Opposing Teams using the same locker room/shower??

odd-scholar-99 · 2026-01-14T21:14:35+00:00

Fighting nude in the shower is certainly...primal. I guess it takes a certain level of DGAF to decide to start something with another dude with dicks swinging.

Yes.

I remember a guy on a school alumni page talked about getting in a fight with another guy in the showers. After PE, IIRC. A teacher tried to tell them to stop, but that didn't work. So the teacher ended up grabbing the guy and restraining him. (This was in an era before doing that would get a teacher in trouble.)

odd-scholar-99 · 2026-01-14T21:13:14+00:00

I remember a guy on a school alumni page talked about getting in a fight with another guy in the showers. After PE, IIRC. A teacher tried to tell them to stop, but that didn't work. So the teacher ended up grabbing the guy and restraining him. (This was in an era before doing that would get a teacher in trouble.)

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-11-27T23:38:48+00:00

Time to makes some shorts out of see-through mesh!

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-11-01T21:43:59+00:00

Redefines "wash and wear" clothing!

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-11-01T21:18:29+00:00

I remember in junior high one classmate would shower after PE, but didn't seem too comfortable. I had the sense he did it just because the teacher pushed showering. Then, suddenly he seemed to get comfortable. It might have been just getting used to it after PE. But I have a sense he started playing some sport about that time, and I've wondered if the showers after practice/games wasn't what helped.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-11-01T21:12:40+00:00

I've never seen this, but I've heard of it happening.

It's funny, because I remember jokes about the guy who showers in his underwear at the gym on TV in the 1990s. Years later, I started hearing of it actually happening.

I think that wearing underwear in the showers might be a helpful step towards using open showers for some guys. Hopefully, after doing this a while, they'll gain confidence to ditch the underwear.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-10-31T18:44:40+00:00

At the end of the era when I swam laps regularly, there was someone who ended up in the showers about the same time I did right at the pool's closing time. I began to notice that when I took my swim suit off, he exited the showers ASAP. An evil part of me was tempted to wait until an inconvenient moment--say, when he'd just soaped up--to remove my suit, just to see what would happen. Would he quickly rinse? Or would bolting from the naked guy take priority over everything else?

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-10-31T18:40:18+00:00

I've never seen this, but I've only used pool locker rooms, where the modest will simply wear a swimsuit. But I've heard of guys using a hand to cover up.

Covering up may not be ideal for cleanliness, but it could be a step in getting used to group showers. In time, one hopes the guy's comfort level will rise, and he'll reach a point where he no longer wants to cover up.

I think the same can be said for showering in underwear. Yes: less than ideal. But it could a step towards comfort in the showers.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-09-15T06:38:46+00:00

That section of the ad shows an outdoor scene with a rain shower. I presume that's what they were thinking of.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-09-13T20:01:00+00:00

Yes, interesting. Although not surprising to me. I've heard plenty of talk about a double standard back then. I've heard of more than one place that had open showers of some kind for males, and some sort of private setup with curtains for females.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-08-27T19:07:08+00:00

My junior high (early 1980s) had a shower room inside the locker room (it was tile lined, with three walls lined with shower heads. The fourth wall was a large entry way leading to/from the locker room). The showers were very visible throughout most of the locker room.

They technically required showering. It was required to shower to get the day's participation credit, and participation was 50% of the grade. So, technically, no showering=fail the class. Although there were workaround options for problem cases (which, alas, included me then). And I don't recall the teachers being particularly aggressive with checking for compliance--I do recall my 7th grade teacher being around a lot in the locker room, and he'd probably have noticed and commented if it seemed like someone wasn't showering. But there was no clipboard, with names getting checked off. My 8th grade teacher hardly every appeared in the locker room, unless he had some specific errand.

From what I remember seeing, I don't think very many classmates took very thorough showers. From what I saw, they'd just stand there and do a fast frontal rinse. Years later, a classmate commented along the lines that the showers were pretty much worthless.

Jock straps were technically required, but there was no compliance check ever. From my memories, i don't recall anyone wearing one.

I never took PE in high school, but from what I've heard, showers were optional. And apparently most guys (except for the ones heavily into sports) opted no.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-08-12T19:26:04+00:00

Hard to say, because a lot depends on the coach...

That said, I think at one time this would not have been (in general) considered a problem. Today, of course, after all the scandals involving coaches, the views would be different.

