Not Lawliet Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 I personally don't have a friend who is gay, so here is where I ask. Please forgive the length of the question. I don't know of any conventional term for this, so I'm calling the value of keeping parts of one's body visually private, "body privacy", and it's commonly valued for reserving that privilege to be earned by a selected romantic partner. It used to be not long ago that heterosexuality was the only socially accepted orientation. I think locker rooms and bathrooms were separated by gender (biological sense - the biology "sex" and activity "sex" get confused in the same context) for this reason. Most people don't have a problem being naked in front of others of the same gender. The intuitive reason would be that most men are sexually interested in women, and most women are sexually interested in men. With this social custom very firmly established, do homosexuals care at all about who sees them naked, specifically in regards to gender? For a man, if a straight or gay woman isn't a potential sexual partner, and straight men and gay men are gathered in the same locker rooms, is body privacy important for them? If you are personally gay, or know one who is, do you have any insight to offer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiuol Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 Well, one confound to your question is that people who don't really fit into a norm are more open to non-traditional values or viewpoints. Anyone who isn't hetero would be more likely to not care about body privacy than the hetero population. Any answer you get would probably be a matter of social norms, not a psychological difference per se. Another idea. If one does value body privacy, and one were only ever interested in the opposite sex, one would -definitely- not want to be naked in front of the same sex. At least, it wouldn't explain preference for body privacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reidy Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 I don't think this tracks with people's sexual orientation. Some homosexuals, like some heterosexuals, are weird and will show it off to anybody on the lightest pretext, whether anybody is interested or not. Others, gay or straight, are implausibly modest; they won't exercise or they'll change under a towel. Most people, gay or straight, are somewhere in between. They are willing to undress under the standard circumstances and not under any others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Lawliet Posted April 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 23 hours ago, Eiuol said: Any answer you get would probably be a matter of social norms, not a psychological difference per se. Well, social norms, or personal preferences that may be socially normal or not, but you're right that it probably wouldn't be a psychological difference. 23 hours ago, Eiuol said: If one does value body privacy, and one were only ever interested in the opposite sex, one would -definitely- not want to be naked in front of the same sex. At least, it wouldn't explain preference for body privacy. If body privacy is a value primarily for benefiting sexual gratification in a relationship, as I suggested or implied it would be for most, then it makes sense why nakedness is less important around those not in one's pool of romantic prospects, while for a hetero male or hetero female nakedness in front of the opposite sex is important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiuol Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 I mean, I personally find body privacy a rather dumb thing and doesn't benefit sexual relationships. Nothing in my mind about this view is impacted by my sexuality - if anything, the causal relation is that my views on nudity have a stronger bearing on my sexuality as a whole. I get what you mean that nudity is less important when in front of people you're not attracted to, but you left out just how easily a hetero male or female rules out a romantic prospect. And what about people who are some variety of bisexual - would they just never feel comfortable naked? Body privacy to me looks to be more about how people are socialized to think about sex, e.g. "the opposite sex is so foreign, my body is so different" and it grows from there. Not romantic prospects affecting it, but more like "feeling awkward". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JASKN Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I also think comfort with nudity is mostly cultural and doesn't have much to do with sexuality. I imagine a culture totally comfortable with nudity, and people sexually interested in each other will still treat each other differently. I don't know why we've arrived at this particular moment of cultural comfort with nudity, but I would bet it's from some prudish religious values, since I think nudity should be no big deal to civilized humans in some alternate universe. In this alternate universe, though, gay men would still be more sexually active than the general populace, as they are now, because one party would not be slowing the other down (sorry, ladies). I doubt it would be much different than it is now for gays, if nudity were accepted culturally. Men have X-ray vision, locker room or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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