There has been a lot of stuff on various sites about boys swimming naked at YMCAs, schools, camps, etc. Many have gone on to tell about being forced to be naked while female teachers, fellow students, nurses, or parents came by.
When I mention these stories to younger people (whether male or female) they all think I am crazy. But some older people remember when boys learned to swim naked.
I am not one to call the various posters who say that females were present liars, but I do find the idea highly unlikely. A female medical professional in an emergency seems possible but probably unusual. Mothers, sisters, classmates all seem well beyond what America would have tolerated back then.
I did not get to go to YMCA swim classes. I lacked the prerequisite penis. But my brother Lowell did. I remember him talking about it then and I have discussed this with him recently to make sure that I remember what he said correctly.
He said that they did indeed swim naked. He was not sure whether it was required or not, but they all did it. The instructors were all male, usually college-age guys, and they wore trunks. We both think it was a power thing on the staff’s part, to remind the boys who was in charge, but my brother was never bothered by his nakedness and did not worry about it. The pool in the YMCA where he learned was dank and smelly in a closed, windowless area. They have since replaced it with a new building with a bright, sunlit pool with windows all around. They all wear suits and there seem to be more females there than males, but I guess the M in YMCA does not mean what it used to mean.
There were about three rows on one side where people could watch, but Lowell said that the doors to that area were always closed and nobody was ever there. Once in a while they would see the chief instructor, but he came in from pool level.
They did use those seats for events such as when they did their annual show for the parents and family, but the boys wore suits for that. I remember seeing that a couple of times.
People have also told me that adult men also swam naked back in those days. I do not know for sure about that particular Y, but I guess it was indeed true in some of them.
Our YWCA did not have a pool, but girls I knew who went to ones with pools have all told me that they always swam in suits.
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" am not one to call the various posters who say that females were present liars, but I do find the idea highly unlikely. A female medical professional in an emergency seems possible but probably unusual. Mothers, sisters, classmates all seem well beyond what America would have tolerated back then."
ReplyDeleteYou don't consider two things: the double standard by which boys were required to do things that girls were protected from and the perception that girls, like mothers and nurses, were somewhat sex-neutral and not really very interested in looking.