Thursday, November 12, 2009

What shirtless freedom is all about.

So what is all of this about? It's about guys feeling free to peel off their shirts and be comfortable in their own skin.

Why? It's fun. It's comfortable. It's healthy to be comfortable with your own body. But there are various inhibitions that tend to keep guys from taking off their shirts, even when heat and vigorous exercise call for it. I want to encourage guys to feel free to take off their shirts and I want to encourage various organizations to be more accepting of it.

So, are you saying that guys should walk around shirtless just anywhere they feel like it? No, this blog isn't really about promoting the "guys should be shirtless anywhere they want, any time they want" philosophy, although I suppose it wouldn't be a bad thing. But this blog is focused first of all on encouraging guys to feel free to take off their shirts in the settings it is mostly already accepted. A lot of guys still have some inhibitions here that keep them from taking their shirt off when they are jogging down the street and enjoying the cool breeze on their chest, for example. Secondly, this blog is meant to encourage people to expand some of the current venues for shirtlessness. I hope to encourage sports organizers to be more permissive of shirtless uniforms.

To these ends, I am going to write posts with specific suggestions along these lines, and I'll include some pictures for encouragement and to add a little interest to the blog.

4 comments:

  1. I look forward to your posts and reading about your experiences, viewpoints and suggestions. As a convert to shirtless running myself (with a blog to prove it), I'm entirely supportive of your championing of 'acceptable shirtlessness' and second your call for sports organisers to be a little less restrictive, given today's more enlightened mores. Certainly, the tightening-up of attire regulations for some triathlons, for instance, seems a regressive step.

    All the best with the new blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks!

    I had not heard about some triathlons restricting attire. That is a little surprising and does seem like a step backwards. Traditionally, triathlons have allowed speedo-style swimsuits to be worn in all legs of the event. What are some of them requiring now? I wonder how common the restrictions have become?

    I definitely feel that sports organizers should be more accepting of shirtless uniforms and gear in a variety of sports, especially outdoor sports in warm weather. (And "warm" is relative to the intensity of the sport or exercise. At the same temperature a guy standing around idle in shirt sleeves may be shivering, while a guy running hard shirtless may still be dripping sweat.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. At our school we can workout shirtless and it is just so much better, i agree it should be enouraged for many more sports. I think most males would prefer it that way.

    ReplyDelete