of my spam folder!)

flog 11y ago

This is also, as far as I know, an American concept - growing up in NZ we never had to group shower. The only place I can remember such nudity would be the at the pools, which as a young lad you went into the changing rooms with your dad, who proceeded to strut in the nuddy around with the other old hairy men care-free... and you knew then that until you had the self-confidence of hairy old men you'd never truly be able to call yourself a man.

david-given 11y ago
I'm from the UK. It seems to be a bit more complicated here; increasingly, environments consisting of perfect strangers --- such as public pools --- are getting individual changing cubicles. (Possibly, I suspect, because you can make them unisex[1] and not have to have outfit two complete changing rooms.) [1] People keep using that word. I don't think it means what we think it means. But environments where people know each other, even by association, still have the locker room thing. e.g. gyms, sports centres, etc. Also, bear in mind that this is all hugely culture-specific. When I went to Korea and visited my hotel sauna, discovering that there were two, one for men and one for women, and the one I saw was populated almost entirely by elderly Korean completely naked businessmen, was a bit of a culture shock. It didn't take long to get used to but I wouldn't say it was ever pleasant. Man, humans are ugly without sexual attractiveness tilting the scales...

macjohnmcc 11y ago

Is the article about teens? They aren't talking about putting these into schools. These are for adults.

dragonwriter 11y ago

> I wonder how many of you experienced bullying in gym class over your body's appearance. I did. > The privacy of one's naked body is pretty important thing to a lot of people, but particularly to young teenagers This isn't about school gyms, and the youngest group this article discusses is millenials, who are almost entirely adults (though the label includes some late teens, as well.)

skywhopper 11y ago
I was specifically responding to the commenters in this thread who suggested that forced communal nudity of the sort that (used to?) go on in middle- and high-school gym class is a character-building exercise, and that people who prefer privacy for their naked body are "precious" and weak. I understand the article is not strictly about that experience, but it refers to it, and the trend towards privacy in locker rooms may well be because younger adults were not forced into getting naked in front of their peers. If so, that's all for the good.
amyjess 11y ago
> This isn't about school gyms, and the youngest group this article discusses is millenials, who are almost entirely adults (though the label includes some late teens, as well.) The definition of "Millennial" consists of people born from 1982 to 2004, so right now it still includes all teenagers and preteens, as well as adults (ages 11 to 33).