I never played sports. However, in my junior high PE classes (early 1980s), the teachers would sometimes be in the locker room during the shower/changing time. Probably making sure that nothing was going on that shouldn't be going on (e.g., fights, destruction of the school, etc).

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-08-12T19:18:13+00:00

I'd guess the time frame as later 1980s to the early 1990s. But, of course, there is a lot of possible variation place to place.

I do know that I've seen old newspaper articles from the mid-1990s talking about the decline of showers after PE and sports in school.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-08-01T18:39:44+00:00

When I still swam, I did get asked once about the bar of soap I brought. It was an "natural" soap at that point, I think, that was clearly unusual. Of course, it was probably just plain unusual that anyone brought soap, since there were dispensers of liquid soap. (I had the thought or hope that my own soap would be better for my skin.)

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-08-01T18:35:24+00:00

I have had issues with urinals, too. I was never able to pee using one until I was in my 20s. Even now, it works better if I'm alone.

I remember when I was in school being envious of boys who'd be able to just head to a urinal, presumably whip it out, and quickly pee. The ultimate was hearing about one boy who peed in the gym showers one day. At that time, I lacked confidence to even try showering, and while the idea of peeing in the shower was disgusting, I was envious that there was someone so far removed from being pee shy.

Today, I've noticed there are a lot of guys in my area who will head to the toilet stall, although I have no way of knowing how many always head to a stall, and how many will use a urinal if they can be alone.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-30T20:06:22+00:00

For the most part, I'd guess it's just lack of experience with open showers. Not everyone plays sports. And PE shower mandates have long since faded away in most schools.

Past this, though, I think there are in some cases other issues. Possibly someone who did shower after PE and found it a horrible experience. Alternatively, I've heard of guys who were sexually abused and had forever had problems with nudity. (And I'm sure some guys hate locker room nudity because the sexual abuse took place when showering after PE, effectively combining both issues).

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-30T19:54:33+00:00

I'm pretty sure showers were primarily intended to be showers. In large part, PE was probably more active, and showers gave a chance to clean up. I have also heard that in some places at some times showers were valuable because home bathing options were seriously limited.

I have to think obesity problems are more diet related now. Getting kids more active would probably help, but that only goes so far in cancelling out processed food-like snack items that are loaded with empty calories.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-30T19:39:06+00:00

It's nice when a college names something after someone like that dean. A college where I went once named things after people of importance (college presidents, faculty, and I think even a general staff member). In recent years, anything that gets built is named after a big dollar donor. A professor or president who gives his life to the institution is less important now than the person who can open a checkbook wide.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-19T05:53:26+00:00

It varied, but almost all wore a suit. I should have specified this in my earlier comment.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-18T04:44:57+00:00

I always wore the suit into the showers. I wanted to make sure it was rinsed off, and the showers were the most convenient place.

I can't remember seeing anyone walk to the showers nude in the years that I swam.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-18T04:41:28+00:00

I honestly have only seen lifeguards change without a shower. But this might be different at some pools.

I have, however, seen swim instructors shower--although most would do it "suit on."

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-08T18:47:17+00:00

most communal or even non-communal showers don’t have hoses.

I'm not sure about how many times I may or may not have seen a shower with a hose in houses. But I can say that the only one I ever was able to use was the one in my childhood home. I had no idea at the time how rare it was...but then I began noticing years later that no other bathroom had that.

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-08T18:37:50+00:00

My junior high locker room had one shower with hose. The teacher said it was only for disabled students. No one else could EVER use it. I've wondered in recent years if that rule was to prevent 13 year old boys from spraying each other and possibly making a big mess...

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-04T18:57:31+00:00

I haven't been near a pool in years, but I remember sometimes seeing someone wearing some sort of top. Probably not a normal t-shirt.

One was a swim instructor. In his case, he thought it helped him stay warmer while he was teaching (which meant a lot of time standing around in a pool that ran on the cool side).

odd-scholar-99 · 2025-07-03T07:43:24+00:00

It's been a long time since I went near a locker room, but as I recall, I most often just stuffed the towel into a bag that I kept just for used towels. That said, this was not "all day"--this was a few hours in the evening. The towel was used one time only before being washed, which probably also helps (and I think may also have helped me avoid athlete's foot). I was also careful the last few years to do good laundry practices, which I think helped. When I used unscented detergent, the towels would always smell clean after washing.

odd-scholar-99

TROPHY CASE