This one sentence question came via email.
"How did you get so comfortable being naked around other people?"
I'd like to say from school locker rooms but that wasn't the case at all. Like all the other guys I was afraid of getting a hard-on and getting teased.
My enlightenment happened in the military. During basic training the barracks had two large open bays of 20 guys each. Follow a bunch of guys with morning wood to shared stalls (4), urinals (4), sinks (4) and a gang shower for eight. There was no time for shame or embarrassment. Guys stroked off after lights out so you really didn't see anything - but you could hear it and the aroma of cum permeated the place.
Tech school didn't provide any more privacy. 19 guys shared one huge open bay with 10 bunk beds. The barracks building was circa 1917. The latrine at our end had 3 stalls, 1 trough urinal, and a gang shower for 6. Again, no one had time to be embarrassed. Here, most of the guys would jerk off in the stalls, though a few didn't care who knew or saw them.
My first assignment had me in a college-dorm type barracks, two to a room. The first night I walked in, the guy I would room with was on his bunk stroking away. He looked at me and said, "If it bothers you go down to the Day Room. Or feel free to join me." I joined him.
He's also the one who introduced me to group masturbation.
Women weren't supposed to be in the building but they were. All hours of the day and night. Latrine was located at the middle of the building across from the Day Room. 5 stalls, 3 urinals, and a gang shower for 8. Guys strolled to and from the latrine completely naked. Guys would lounge around the Day Room naked. If a woman happened to enter - well, that was her problem. If she didn't want to see naked guys, she shouldn't be there.
As I once told my mother, "I don't have anything I'm not supposed to have. Why should I be ashamed?"
20 comments:
It is wonderful to be unashamed of your naked body. It is who we are. While I did not come about my body acceptance in the same way you did in group settings, I realized early on (high school) that I enjoyed being naked and did not mind guys seeing me in the locker room. So many were shy and hid behind towels.
And, it feels good.
Getting used to being naked I'd say one has to jump right in!! As time goes by it gets to be like you don't even know your naked. My latest group of friends are the ones that made me feel comfortable with myself naked around others...and make it a bonding experience. Now it hard to get me dressed jokingly of course. And the woods helped me with getting naked too.
I was never in military but in college we had open showers in our male only dorm. I was used to showering with classmates in high school too. Don’t know why, but took to being nude with guys naturally. If I could act I would do full on nude scene in a heartbeat. Nudist to this day.
I think that I’ve always had a nudist streak in me, but couldn’t do much about it while living at home. However, I did manage to stay at a nudist resort on one of the islands under the guise of going for the diving on the island..Later I learned that there was a nudist beach in the area, which I started frequenting. Once I was out on my own, the clothes came off the moment I walked in the door.
As for getting used to being naked around other people, it just takes a little time and experience. That first time at the nudist resort beach, I ended up rolling over multiple times till things calmed down. Seeing people of all sizes and shapes being so casual about it really helps. Eventually it doesn’t feel much different than being naked at home.
very interesting
I have never been comfortable naked in front of a lot of people. Never. Not in high school, not now. One person? I can do cartwheels. Two? it's a no.
I have always wanted to go to a nudist beach though...
XOXO
First experience with being naked with someone else-- playing 'look at each other' with a friend.
Next was in Boy Scouts--
Swimming with the Troop at the local Y-- showering naked with everyone, including some fathers, before and after the swim.
Summer camp - Troop Showers at the camp shower house. Everyone naked. Some nighttime adventures.
High school gym class. Strip and dress for class; strip and shower afterwards. No exceptions. Gang showers. In Senior high they had those central tower things. Every now and then teacher marked if you showered or not.
College. Men's floor in the dorm. One hunk used to walk naked back and forth to the latrine carrying his towel. Great to look at! He roomed with another hunk- swim diver. *sigh*
Showers were private cubicles with partitions floor to ceiling with curtains. Just the shower-- you hung up your towel in the drying area and used the shower. For multiple purposes. No hanky panky I ever encountered. ):
Spent a couple of nights at NYC baths, back when anything went and the company I worked for footed the bill for a trip to NYC! Very educational, both what the company intended me to learn and what I learned at the baths! A lot of fun, LOTS of opportunities for comparison.
All in all, my sense of modesty was replaced by a bit of exhibitionism.
Nowadays, when I get motivated, I swim at the Y-- changing in the locker room, showering before and after a swim. In a drying area poorly thought out. I don't do one of those 'towel dances' so someone can't see my stuff. Anyone who wants to see ancient timbers can look all they want, and thanks for the compliment!
All in all-- everyone in my generation learned that bodies come in assorted shapes and sizes. And so do pieces of manhood. We're all just trees in the forest... and there are a few sequoias to admire!
--PaulMmn
As a teenager, and living in Tamatave, Madagascar, by the sea, I stayed naked for a week in nature, without meeting anyone, eating seafood and bananas. A memory that I am not to forget.
Hugs and bisous, my darling chéris Jean and Pat.
@ Six - Buddy, we need to get you to a nude beach. Or Maddie should take you to The Woods this Summer. It is a wonderful, freeing experience. It truly is. XOXO
@ Paul - I'm afraid you are right... it may be a generational thing. The younger guys seem to have lost their way when it comes to being naked around others. They need to be reminded, I guess, that a cock is a cock is a cock. They all have (pretty much) the same shape and they certainly all function the same.
