Nude Swimming at the YMCA

2/13/02

[pabianice]

All the recent news about pedophiles and child pornography has made me wonder about how our local YMCA was run back when I was a kid (late 1950s - early 1960s). No bathing suits were allowed in the Y pool. We kids (boys only, ages about 8-14) simply swam naked. Seemed a little odd at the time, but kids generally do as adults demand without thinking too much about it. There were men there, too, but they wore bathing suits.

Did anyone else have the same experience at the Y when they were kids? Did naked swimming serve some health purpose, or was advantage being taken of us?

[JacksonCalhoun]

The Y I swim at simply chlorinates the pool to any extremely high level, making nude swimming unnecessary.

[Sirnarnian]

I can see how it is hard for people today to think that the YMCA could allow nude swimming and such. You must understand that back then, there wasn't the fear of child abuse because of the Christian values our Nation had back then. You must also understand, this was the norm. Not only the YMCA aloud nude activities, but also did other public pools and public schools. What stopped nudity wasn't the fear of sexual abuse or the homosexual movement as some people might think. It was because, women wanted to use the pools at the same time as the men. So, modesty was needed. What is so ironic is that after nudity was restricted, our country was seeing an increase of sexual crimes and the Gay Movement was starting. In my personal view, I believe we have taken away what was needed in our men and boys. We needed true role models and other men who we can compare ourselves to. If there is someone to blame about the Gay movement and a large number of child abusers, I would blame it on the Extreme Feminist.
But that is my own opinion. Today, many boys and men can't have true friendships with each other because there isn't a safe place to hang around naked and not be ashamed. most men are also afraid to be called gay, even though they aren't. Soon an uncle can't hug his nephew without people accusing him of some sexual activity. It's sad.

Here is a website that is trying to change America back to the old way of thinking. These men might not have any susses, but they are on the right track of thinking.

http://gasguys.wordpress.com

[jacquard]

Hygiene and clogged filters were the reasons given. Neither one holds up. Girls one-pieces were more likely to clog the filters, but that didn’t count. As for hygiene, there are many ways of ensuring good hygiene, and they shouldn’t be restricted to a fraction of the users.
And as for your other justification:
“Besides, women are naturally more modest than men.” Did you ever think that women/girls are allowed to be more modest than men? To get your eyes opened, read Joel Sherman’s Patient Modesty blog.
Growing up I heard all kinds of generalizations (always from women) on the subject: Boys are all the same. Girls aren’t interested in boys bodies. And on.

[NorthMountain]

Perhaps he’s just in awe ...

You are “Tonto Kowalski”, after all.

[TontoKowalski]

Man, this is an old thread. How did this get resurrected?

I'm glad to report that our very secluded home has a pool, and I skinny dip regularly. When I'm doing yard work and get overheated, it's just a quick strip and jump.

I've got to admit there is a certain freedom to skinny dipping. I really didn't do that much as a boy other than a weekend trip to the creek. Mainly we used public pools.

[NorthMountain]

See #63 .... looks like some dude just joined TODAY, and started digging up old threads ... Perhaps I should learn to read the dates on the posts.

[jacquard]

GHW Bush with naked “posture” photographs at Yale, possibly— I don’t know when the practice started. GW Bush, definitely. During his era and beyond, stopping when Yale accepted female undergrads. Hillary, definitely NOT. She was undergrad at Wellesley College and Yale didn’t require nude physicals of grad students.
The photographs were supposedly destroyed, along with the negatives, but they turned up years later in the possession of a junior faculty member of Smith College for women, where he was selling them to the girls there for a little side income.
The photography was handled by steam room staff at Payne Whitney gym, one major center of homosexual activity. Hygiene certainly was a cover, it makes no logical sense whatsoever to apply it only to male swimmers, so you are right.