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?

He said he didn’t know where to look when her mum was chatting to him about college with her knockers on full display.

her face?

I miss the Sanctuary

Sweden here. Public saunas are not mixed sex, but if there are saunas you can rent or private ones they can be mixed sex because you go with a group you know, so friends, family and so on. It has more to do imo with being uncomfortable around strangers than being uncomfortable around naked people.

Nudity is not automatically sexual. When DC were young they attended swimming classes and it is very normal for a parent to take a child of the opposite sex to the changing room at the pool and change together and see many naked people of opposite sex.

The only country I have ever been flashed in my life was UK. Maybe the guy wanted to show me his classic British trench coat?

I only recently learned of gay saunas found in many high streets where men go to legally have all sorts of sexual liaisons throughout the day and night.

'The only country I have ever been flashed in my life was UK. Maybe the guy wanted to show me his classic British trench coat?'

I'm not sure it is appropriate to make jokes about sex offending tbh.

The only time I have had a disturbing sexual incident was in Greece but I certainly don't think his nationality was of any relevance. Pervs are pervs wherever they come from.

I wonder why they bother with the sauna part and don't just go to clubs? Surely it's a bit much to get all rampant and sweaty when already in a very sweaty environment?

I imagine the sauna idea is a pretext. From what I gather its just naked dudes and private rooms.

Sadly not always the case I used to be member of a gym with a sauna and steam room in the individual changing room. Several times I was hit on by gay guys. One was particularly creepy and was surreptitiously touching himself.
I was flattered by the nice guys but did ask a gay friend of I was giving off the wrong vibe...he said no, but the thought of seeing me naked was making go straight.

Yes I gather just why bother with the pretence. Consensual sexual activity isn't illegal, seems a bit daft to pretend it's about a sauna.
Anyway, back to the thread!

He said he didn’t know where to look when her mum was chatting to him about college with her knockers on full display.

How about her face?!??

What's some people's hang ups with seeing someone naked? They are still the same person!

Im not sure the clothing issue is the only thing. I recently went to a local sauna/spa with my dd, only a couple of months ago. We wore bathers. It was mixed. When we went to the jacuzzi, the (mainly post 40 age) men trotted after us and one actually sat on the outside edge of it. They were all gazing at my mid 20s dd.

It wouldn't be for me. I would just do women only. In Japan, the onsen are usually swimsuit free but they have women only ones there.

elephantine Germanic male proudly plodding about with his crown jewels on display

Where exactly is this sauna please? Asking for a friend.

I agree that there's a sexual element to it. Maybe not for everyone, but an environment where sexually active adults can freely ogle nude adults is always going to attract sexual interest.

I dont believe people saying they 'don't look'. So if a very hot (in every sense ha!) man swung past in a sauna you wouldn't be tempted to admire his package?? Hmmm. Definite sexual element.

must be different for people who are not used to sauna culture. I don't know anybody in my culture who considers saunas in any way sexy.

I agree. Whilst in no way defending gawping, I bet it has got worse with modern trends for women's swimwear.

If you haven’t noticed yet, the whole thread starts with an inappropriate post and the question and assumptions the OP made are phrased in an offensive manner. Plus many posters, including you, demonstrate cultural sensitivity of a block of wood. So not sure why you have a problem with my post.

Not sure also what “nationality” has to do with anything, the flasher didn’t show me his passport. Culture, on the other hand has a lot to do with what becomes a taboo, and in turn, a kink. So a prudish culture is more likely to produce a specimen that stares at people in sauna or gets aroused by showing penis to opposite sex in a park.

'So a prudish culture is more likely to produce a specimen that stares at people in sauna or gets aroused by showing penis to opposite sex in a park.'

I really don't think a prudish culture has anything to do with sex offending. Not that the UK has a prudish culture by any stretch of the imagination rather we aren't keen on mixed naked saunas, there's no need.

Why people go to saunas at all is the bigger mystery.

This!

Not that the UK has a prudish culture by any stretch of the imagination

It's got to be one of THE most prudish countries I've ever lived in!

I’ve never been to a mixed sauna and have never been sexually assaulted so feel like I would be okay with it as I personally have no issue with nudity but it’s ok not to like it.

It's OK not to like it. So you don't have to go.
It's not OK to boast about rudely flouting the rules, or to couch your statements wrapped in sneering xenophobia.

Asian countries DO NOT have mixed sex spas or saunas. Mixed sex requires bathing suits

The UK is not prudish about some things (public louche behaviour, revealing clothes) but I think is very much so about nudity.