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I went to school in the late 80's to mod 90's. In middle school we never showered because we had to be in our next class in 5 minutes. In high school you only had to take one semester of PE in the whole 4 years, and I think I took "walking for fitness" really no need to shower after that. oh and one more thing we had no A/C on the buses back then,and this is southeast Georgia in August and September! Now moms drive their kids to school so that don't have to endure the "cruel" heat on the buses. Although most of them have a/c now, some still don't.
PS we never had heat stroke on the bus. yeah it was hot, yeah it was miserable, but we lived!!
Nope, it's a learned paranoia. I'd bet moral/religious in it's beginnings.
Part of it is certainly the increasing religious paranoia in the USA, but I think a bunch of it is also the increased number of single mothers who grew up feeling weird about their bodies. They impress the same neurotic behavior on their sons.
You know, not that I am complaining, but I guess I feel kind of insulted. I was an alter boy. No one ever tried to molest me. I had gym class for years, every year junior high and high school, and no one ever leered at me or watched me. Maybe I just did not notice. I am kidding of course, but in a way, it makes me feel, you know, like I was not that hot or attractive. Or maybe I just lived in a town that kind of thing just did not happen. Once upon a time land, where bad things like that, were not even part of anyones reality.
I never had athletes foot. I had great coaches. And the guy that handed out the towels was just another student. Taking a shower after PE was not optional. You had to shower. I tried to leave one day, without taking a shower and the coach made me take one anyway. By that time, everyone was done showering. I had to stand there in the showers until the coach said I could go. I was not too mad. I was trying to leave early because I had not finished my homework for the next class and was hoping to copy it quickly from a friend. Well, because of the extra showering time, I did not have my homework completely done. Live and learn.
Last edited by Hollywood55; 06-27-2015 at 01:38 PM..
Reason: Spell
As i went back to HS Mid/Late 70's The way my HS ran its schedules each period was 42 mins (If recall correctly).
There was not enough time to Get to PE change, go to PE fields bout 1/2 mile down a hill, do PE, get back up a Steep Hill Shower and Change and get to your next class on time. So showers became a thing of that could be skipped due to time.
The Teams would shower, but they had the time to do Mostly (We had a Late Activity Bus that left the HS @ 630p, The Coaches would have you back to the locker room in time for you to shower and change. (Mostly).
Not sure if it was a State Education Contact time rule for PE,
But the PE Teachers would keep you on the field, or in the Gym so long, that you did not have the 5-7minutes it would take to get into shower, shower, dry, and change in the time allowed. So most would just quickly change in the 2-3mins we had, then get off to next class.
A few of the sports coaches would also keep there teams @ the fields so long all you could do is grab your stuff (Cloths/Books) and get on to the Late Bus before it left, in your practice gear.
Few years after I graduated the HS went to Block Scheduling, so PE then became ~90min 2x a week, instead of ~42Min 4x a week So maybe the PE teacher could release the students a few minute earlier so they could shower, But I'm willing to bet they didn't. Not sure if that changed anything then.
Chicken & Egg thing.
PE Teacher: They never shower, so we are not going to release them early since they don't need that time to shower.
Student: There is no time to shower in the 2minutes I have to change in so I don't.
Way back in the 60's we had to get wet...no one really spent time showering, you had to dress
and be off to your next class...girls made sure their hair didn't get wet though...we were careful.
We are a weird country. We walk around half nude, get naked and have sex with anyone and everyone and people we don't know, don't like body odor, but won't get take a shower when we sweat.
Don't lump us all into that group, as it seems the leftists are more like that than most.
It sounds like a carry over from the liberal hippie days, and there were not to many conservative hippies.
Same here. Changed my clothes and put on more deoderant. It was fine.
Maybe for you because you would be "nose blind" to your own smell.
Granted you might not have had strong BO, but you still had a smell from your sweat/skin whether you could smell it or not.
But it didn't bother you, so that is all that was important.
Nope, it's a learned paranoia. I'd bet moral/religious in it's beginnings.
I don't think so. I did not ever feel comfortable. Girls/boys all develop at different times and stages.
Can be humiliating for those that are either quite developed or those that are slow to develop.
Part of it is certainly the increasing religious paranoia in the USA, but I think a bunch of it is also the increased number of single mothers who grew up feeling weird about their bodies. They impress the same neurotic behavior on their sons.
I think it's more the 'Everyone is a molester' paranoia.
Showers were 10% of your grade in PE in my high school.. This would have been.. 87-88 and 88-89, as I took PE through 10th grade. So, in that sense, it was 'optional'. You couldn't get an A without taking a shower, so.. It was mostly the geeks and the people who didn't care/would stink otherwise who were in the showers.
There were.. Probably 10 people out of a class of 40 or so, myself included, that took showers after PE.. They weren't long showers or anything.. Just enough to go through, knock the sweat off. Minute or two tops. During winter, when we were inside, and doing something that didn't generally break a sweat (Square dancing.. Seriously, did any of you have to do that in PE?) we'd skip it..
Never once did any of us that did shower take any flack for it.. Nor did the people who chose not to shower, unless they totally stank. Teacher was outside of the shower and would monitor the people who walked by.. Didn't sit there watching who actually took a shower. In general, noone is looking at you, everyone is actively trying to make sure they don't look at you.
Someone makes a comment.. At least from the guy's shower room standpoint.. It would get shut down real effing quick with one comment.. "Dude, why are you looking at my dick!?"
Nope, it's a learned paranoia. I'd bet moral/religious in it's beginnings.
This. It's not instinct. There are plenty of societies where nudity is normal and people don't have hangups about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell
Part of it is certainly the increasing religious paranoia in the USA, but I think a bunch of it is also the increased number of single mothers who grew up feeling weird about their bodies. They impress the same neurotic behavior on their sons.
What's the connection between single motherhood and people feeling weird about their bodies?
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I'd bet moral/religious in it's beginnings.
April Showers do not always lead to Athletes Foot
