By now, I believe, we have established that being naked in your teens during the 1970s was not something that anyone in US high schools felt was natural, but, nevertheless, in some cases, “had to do.” Now, it’s over 40 years later…
So, back to the original issue: why do old men feel comfortable exposing themselves to others, including young men, in “relaxing rooms,” locker rooms, and saunas? Is it simply the attitude “i don’t care what you think”?
Personally, I find it really creepy. And, as I freely confessed, I am an old dude myself.
Whew.
If it’s situational, ok. Like, they were headed to/from the steam room and got distracted by some great conversation, sat to continue, maybe ok. But some custom of stripping to chat? “Let’s disrobe and sit a spell?” Oddly intimate.
I feel sorry for all the teachers who had to suffer through a classroom of teenagers who came back from PE un- showered, with sweaty underwear underneath their street clothes.
Pee-Yew!
We had showers at my junior high, but they were individual and had little curtains, even a changing area, just like at my health club, though they weren’t near as fancy looking in terms of aesthetics. My main concern was the curtain blowing back or something. Guess I should count my lucky stars I never got athlete’s foot…
I have no idea what the facilities at my high school were. I didn’t have to take PE, because I took band, and we practiced at night…
Kids can shower after gym at my sons high school but I’m pretty sure no one does because it would have to be like a 1 minute shower in order to get to the next class on time.
Don’t you think some of this is cultural? I can see a bunch of old Jewish guys doing this - as the custom of taking a schvitz. Not my dad’s generation (he’s 73) but the generation above him.
My experience was about 2 minutes, but without washing your hair, that’s still enough to soap up quickly, do a few 360s and remove the stink. But I did notice not everyone showered; it wasn’t required, but most girls did, as fast as they could in order to get to class.
Maybe they just used Jean Nate Bath Splash afterwards and were fine? @momofthreeboys you beat me to it!
I don’t remember sweating at all in gym class. We changed into our gym clothes, but I seriously remember it as being 30 minutes of half hearted dodge ball (this was in the 80’s).
After school for varsity sports-THAT’S when everyone got super sweaty.
Ok after-bath splash does not make the stink go away!!! It just covers it up with different stink! I just want to be clear that I’m fine with people doing that if that’s how they roll, but I also want people to understand that those of us with sensitive noses are not fooled.
Well, it’s according to how big the stink was in the first place. For someone like you who barely sweated during gym class a splash might just do the trick.
The old “I didn’t sweat in gym class” myth, aye? Well, maybe so.
We had mean PE teachers. They made us run (I HATED running), play softball, do relays,etc. We got fairly gross. Then again, I lived in Texas where we do have 4 seasons: Spring, summer, still summer, and Christmas break.
I haven’t thought about Jean Nate since…those days, I guess. Lol.
I’m not saying it smells like cat pee. I’m saying, TO ME it smells like cat pee. Narcissus flowers also smell like cat pee to me.
My point is that BO can’t really be hidden by other odors. Either you wash it off, or you stink. I’d actually prefer honest stink to someone thinking they can cover it up with other smells, but I have a wickedly good sense of smell. I can smell the smokers in yoga class when the nicotine comes out through their pores. It’s a bit of a curse.
Yes a bit of a curse - narcissus flowers smell lovely to me. I have a lot on my property and I divided a bunch of clumps last year so will have even more this year!
People really DO vary on the amount they perspire and under what conditions. I honestly do perspire much less than any of the other family members, but in the hot HI sun, nearly everyone will perspire if they exert themselves. We were required to shower at the end of PE period, unless it was "that time of the month, and then you were allowed to use the showers that had the thin curtain for a modicum of privacy.
