Public Showers

I've been sorta preoccupied with showering in public this summer (since even before that stimulating experience showering with nudist strangers), at campground bath houses and pool locker rooms and the like, sometimes even pushing the boundaries of where I remain uncovered. I figure, I don't wrap up in my bathroom at home, going from the tub to the sink; if it's understood that these are shower facilities, there should be implied acceptance of incidental nudity. The lengths to which textiles will sometimes go in order to avoid exposure is absolutely mental in my opinion, and I refuse to engage in it beyond reason.

[description: two nude figures share the bathroom - one in the shower, and one at the sink]
Sometimes nudity is the most sensible state of dress.

It's not that I'm unconcerned about the ethics of appearing naked in front of "nonconsenting" strangers. After all, in this gymnophobic culture, I am made to feel like a monster for even thinking about enjoying the sensation of being undressed in public. But I feel very differently about the human body than most (it would seem), and while we're forced to cover up anywhere and everywhere, there are certain places where I think nonconfrontational, nonsexual nudity simply belongs.

[description: a naked man stands in a public restroom with hair wrapped in a towel]
How do I wrap my hair if the towel's around my waist?

It's not that I actually want to expose myself to unsuspecting strangers - something that hasn't happened all summer long in the relatively uncrowded restrooms I've visited (the risks I take are always carefully calculated), it's just that there is a remarkable dearth of opportunities in this culture to simply engage in and be surrounded by adherents of the sort of "free body culture" that I enjoy and crave to experience on a far more regular basis than it is convenient to do in this society.

[description: a naked person stands under an open shower on full display in a locker room]
Individual stalls offer privacy, but the open format is more fun.

I accept that I have minority views, and perhaps I deserve to live shut up in an isolated community with other eccentrics like myself. But until I'm forced to do that, I'm a part of this society, and I believe in the freedom to pursue a lifestyle that makes me happy. And I believe there is a meaningful difference between the casual nudity I want to engage in (no matter if it might make some people uncomfortable sometimes) and the antisocial sort that's predicated on being a nuisance and a threat to the happiness and wellbeing of others. It's really quite simple: it's the difference between a naked person minding their own business, and a naked person minding your business. Once you start minding the naked person's business, you've become the nuisance.

[description: a nude figure poses with arms behind head at the sinks in a public restroom]
When your body looks this good, it's a shame to cover it up.

I just hope it never comes down to being a matter of letting the courts decide. In my defense, I bend over backwards (in spite of how it may seem to those who have never experienced the daily drive that I feel to be naked as much as possible) to try to avoid the possibility of that ever happening. Yet of all the vices I could have, the tendency to want to strip naked isn't the worst one by far. And though saying this might make me sound insensitive to the concerns of others: really, the harm of seeing a naked person has been entirely overblown. In 99% of cases, it is minimal to non-existent - many reports even include positive reactions. If encountering a naked person makes you feel uncomfortable, the best thing you can do is strip down and join them - you'd be surprised at how good it feels!