Sunday, June 5, 2011

Naked Male Camaraderie



EXCERPTS -- read the whole article here...

http://closetprofessor.blogspot.com/2010/08/naked-male-camaraderie.html

Until the last three decades, American high school boys took showers after PE classes. Nudity in gyms showers was quite normal. Guys didn’t do the towel dance. If you were in the steam room or sauna, you went naked. You took your shower in the open, but now most guys wear towels in the steam room and sauna, and shower in private stalls.

What’s so odd is that 40 years ago, nude swimming was the norm. It’s what was acceptable. Below, you can see that they even used to shower in groups before they jumped in the pool.


A paradigm shift has happened and I’m curious as to why? I really can’t help but wonder — of all the factors that have gone into this shift. The YMCAs used to enforce nude swimming and many, like the one below, even gyms right above or next to the pool. Between laps, guys would just head over and lift weights — yes, completely nude.


From the 1890s to the 1930s, men who swam at the YMCA did so in the nude, apparently wool swimsuits (the fashion of the time) clogged up the pool filters. An excerpt from the history of the Seattle YMCA gives a reason for the change:

An early casualty of gender equity was males-only nude swimming in the downtown pool. Men and boys had been accustomed to swimming au naturel at the YMCA, not only in Seattle but in Ys everywhere, since the 1890s. The practice may have evolved from problems created by the long, wool swimming suits then in fashion, which apparently shed so much they gummed up the pool filters. Later, nude swimming was justified on the grounds of hygiene. A handbook in use at the Seattle Y in the 1920s required that “A good soap bath must be taken before entering the swimming pool” in the same paragraph that specified “The wearing of swimming suits or supporters will not be allowed except by permission from the director.”


29 comments:

Anonymous said...

My parents got me start back in 1955 at the YMCA summer camp out. Out of Seattle Wa..... I still recall being asked to remove my swimming trunks and and being clothes free..Some fellow took my photos while I was totally naked, and with the other naked boys too. So, I keep looking at the computor.... Then in the 1960s I join the ymca down town Seattle and swam naked after school...I enjoyed it and all the naked fellows even help me with my school work...I never had and problems..... However, my school days ended in 1964.and I move on.... Today my family are all nudist sometimes.... THanks milion for you web site. I help in my search...Nothing to report......

Anonymous said...

I remember swimming bare-assed naked at the Y.
None of the guys wore anything.

Anonymous said...

Really valid subject. I guess all us older guys treated being naked with other guys as completely natural - showering, swimming, horsing about. I do think the boys today are missing a lot of the bonding we had. It's as though they treat being with other guys the same as being with women and cover themselves accordingly. My grandson is in the military and from his tales at least communal nudity is still pretty common there.

Anonymous said...

When I was growing up in the 50's, we had a couple of very popular swimming holes where we went skinny dipping, regardless who else was there all the boys were naked. There were a few men around (lifeguards) and it was not unusual for them to go into the woods with the boys. It was all part of growing up and learning. I liked some of the men and they taught and showed me a lot. Of course, I had been taught to respect my elders and obey them, so I got plenty of attention. What young boy doesn't like admiring attention?

Anonymous said...

I joined a Y in Erie, Pa in the early 60's with my father and brothers when I was around 10. There was no choice, everyone swam nude. There was a large gang shower where all showered together. In the steam room everyone was nude. Men walked around the locker room nude. When I was in high school everyone was required to take a shower. You walked to the gang shower nude, showered, and on the way out you were given a towel. It was just the way it was. Today at health clubs it is very different. Men always wear towels. It seems inappropriate not to. It's fascinating to me how over 40-50 years this custom changed.

Unknown said...

I swam in inner-city YMCA pools from about 1956 through 1964. It was common knowledge that men and boys swam nude at these pools and nobody gave it a second thought.
My high school swimming team worked out at a YMCA pool and all team workouts were conducted in the nude. I also took Junior and Senior Lifesaving courses at my local YMCA and all sessions were in the nude. The instructors were no-nonsense kinds of guys and at the beginning of each session it was explained calmly that guys our age could get an involuntary erection at any time and if this happened we should quietly excuse ourselves and spend some time in the locker room until things were under control.again.
We didn't talk much or even joke much about our sexual anatomy and the word "homosexual" was foreign to our thoughts and vocabularies - the term "gay" didn't exist then.
Imagine what it was like then for a 15/16 year old naked male to wrap the naked body of another male around your neck - the other guy's genitals rubbing against your back - or hold between your legs the torso of another naked male while "rescuing" him as part of an exercise.
Such, such were the joys...

