Friday, 16 January 2009
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Overseas Locker Room Chronicles: The Naked Girl
by Molly
My thing about the locker room is this.....nudity is abundant. Okay, let me clear one thing up. I don't mind nudity in the least. I think it is great. But when I am in the locker room changing to go work out, I really don't need to see women's breasts flopping about and have a completely naked girl sitting on the bench next to me. Do you think I want to sit there after that? No....I certainly do not. I think my tolerance with this whole nudity parade hit an all time low the other day with Naked Girl. Yes, I named her Naked Girl.
Naked Girl, or NG as one might call her, can best be described as a very petite, chipper, middle-aged South African woman, with an affinity for being naked. My friend and I were getting our things together to head home one day, and Naked Girl struck up a conversation with us. She was nice enough, and had just gotten out of the shower, so she had her towel around her. But, as she got to describing herself and her life's story, she took her towel off. This was all fine and dandy for the first minute.....but then there was no subsequent replacing of clothing throughout the conversation. Nope....Naked Girl remained completely naked.
The thing about that is that her gestures were all very excited and bouncy.....I think that would be the best way to describe it. So she was bouncily chatting with us about this and that.....and I lost track because I was trying so hard to focus on her face and not let my eyes be distracted by the bouncing gestures that she kept making. I don't know about you, but when someone makes a gesture with their hands or arms, I tend to look at the gesture they are making. But everytime I did so, I got scared that she thought I was looking at her bouncing nudity....which was also very hard to miss. So she may not have been wrong about that. And I started to feel very awkward and uncomfortable about the whole scenario.
I started to wonder if there was some sort of cultural difference that I was not being sensitive of, as she did mention that she was from South Africa. I have never been there and don't know anything about the local locker room norms, and I got to thinking about various other places. Are there different ideas of "normal" for different nationalities of locker rooms? Maybe this was normal social behavior for her and I just didn't understand....or maybe she is just very comfortable with nudity. Who knows!
Are locker room norms different for different countries? Have you noticed different behavior for different countries in this regard?
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About the Author
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- From: Molly
- About Me: Age: 23 Hometown: Colorado Favorite Places Traveled To: Peru, New Zealand, Greece, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Portugal and California!! Ideal Vacation: Around the world!! I'd love to take a trip from one end of the globe to the other and then back. That would be ideal. If not that, I want to go to Ghana, South Africa, Thailand, Japan, oh no.....this is turning into quite the trip!
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Comments (14)
Wow, I know how you feel! One of my suitemates used to walk around completely butt naked, and it was quite awkward. I mean, bra + panties is one thing, but completely bare is another. Come to think of it, she was Nigerian so maybe there is a cultural thing?
It wouldn't surprise me if nudity were viewed differently in different cultures. Doesn't our discomfort with nudity stem mostly from religious reasons?
haha..i think she feels very comfortable of being naked!
Dunno about cultural differences, but it sounds like a gender thing. Most guys are in too much of a hurry to take care of business and get out of the locker room to stick around and make a new friend.
The few times I've been at the locker room at the YMCA ,there were always a lot of naked guys. So, as the guy above me said, maybe it's a gender thing.
Hong Kong women (and teenage girls as well) tend to have the problem of other women/girls seeing them half-naked in the locker room, hence they occupy the toilet cubicles to get changed (and not really using the toilet). I think this behaviour is the exact opposite of what's mentioned above in the post. It annoys me because I have to hop around and wait for someone to come out when I just want to pee. >:(
I get this experience often at the gym. My gym bag is usually bulkier because I bring a sarong with me. I'm not comfortable getting naked in such bright lights. Some people are so okay with it though.. they even wal around the locker naked... or just change clothes out in the open. I don't know if it's a cultural or gender thing... but I have noticed how much each woman in the locker should work out just by observing those naked ladies.. hahaha
I've been in locker rooms at my gym in Indonesia, and most guys ((sorry, I'm not a chic)) are the exact same when I went to gyms back in the US. Whether they're Chinese or some Javanese local, here in Indonesia they atleast wear some towel around them. Brief nudity can be noticed when entering the shower area, but rarely have I noticed anyone just standing out there with their jewels on display.
If I were in your type of situation, I'd just excuse myself every time the individual started to get naked and not cover up.
It could be a personal thing too. I've seen Naked Girl show herself in all types of ethnicities. Haha.
Thankfully, my gym's locker room has little changing cubicles, sort of like bathroom stalls, without the toilet. I'd rather not let it all hang out where strangers can see.
I`m guessing she feels very comfortable being naked around strangers! It probably is a cultural thing.
@just_the_average_jane@xanga - Well it's like a billion degrees there ALL THE TIME, so I'd have to guess that wearing clothes would be the more stupid option of the two. They'd probably look at us funny, dying of the heat in shorts and a tank top and go "dude just get nekkid." ^-^'
@HeartOfPandora@xanga - haha yeah, most likely. She also went to an all girls school before, so she said she didn't see the point in covering up when there were no guys around. We're oddly squeamish about nudity in the states.
@just_the_average_jane@xanga - Eh really? None of my friends are. Seriously, I've dropped my pants at the carnival to switch with my friend LOL.
But maybe that's just us. I mean, we are pretty weird...
Yes, without question nudity is viewed much differently by other cultures.
My husband and his family moved to Ohio from Finland. Same sex nudity is not even an issue in Finland. My mother-in-law and my two sister-in-laws take me to spas here in Ohio all of the time. Everything is done in the nude at the spa, (it's a female only spa) like sitting in the sauna, the hot-tubs, getting a massage, and it's all quite normal and relaxing.
The first time I went to the spa with them I was a little surprised by how relaxed they were while sitting there in the sauna in the nude and carrying on conversations with me and the other ladies in there. But after a little while I was just as comfortable with my nudity as they were with theirs.
If you just keep in mind that nudity does NOT equal sex, then you can very quickly be comfortable with it.
In all honesty, once you've grown comfortable with nudity in a place like a spa or a women's locker room, which will happen much faster than you think, you will then never want to go back to being "prudish" about nudity in locker rooms again.
From the bottom of my heart, I honestly recommend to you or any woman that you give it a try sometime. It can be very liberating. Get a couple of your close girlfriends or a sister and try relaxing in the sauna Au Natural, you'll enjoy it much more than you would have ever thought, or than you ever could in a damn tight and damp swimsuit.
Just remember it's NOT about sex, it's just being comfortable, and about quality female bonding. You'll be very glad you tried something new.
Take care.