Did you grow up where male nudity was common place and generally accepted?

[Stexx]

Today there's a trend towards covering up, and guys seem embarrassed to show their junk; but this wasn't always the case and guys would casually change clothes, shower naked together, and even swim nude at school in front of each other. So why have we become so prudish?

[scotsguy27]

I started high school in 2001 (age 11) and we had open locker rooms. PE was mandatory for the first 4 years of high school (age 11-15/16). During this time we would have swimming (the year would rotate - start with something like basketball, then hockey, then something else then swimming). This would be the only time the boys would be naked within the locker room. Most of the boys would just get naked and change and there was no issues. It was also the same after when we would shower naked together. There was the odd few who would shower with their speedos on (we weren't allowed shorts as apparently we could drown if caught in the vents...). There was also a few that would change from speedos to their underwear whilst holding their towel around themselves.

As I got older 17/18 the school started to have changing cubicles, not loads maybe 4(?), the locker room still was very open with benches and open showers.

At my works residential training the majority of the guys were nude in the locker room. The younger ones (early 20s maybe) were in towels.

At the gym its a bit more reserved. There's ample private changing cubicles within the open locker room. There's also open showers with a section thats got separators (I think it defeats the purpose that the dividers are either side yet I can still see you nude in the shower as there's no door...). 

I think the reason for the change is probably due to changing attitudes towards nudity, etc. especially in public settings. "Cancel Culture" probably isn't the right word for it but historical cases and accusations, etc more than likely led to more privacy and rights for people in a public setting.

I grew up within a household and family where nudity wasn't an issue so I didn't really have an issue with others seeing my penis as I knew the other guys in my school had a penis too. As an adult I'm of the opinion that I have a penis and that if you're in the male locker room you too likely have a penis. Its entirely up to the individual and how they feel about their body. I'm comfortable with mine.

Social media and influencers will also play a massive part of it too. Young people nowadays have the likes of instagram and tik tok which shows alot of either heavily edited bodies or shows a lifestyle that is promoted by attractive/fit looking people i.e. the guy with the 8 pack and muscles promoting a protein powder that costs a small fortune but in reality he wasn't born with a body like that it probably took years to get but the young people will see that on their feed and feel insecure about their body.

Readily available porn probably plays its part as well. I can certainly admit that I felt inadequate when I first started watching porn and seen the penis sizes. Every penis was thick and massive and the men had 6 packs. I think most teenage males worry about their penis size compared to their friends as they'll see a penis thats "massive" in porn, they'll themselves will be an average size or still developing and will probably think that they have the smallest penis amongst their friends or class when in reality every single male in their year group and friends circle will have roughly the same size.

[soundsgreat87]

It was already changing in the 80s and 90s, at least here in the USA. There was a pretty big "pedophile scare" in the 80s (I think there were a few high profile cases of gym teachers getting the jobs so they could ogle kids) and the attitudes changed pretty quickly. By the time I was in high school in the late 90s, no one got naked in the locker room, except for actual sports teams. It just felt weird to everyone.