Anonymous said...

I sure miss the days when men were comfortable being naked with each other. I grew up in the late 50's, 60's and early 70s. If you were an athlete you didn't get dressed until you were ready to leave the locker room. We all showered together, pissed together, shaved together, carried on conversations--all in the nude. Being naked together was part of the joy of manhood--it's how men and boys were. Swimming naked was the norm. You only wore swim trunks if females were around. And if you were out at a cabin or tent in the wilderness--you could be naked outside all day if you wanted. Men were brothers--you didn't need to hide or be ashamed of being naked. What a wonderful thing has been lost.

Anonymous said...

The Y and other men-only gyms and sauna clubs were so different in the past. Everyone was totally relaxed about being nude around other guys. We swam nude (which was of course required) and then also used the open showers, steam rooms, sauna and whirlpool all buck naked. Most guys even shaved nude. Some clubs had sun decks where the guys sunbathed naked. The most anyone ever had on were maybe a pair of flip flops, although most guys were barefoot. No one wrapped towels around themselves. It was an all-male environment so there was no reason to.

Anonymous said...

My high school required swimming in the 10th grade. I was a late bloomer and had no pubic hair when I was 13-14. Standing nude for role call was always difficult because everybody else had hair there and i didn't. My friend who was standing next to me always told me not to worry about it. Nobody ever harrased me or made fun of me. By the end of the year, I had caught up with everybody. These days so many shave it off, but would never get caught naked around other boys or men. Too bad those times are gone, 1950"s and 60;s

Anonymous said...

Even in the late 70's the Toledo,OH YMCA had nude swimming times for men only. When I was a
a member you would go down the stairs from the community shower room to the pool. No one thought anything of it. Guys would sit nude on a bench around the pool and read the newspaper.

Anonymous said...

Sounds odd too me were teachers pedophiles .

Neelee O'Hara said...

Seems to me that guys want to hide their um...shortcomings,so it would make sense not to expose themselves in the locker rooms, I'm sure most guys don't look and or don't care how big another guys dick is.
Back when I was in school (70's) it was very common to walk naked thru the locker room unashamed. Look at the ridiculous loose pants the guys wear today exposing their (Yuk !) underwear, and Basketball players with down to their calf's shorts, insecurity is apparent, Came across a spycam video here on the web showing a group of guys in a shower room and noticed a few guys who kept shaking their dick trying to lengthen it longer when they thought no one was looking, I digress..

Anonymous said...

In by past times I attended a University in the US, I went swimming in the University pool,Nudity was mandatory for everyone in pool and showers,Showers mandatory before and after swimming.Everything was OK except all students were cut,and I from South Ameria uncut as we all are there.At the showers some guys looked at me intently and asked what was the matter with my penis,I showe tem how I retractedforesakin for washing, and then put it in its due place.Many had never seen an uncut guy and were astounded,so the made me have an erection so purplish glans appeared as foreskin slowly retracted,They were amazed! Why every mae in the US is circed?

Anonymous said...

Why are US males circumcised? Many have no idea that an uncirumcised penis even exists!

Anonymous said...

When I attended college in the US in te 1979s we all swimmed naked in the pool,we had to showe naked before swimming and again showeing naked after swim. Guys around e were astonded i was not circumcised,allofthem were, nd some of them did not know circumcisio existed.After laughs, a had tto give the the show, I retracted my foreskin and wshed my glans,All to their astonishment! There was nothinggayabout that, only curiosity1

Anonymous said...

I like to take showers naked together with other naked dudes! It is nice to see penises of different sizes, some with big heads, even boners; no big deal! As well as bubble butts, normal butts, each penis has its own personality, a do theit owners!!!

Anonymous said...

When I was growing up my parents took me to the YMCA for swimming lessons. The pool was clothes free and this is how I learned to swim I still prefer to swim nude whenever possible.
We would often take breaks from the pool, dry off ans head to the gym naked and shoot hoops, etc. Then back to the pool.

Eventually I got on the swim team and not only our practices were nude, our meets were nude even with females in the crouds. We just never thought that there was anything wrong with being naked in public. It took me a little time to get accoustomed to being nude with others as I had a foreskin and almost all of the boys were cut.



AT my High school, our boys swimming classes (required) were nude. As were swim team practices. However, we did have to wear speedos for the actual meets. Coach made us practice for 2 days befor a meet in our speedos to know what it felt like to wear a suit.
And we hated wearing the **** suits.

The swim coach was also the Health teacher (Sex Ed) and arrainged for severl of us to be nude models for the Sex Ed classes in an adjoining school system which paid us a few bucks. Heere my foreskinwas an asset as most of those in the class had never seen one.
Boys from that school came to our school for our Sex ed classes.

Did this nudity mess me up? Not a bit unless you think that the fact that I still perfer to swim nude is wrong.

Let me know what you think,
Paul Chenevey

email - nudepaulc@yahoo.com


You can contact me at

Anonymous said...

Appreciate the recommendation. Let me try it out.

Anonymous said...

That is what makes the world unique, and guys should appreciate their individual bodies; size, shape, and color.

Dbacon said...

I swam naked at the YMCA all the time with other boys, it was normal. It did take some getting used to moms and girls sitting in the bleachers and watching while we finished swimming, especially when I was in high school and girls I knew saw me naked. In some ways it was exciting to be seen naked and the girls seemed to enjoy seeing us.

Paul Chenevey said...

i learned how to swim at the YMCA when I was still in elementary school. We always swam nude and even now as an adult I still prefer to swim nude. When I was learning how to dive it became obvious that if you dived correctly it did not hurt but if you were sloppy in your diving it could really hurt. AND we also learned what would happen if you bounced too many times on the diving board. ( We would really cheer and clap for a great erection)

These experiences helped me when I was in High School boys swimming classes where we were also nude. As one of the very few uncut boys I was asked to model nude in High School art classes and health classes.

Paul Chenevey said...

Where can we swim naked in Florida? I need the exercise AND I need to get a much darker tan on my cock and balls.

nudepaulc@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I have another story of swimming nude. I grew up in N, Minnesota so went skinny dipping in school too. When I was a young teacher I guided boys canoe trips in the BWCA of N Minnesota. Ir was so remote we usually never saw other people all week. We never even brought swim suits along,enjoying skinny dipping all the time. I now am old,use a walker could never get in or out of a canoe but have good memories

Anonymous said...

My mandatory school swim lessons were held at the YMCA growing up, still nude in the early 1970s. I was sensitive and didn't fit in with the other guys who liked to tease me because of it. It turns out I'm bisexual but didn't realize what that was when I was going through puberty, I just knew that being nude felt good and being nude around the other guys felt extra good.

Looking back I see their teasing was good natured "boys being boys" but I didn't understand that and felt singled out. This made me feel self-conscious lining up standing nude on the pool deck for roll call just trying not to get an erection. My sophomore year we had swimming as the 1st period so you can imagine the struggle first thing in the morning. I wish I was smart enough back then to use the few times that I did to my advantage for bragging rights, it would have raised my social standing because I'm pretty well endowed. But it just added fuel to the fire. I'm much better now and enjoy skinnydipping whenever I can.

Axel said...

Some background info on picture 1.
It's not male-bonding nor social nudity. The photo shows the Harvard rower's team training on indoor equipment in ca.1952.

Why naked ? If you ever practiced rowing you know the answer : rowboats have sliding seats. If the seat is too dry or through clothing can provide some pretty painful friction burns. The pain with shorts is bearable during a short speed competition, however, if you train many hours a week... Especially at a time lycra did not exist, with sports outfits wool-based.


An Australian sports is boat surfing, with rowboats of 6-8 seats hitting huge waves at Manly beach (Sydney). The rowers ‘wedge up’, prior to racing. Wedging up involves giving yourself a wedgie (thus the name) and pulling the swim trunk in between the buttocks so that the skin is exposed. This is so that the rower can slide along the wet seat to complete the full rowing action.
Keywords for some sexy pictures : Australia, boat surfing, wedgie, buttocks

SteveXS said...

Naked Male Camaraderie has been a theme on this blog from the beginning. Whether overtly bonding with buddies or simply nudity without apologies, it's nice to see.

Anonymous said...

I always maintain my work outs when I travel for business and I enjoy all-male nudity so I joined the YMCA with a membership I can be use anywhere in the USA. The best Y's are often in the older downtown areas. Many of these older clubs still have open communal showers in the Men's Fitness/Health Centers. Most also have steam rooms, saunas, some jacuzzis all in the men's locker area and most guys prefer using these facilities naked. Very few guys bother wrapping a towel but instead just carry one or throw it over their shoulder. I'm still in great shape at 45 after years of training, I'm proud of my body and I like showing off. I'll admit I'm a muscle exhibitionist and I am in no hurry to get my clothes on. Most of the other guys I see do the same thing and walk around buck-naked too. The pool has been co-ed for many years unfortunately but you can still spend a lot of relaxed nude time in the saunas, etc. I won't go anywhere else anymore other than the Y.

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas and Happy Nude Year!

Anonymous said...

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