I went to a Boy Scout camp where I shared a cabin with another boy. It was summer and I lived in the southeastern US, so it was very hot even over night. But I wasn't sure what to sleep in and was very nervous about the idea of getting undressed in front of another guy. The first night, I wore my clothes to bed. So did he. After a night or a few nights, I decided it was just too hot to go to bed fully dressed, so I pulled off my shirt. Not only did my cabin-mate not object or treat me oddly, he did did the same. Another night I took off my shorts and slept in my boxers. Again, my cabin-mate did the same right after I did. He was simply waiting to see what I would do! It was something of a revelation for me to realize that other guys were just as awkward and unsure as I was, and that often they were just waiting to see what others would do, just like I was. That realization made me much more comfortable in a variety of social situations and I hope that by sharing my experience here, others can learn this earlier and experience that same freedom and confidence.
Posts
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky you got to share a cabin. When I was in scouts, it was during the summer monsoons in the southwest and things were really sticky and humid but each of us had to share a tent with another boy. So that night my partner said that almost all of the boys slept naked together on hot nights like this and I asked wouldn't it be weird because we were sharing a sleep bag but he insisted that there was nothing wrong with it because we were both boy scouts and it was so hot. But once we were both naked in the sleeping bag together, he just started to hug me with our sweaty soft skin touching and we kept rubbing together and hugging all night. Him and I were obviously bunk buddies for every trip but my point is that things happen when no one is watching boys.
ReplyDelete