For Thinking that Mixed Saunas are Perverted?

[GreekDogRescue]

I am currently staying in a spa resort in Switzerland. The facilities are immaculate but it always strikes me as odd that the conservative Germanic cultures are so keen on the mixed naked sauna.

I visit every year and endure it but every time I enter the sauna with trepidation, hoping against hope that I do not have to confront some elephantine Germanic male proudly plodding about with his crown jewels on display. Thankfully I’m increasingly myopic but WTF?

The irony is that Brits are seen as wacky nonconformists yet conservative European cultures are so keen to get their kit off at the first glimpse of a bit of heat. There are even signs up forbidding users to wear their bathing costumes. Why?

Obviously as a rule-breaking Brit I defy this but will never forget a Swiss lifeguard storming into the Davos public sauna demanding I take my bathers off. I have also been harassed in the most horrible way so now stick to hotels.

AIBU to find this all very perverted?

Are there any Scandi or Germanic contributors who can shed some light?

You don't HAVE to go

Ooh i didn't know it was mixed naked. Not sure i'd be up for that

There is nothing perverted in the human body.
You clearly have some hang ups, and that's ok, just don't go there?

I’m Irish and would rather die than be naked in a sauna, mixed or single sex.

There is nothing sexual going on in the saunas, a naked body in itself isn’t perverted.

I think it’s healthy to see bodies in all shapes and sizes so that you can see that there is nothing wrong with yours

I love a good sauna but if mixed prefer a towel cover up.
Fair dos if nudity is your thing however.
Really just wondering why this is so popular in Europe whereas Brits balk.

Some other countries don't have the same hang ups about the naked human body that some people in the UK have. It is as simple as that. No worse or better (or perverted) that British culture, just different.

Different cultures do things differently 🤷‍♀️ The naked sauna people tend to think being in swimwear in a sauna is unhygienic, and I’m not sure they’re wrong.

Don’t go if you don’t like it.

It’s normal in many cultures to be naked in a sauna. Even in Asian countries.

If you don’t want to see a man in a sauna then just don’t go.

Wtf is perverted about it? I get that you’re trying to be funny, but your post just comes across as racist, snobbish and condescending.

It's not perverted.
I think it's great that people don't mind about showing their bodies.

It's not perverted. It's just not what you are used to.

I just wore a towel and didn't look at other people.

You should go to Korea on holiday, it’s segregated there. I don’t mind naked segregated but don’t fancy mixed either.

it's just nudity. If it's not your thing then don't do it.

If it's people sitting around in the altogether in a hot room then there's nothing intrinsically perverted about that.

That doesn't mean that an individual in that situation cannot be a pervert. I'm sure some are and I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with someone.

Scandi Husband says it's got nothing to do with wanting to be naked with others / seeing others naked, but everything to do with just being brought up that nudity isn't shameful and that bodies are just bodies whatever shape or size. In terms of a public changing room for example it's simply easier to take one set of clothes off fully before putting another set on without trying to hide under a towel or in a cubicle so that's just what they do from babyhood upwards. He did laughingly demonstrate that if you drop your locker key it's the done thing to squat down to pick it up rather than bend over at the waist though, because 'nobody needs to see that's apparently.

He's not lived in Scandinavia for some time but doesn't recall ever coming across a 'nudity obligatory' sauna there, although I certainly have in Germany.

In terms of the swimwear ban I'd just assume it's a hygiene thing? Certainly in Iceland it's mandatory to shower completely naked before using a public pool, and in France lots of places insist on trunks / swimming costumes rather than anything that may have been worn in the street (like board shorts).

Ah, fond memories of the time I ended up in a hotel sauna with a colleague in a country where naked mixed saunas are standard, and she was hugely offended that the other sauna users didn't immediately cover up, once spotting that we were in our swimwear and not naked like them.

LOL at "perverted". It's a different culture. Apparently they think clothing in a sauna is unhygienic/shocking or something. They certainly react quite strongly against it.

If you don't like it, don't go. I say this as someone who sometimes holidays in those parts of the world and would never in a million years want to visit a naked sauna.

Thankfully the non-textile areas tend to be pretty secluded away from family swimming etc, so it's not as if you'll suddenly be surprised by a strapping German with his crown jewels flopping about.

I've seen a few bigger spa places in tourist areas that schedule special sessions where swimsuits are worn, ideal for us weird prudish Anglo types. Some also have a separate 'Textil-Sauna', usually in the swimming area rather than the main spa, where clothing is worn.

Swimming costumes are unhygienic in a sauna environment. You are absolutely permitted to wrap yourself in a towel.
If you don't like it, don't go!

I am Dutch and we do mixed naked saunas too.

I think they are fantastic. There is something oddly liberating about going in the buff. You see all sorts of bodies too, it's almost like an antidote against the stuff you see on social media.

If you don't want to go mixed some saunas do lady's night.

I don't think it's perverted it all.

Curious about unhygienic though. Why are swimsuits seen as unhygienic?

I wouldn't call British people wacky and non conformist. Europeans are notoriously much more relaxed around nudity and sex in general.
Presumably you don't have to get naked in the sauna? Or there are single sex ones also?
I think that naked bodies are just that, if not in a sexual context and consenting to seeing others nude then what's the problem?

Oh yes and penises are uninteresting, ugly little things. I go to a sauna to relax, not to ogle at penises.

Northern Europeans have a much healthier and more natural relationship with nudity than we do.

For the life of me though, I can’t imagine why you keep going back to a place which makes you uncomfortable.

Was it in mixed naked saunas you were harrassed OP?

I think it's great that people are comfortable with the human body, I don't get how that can be perverted. It seems to me that you are the one sexualising it OP so that's on you. That said I would not in a million years get into a naked sauna with a man or woman, I hate being naked or around nudity.