snowy

Ladies, I was at the gym recently and I noticed something. The girl next to me was trying to shimmy into her clothes while keeping a towel draped over her body. I probably wouldn't have noticed her except for the shimmying, because she seemed to be struggling to get her clothes on.

Now, I'll admit I've spent a fair amount of time in and around locker rooms. I played lacrosse in high school and gone to the gym a lot since coming to college. I am comfortable going nude in the locker room. I don't walk around the locker room flaunting my nakedness--I do have a towel--but when it comes time to dry off and put on my clothes, I throw my towel over the locker and get dressed. I don't worry about what other people might see. Similarly, I'm not one of the girls who uses the stall-style shower. I use the open shower. To me, taking that shower out in the open and then sitting naked in the sauna afterward is a part of my locker room routine.

How about you ladies? Are you shy in the locker room? Are you more bold? Why do you think that is?

Personally, I think the locker room is a safe space for women to be themselves, to let it all hang out. I'd like to see more women feel the same, and do the same.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Grasshopper Green

I've never been naked in a locker room. Growing up, no one EVER took a shower after gym. Staff didn't even turn the showers on unless we'd just gone running, and then most girls just took a sponge bath.

I don't go to the gym regularly anymore, but my after-shower routine isn't conducive to showering and getting ready at the gym. I don't take long in the shower itself, but I have dry skin and have to put lotion or cream on after every shower or bath or my skin gets itchy and tight. I like to make sure it's completely soaked in before getting dressed, so I put my contacts in, wash my face, etc. naked after my shower. I don't like to feel rushed

Really, when I was going to the gym regularly, I don't recall seeing many naked women in the locker room. Maybe because of where I live - lots of hang ups about nudity and sex here.

__________________
"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king"

Formerly Medusa

settie

I know this will seem weird coming from me, but I hate to change in the women's locker room. I get extremely self-conscious, and feel like everyone will/is staring at me. I've never used the showers there, I go home and shower.
At the gym in general, I feel really self-conscious, even when I'm in the girls-only workout room.

CinnamonGirl

I've been on both sides of the fence. Playing sports in high school, and being in all the dramatic productions for four years means I've always been comfortable changing in front of people...but getting naked? That was a different story.

My very first locker room experience was at the local YMCA. I was..I don't know, 11 or 12? I was there as the guest of a good friend, and we played basketball and went for a swim. In the shower, I took my clothes with me, and hung them on the back of the shower door-- just seemed like the thing to do. I was completely amazed when a woman in her 20s (I guess...it's hard to judge ages when everyone's a grown-up in your eyes) walked from the showers to the locker area COMPLETELY NAKED. There were two parts to the amazement: 1) that she was perfectly comfortable being naked in front of other people, and 2) dear lord, she had an absolutely SMOKIN' body. I was still tomboy-skinny, with angles instead of curves, and I remember thinking "wow, I hope I look like that someday."

All right, fast forward. We never showered after high school gym (and I always scheduled it as the last or next-to-last class for that very reason), so I didn't really deal with locker rooms again until I started using the facilities at Sinclair.

At that point, I was dealing with some pretty hardcore self-esteem issues, and I was the Shimmy Girl. There were only two actual shower stalls with doors, and I would wait until one was available, skipping the communal shower altogether. I kept my head down, didn't meet anyone's eyes, tried to keep my towel wrapped around me as I was getting dressed, and just generally got in and out as quickly as I could.

The next quarter, I didn't have as much time between classes, and therefore didn't have time to wait for a stall if it was crowded. I gritted my teeth, and used the communal shower. Pretty sure I was blushing madly the first few times, but after a while, I got used to it.

Probably around then, I started noticing that very few people had the same hangups I did. Sinclair is a community college, so besides the regular college-age kids, there were lots of non-traditional students (like me), and quite a few seniors that were just taking a phys ed class or two. In most cases, these women had no issues with nudity whatsoever. They were comfortable, not only with being completely naked in front of strangers, but with having detailed conversations while they were naked.

Huh, I thought. That must be nice. And little by little, I started to get more comfortable with my own body. I still use a towel, sure, but, like snowy said, when it's time to get dressed, I throw my towel up on the locker and just...get dressed. If I have time to dry my hair, I'm perfectly cool doing so in jeans and a bra.

Granted, I still have some issues. If the girls' soccer team was changing before a game, I'd revert back to "get in and out as quickly as possible, and show the minimum amount of skin."

But in general, I'm a lot cooler with it now. And, frankly, it's kind of awesome. Not because I'm like "hey, look! I'm naked!" But because I'm not worrying that everyone's watching and judging.

__________________
"...for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world."


"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Lindy

As a child of a couple of wannabe hippies (born 1976) there was a lot of comfortable nudity and near nudity at home, so I kind of grew up with it. And my whole family is blessed with great genes (my Mom's a svelte size six even at age 59) which helps makes it easier to feel secure in nature's garment. In my mid teens I was self conscious about my breasts for, oh, a month or so, but went on to spend a couple of years as an exotic dancer (stripper to most folks) shaking my tits for money, so I have very high self esteem, at least regarding my SMOKIN' HOT body, (yes, still, at age 33 according to my new boyfriend ) and have to fight off an urge to somehow be apologetic about that.
So naked in the locker room and shower? What could be more natural and appropriate than that? I take my shower, towel off, walk over to my locker, and get dressed.

I do notice that with the so-called obesity epidemic, even a lot of younger girls/women are dressing to conceal not just those areas of the body deemed "private" but to hide their generally plump shape. That, more than prudishness or repression, might explain their reluctance to be naked in a place where naked should be normal behavior.

Lindy

Snowy, do you really go to the sauna AFTER your shower? If I did that, I'd want to shower again.

snowy

Yes, but I only stay in the sauna long enough to dry off. The showers at the student rec center are finicky and sometimes aren't hot enough.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau