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Some European practices are quite conservative, and I think Scandinavians see pragmatism as a virtue in itself.
You're on to something there - perhaps the word "undressed" is better? Completely functional - be it in a communal shower or on a beach or wherever, it's just not a sexually laden thing.
It is true that Germans like their space, but in Northern Germany, at least, it does not translate to hang-ups about nudity. The human psyche is a weird one...
Why does not wanting to show my boobies and bush ( back when we had them ) make me a liberal? You conservatives are some twisted mofos.
( evil voice) yessssss, let's see the little boy's wieners and the budding breasts of the adolescent girls. Perhaps we can make some money while we are jerkin our gerkins.
Why does not wanting to show my boobies and bush ( back when we had them ) make me a liberal? You conservatives are some twisted mofos.
( evil voice) yessssss, let's see the little boy's wieners and the budding breasts of the adolescent girls. Perhaps we can make some money while we are jerkin our gerkins.
/ end evil voice.
And this is the crux of the issue, the (media inspired/encouraged) firm belief that every MALE is some kind of deviant looking to satisfy themselves with kids...
In Junior high I was so upset with this stupid Big Brother humiliation shower technique that I ripped out the pipe that supplied the showers, and was expelled from PE and sent to office duty. My idea was to just end school early and have physical education after school or at home. There was no way I was going into that petri dish of germs and my parents and I went all the way to the superintendent with the issue. In the end I had a permanent exemption from PE class and instead was able to take electives like electronics, chemistry and even typing. Since I always failed PE this raised my GPA to a perfect 4.0 and allowed me a scholarship to college. For college I took bowling to satisfy the PE requirement. So if you rebel you can avoid dropping the soap and catching some nasty germs.
"The political use of forced nudity by anti-democratic regimes is long established. Forcing people to undress is the first step in breaking down their sense of individuality and dignity and reinforcing their powerlessness. Enslaved women were sold naked on the blocks in the American south, and adolescent male slaves served young white ladies at table in the south, while they themselves were naked: their invisible humiliation was a trope for their emasculation. Jewish prisoners herded into concentration camps were stripped of clothing and photographed naked, as iconic images of that Holocaust reiterated."
This article was published June 26th and is merely referencing the said article from 96.
We had a perverted fat gym teacher who insisted on handing us the towels back when I was in middle school claiming they were getting stolen or something. It was kind of creepy... as is the whole notion of forced public showering in a public school.
This general issue is one of the problems in schools. Some students like to think gym teachers are "looking", while in reality they are supervising (that's not to say there aren't some weird ones of there, too). And kids are shy in front of others.
Let's face it...sometimes kids are their own worst enemies. I had a girl come into my office one day crying because, "The kids say I stink". After I got her calmed down a bit, I told her that the reason they were saying it was because she did have a body odor problem. So I suggested some strategies to end the issue...for example, the school would buy her shampoo, soap, and deodorant, and she could use the gym showers before school. No, they might find out. Let's have your parents come in and help work through this. No, they would punish her. Finally sent her over to the counselor, who made no more progress. What she wanted was for every student who suspended her or others to be suspended, which of course was not practical. Another time I had a boy come in crying because the other students insulted him for being so very, very smart, calling him "nerd turd" and things like that. I discussed with him ways in which he could interact that would help him fit in better, but no, he didn't want to lower himself to be like a common person. So, no progress was made.
Honestly, the whole self-image thing -- at least for middle schoolers -- has always been a problem and will always be a problem.
We showered after gym when I was in HS, and there was no "mass nudity." Gimmeabreak.
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