Prompted by: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/11/naked-locker-room-end/684907/
Today, the only naked bodies that many Americans will likely ever see are their own, a partner’s, or those on a screen. Gone are our unvarnished points of physical comparison—the ordinary, unposed figures of other people. In their place, we’re left with the curated ideals of social-media posts, AI-generated advertising, and pornography. The loss may seem trivial, but it also may change how people see themselves. Without exposure to the normal variety of bodies, we may become less comfortable with our own, more likely to mistake common characteristics for flaws—and more inclined to see every bare body as an inherently sexual object, making nudity even more charged.
I’m 60. I was in U.S. public grade school in the 70s and early 80s.
Starting in Junior High, which was grades seven and eight, we were all required to take Physical Education (P.E.) classes, and we were all required to change into P.E. uniforms. The dress code for the school otherwise was minimal.
We changed in the locker room in front of each other, that meant we were nude in front of each other. This was true for girls and boys, of course, we had separate locker rooms.
Furthermore, after class, we were required to shower, which we also did together.
For both junior high and high school it was very much like this. Rows of lockers and open showers at one end. There were high windows along the ceiling to let the steam out.:
It took two or three days for everyone to get comfortable with being nude in front of each other, and that was the end of the problem. It was a small hump to get over, and everyone did, easily. By the end of the week we were all goofing around naked in the shower, like you may have seen in movies or wherever.
I’m curious about your experiences, and whether you think it’s harmful or beneficial for kids to be forced to get nude in front of each other for this purpose.
No one wants to answer whether it’s harmful or beneficial. I expected that.
I say it’s beneficial. Body shame is not healthy. No one should be ashamed or shy about how they look nude. It’s a byproduct of how we’re raised in western society, and this ritual of forcing kids to face and overcome the mild shame is important to self-esteem. Proof-positive that we’re all alike under our clothes, and learning that clothes are used as a divider. When the richest kid in school stands next to the poorest in the shower, they’re equals. Can’t tell them apart, and they see that too.
I feel sorry for you “youngsters” who didn’t have this experience. Unnecessary additional anxiety. “What happens if someone sees my pee-pee?!” The answer is nothing happens. Yes, I’m mocking you, it’s a childish fear, and it should be left in childhood.
Fucking awful take. It’s very clear you weren’t bullied in school, and that last sentence shows to me you were doing the bullying.
“The answer is nothing happens. Yes, I’m mocking you”
… Did you not read your own words?
Let’s quote the whole thing, for context:
I stand by that. The mild harshness drives the point home.
The public swimming pool also had goup showers so I was already used to it before middle school.
I had this in middle and high school after gym in the early 90s and maybe I was lucky but the gym teachers were hardcore against body shaming. Had a few incidents where someone made an inappropriate comment about someone else and the teacher shut it down and explained why it was wrong every time.