To feel embarrassed about walking around naked in gym changing rooms?

[IShouldNotCoco]

It isn’t because I dislike my body or anything but I do feel incredibly awkward about just stripping off and walking around. Is it upbringing?

I am quite envious of all the women who seem totally unbothered about doing this. If you’re trying to get changed without exposing everything, you’re definitely in the minority at my gym.

So I’m wondering how common it is for people to feel the way I do?!

There is no need to walk around naked in the gym changing room and almost nobody does ime. Everyone gets changed fairly discreetly and wraps a towel around themselves if they need to cross the room to retrieve a forgotten item from a locker or whatever.

I belong to a club with open plan changing and honestly, in 30 years I can’t remember anyone‘walking around naked’.

We come in, change and carry on. Yes, people are briefly partially dressed but that’s it if you want to get changed entirely privately you may need to go elsewhere or buy a special robe. For most of us it’s not a big deal.

I’ve never been to a gym but surprised to hear people parade around naked.

Most people don't like wandering around naked in a public space.
I'm old enough to remember school showers - communal. Dreaded them. Dreaded the thought of 2ndry school because of the showers after games.
There was 1 girl who was happy to be naked and spent ages just showering. But she was the exception.

{shrug} you feel what you feel.

I change in the cycling changing room at work and tbh after two babies I don't give much of a shit who sees my boobs. I don't go out of my way to give a show but my priority is changing quickly rather than covering up. It would be mildly awkward if a close colleague and I found ourselves having a topless conversation about work but I don't have anything any other woman doesn't, so what's the big deal? But there are doored changing cubicles for people who prefer more privacy.

I find it totally unnecessary for anyone to be swanning about naked in a changing room.

I don't want to see you naked, and you don't want to see me naked. Why is anyone naked?

When I lived in London years ago, they all paraded around in the nip the changing room at my gym. I never did, always kept my towel intact, even though I was young & beautiful back then…

As someone who has never stepped foot in a gym in their life why are people wandering around naked is this normal.

I haven’t seen that at my gym. Most quickly dry and dress, not parade around in the buff.

I did use a work gym years ago and a colleague came out the shower and put a leg up on the bench to dry her bits whilst chatting to me … I’m still scarred 😳

Well clearly I’m not alone. But at this gym (David Lloyd btw) for the 10 years I’ve been here, it has been this way.

I am not offended, I just feel so bemused by it.

Every woman is different. There is a mix of women at my gym. Some women walk around naked, others use the small changing cubicles, others find a corner locker and turn their back to the room, and some are top naked or bottom naked for a brief moment but don’t walk around naked.

No one judges anyone else, to my mind.

At the gym I used to go to, there would always be one happy to walk around naked, lifting a leg so we could all see what she had for lunch or indeed bending over. There is absolutely no need for it, I never did it and none of my gym buddies did.

I don't wander round naked at the gym, but I don't hide under a towel either- I definitely get naked in the course of getting changed but its very much a means to an end. I don't stand around looking at anyone else doing it and I very much doubt anyone is looking at me either.

A few women in my changing room do walk around naked while they're drying off or whatever, it doesn't bother me and I respect their confidence.

It's some people's routine. I work with a woman who full body lotions after her shower before she puts her undies on. At my old gym there was a regular who would don her thong and high heels before blow-drying her long hair. All part of the rich tapestry of life innit.

Totally off topic but “2ndry”?! What on earth am I seeing now

I go to a DL too and have never noticed anyone walking around naked tbh. Naked, sure - drop a towel to stick a bra on, or towel drying off - but no one else walking around starkers. I’m quite good at putting my knickers on under my towel, then turning my back to the room and putting my bra on, 99% of people do this when I’m there from what I’ve noticed - which isn’t much as I’m usually just worrying about myself and getting in and out asap!

I'm sad you feel this way if it is lack of body confidence, but I know you are not alone, at least on these islands. A German sauna, be it women only, or mixed, would not be for you.

Yes this is exactly what I do as well! But the majority of others don’t. All I can say is that I wish I had their confidence.

This.
When a certain PE teacher was in, we were made to put our towels on a hook and queue naked for the shower.

I’m quite happy with my body so it’s not that 🤷🏻‍♀️

I can't get undressed in front of people at all.
I trained in an operating theatre role, and the start of the shift was everyone stripping off and getting into scrubs in the communal changing room. No one was totally naked, but I could not even take my clothing off in front of anyone else, so would get changed in the toilet.
Have done it in gyms too.

Saying that, when I was little, my dad would take me and my sister swimming and take us into the men's changing room. I saw a lot of swinging dicks way too young.

In my experience, most people want to cover up, some people are a bit more relaxed about it than others and are efficient and not making life hard for themselves trying to cover up obsessively, and some not so much..

And then every once in a while you get someone who gives zero shits and strides about in the buff, will stick one leg up on the bench to dry something, flashing fanny to the whole room, take their time doing all sorts of unnecessary stuff... and I think they just get a kick out of it and ignore them.

When I used communal changing rooms I'd just get on with it, covering as much as was practical and doing the minimum necessary to get dressed and get out.

I use the disabled facilities now so it's not an issue (though the local pool seems to think theres no need for heating in teh disabled changing room, brrrrrrrr, so I do hurry up there).

Ewww how awful - poor you. No little girl should have to see swinging dicks! That’s really grim.

I'm not sure if it upbringing, me and my sister are very close in age but she would never walk around naked and I wouldn't give it a second thought

I never felt comfortable with it either so I became quite expert at drying and dressing under a towel. It’s just not me to wander about in the nude (even at home), although there were always women there who seemed very relaxed about it.