@ MFP - It sounds like absolute Heaven to me. I so enjoyed spending my week in Key West, though I was only naked when on the beach.
Sorry to double dip, but love your last line, I don’t have anything I am supposed to have. In 1974 actor Jan-Michael Vincent did a full frontal nude scene in movie Buster and Billie. Made a sensation as it was rare then. He got tired of all the drama. Hey, he said, I am just a man with standard equipment. You have all seen it before, get over it! This reminded me of this.
I'm already scratching after reading MFP's posting L O L. bug bites for me would be a disaster! I have enough of a problem with all my clothes on. Hugs and bisous.
Aww... good for you. How wonderful that you had those experiences. I only recently became comfortable naked around others... the prairie has helped a lot. I love showing off in summer. Thanks for this. Great post. Kizzes.
Masculinity is still based in competition, not cooperation, so everything is compared for advantage or threat subconsciously. I think many men fear being judged in comparison and found wanting, even if there is no actual basis for judgement.
Diversity is the reality of the universe and you only get to play the cards you are given, however men still compare as though it is relevant: it's just a mindless reflex.
I wonder how many men who took to being naked in company relatively easily were average or above and therefore never found wanting in comparison and thus never had cause to doubt themselves. It's not as if men have been constantly reassured that we are all boys together, that we all vary in size and that it means nothing in practice, so even those below average start to believe it is true.
Negative comments carry more weight than positive, so it doesn't take much of a negative experience of comparison to eat away at a man's sense of self and it usually isn't offset by receiving more positive affirmations.
It is possible to become more comfortable with being naked in company over time, assuming no setbacks, as the rational part of our mind confirms there is no realistic basis of comparison, but we have to contend with the primitive fear until then.
We still receive the message from society that bigger is better, but when you take it to its logical conclusion bigger just becomes unworkable. At the other end of the spectrum, smaller may simply mean you have to be more creative in achieving certain goals, but it certainly doesn't reflect on who you are as a man. When it comes to self pleasure, size is irrelevant anyway and giving pleasure there is always more than one way to skin a pussy.
For men, function is usually more important than form and function doesn't rely on size: despite diversity, we all function in a similar way.
Being comfortable naked around other people is still not common in society due to attitudes developed in history and passed down through the generations: naturists are still a relatively fringe group.
I think it is a Father's role to ensure his sons are comfortable with their body and unafraid to share it consensually with others, but when that doesn't happen and you don't get to experience the male form in a non-judgmental environment so you can develop ease with it, it makes it more difficult (though not impossible) to come to terms with celebrating your birthday suit in company.
We’ve just moved back to the forest so we can enjoy our naturist tendencies without worrying about neighbors. While I’ve enjoyed nude beaches and camps, I’ve never found a way to be comfortable inviting someone else to spend naked time in our home … outside a hot tub, that is.
So these comments really give me hope!
@ Jean - I have to admit that I did not even think about all the bugs....that would be enough to send me scurrying inside. Hugs and bisous.
It depends on the people your around. It depends on you too. If its just the reader wanting to be naked the only thing that is in his way is himself. If he wants to be naked around others that would depend where he is.
In the changerooms you are there to get changed. If that is the mindset then its pretty straight forward. Clothes off, shower and change. At some point you have to be naked. If you go in and start over thinking things thats what holds you back and makes you second guess things. Everyone in that changeroom has a dick.
If he wants to be naked around a certain group that can take time. I was never naked much growing up and the only time I would be was when I went swimming with grandfather. Comfortable to be naked in the showers with him but not anyone else. After high school was when I started being naked around others. It happened over time when I was doing kick boxing. Then with a small group of friends. When I had house guest for a while after a few weeks we were walking around naked. We would stay naked until we had to go out. Whoever woke up first would go and wake the other up, almost always one or both of us would be rock hard. If one of us were not the other would say have you already jerked off? Why didnt you come get me? We would either jerk off together or join in if one was already going.
At my own house its naked until I am either cold, hungry/cooking or need to go out. Partner is the same too. No burnt bits.
I was blessed with a prominent endowment but was self-conscious about the rest of my body so I avoided group nudity. Then one day while vacationing and visiting a beach, a younger man, a stranger, complimented my "great body." What a turn on, especially because I was in my late forties by then! I was startled so I didn't respond. I suspect now he just wanted to hook up, but I was naive. With slightly improved confidence, but still trepidation, I decided to visit a nude beach during that same vacation. I didn't want to seem like a newbie or gawker so I pulled off all my clothes upon arrival. It felt great but I struggled not to be fully erect. I wasn't able to manage less than half hard. To my surprise, the same guy who had complimented my body at the regular beach showed up, although he never went nude. He silently mouthed, "great cock too." I actually blushed, nodded and began to harden so I turned over to hide it. The guy moved on but circled back several times. At first, I was comfortable being nude with the men at the beach but felt embarrassed by the stares from women. I finally just decided to ignore that as well. I don't live near a nude beach so that was one of the few times for me, but it is a great memory. The compliments didn't go to my head. It was just a nice fantasy while it lasted.
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