I'm doing a bit of psychological research on what factors affect our choice in clothing, and an idea occurred to me. Because people tend to wear less clothing in the water, I wonder whether people who swim often tend to feel more comfortable wearing less clothing on land, too. If you frequently swim shirtless (if male, obviously) and barefoot, do you think this has caused you to feel more comfortable being shirtless or barefoot outside the water, too?
As an example, let's take a male swimmer who wears standard swim trunks when swimming. This leaves almost his entire body exposed while also boosting its strength, agility, and toughness. If he swims like this regularly, I can imagine several possible changes in his behavior that he might not even be consciously aware of.
1) He might feel less self-conscious being shirtless and barefoot in public. Lots of people see him shirtless and barefoot when swimming, but do not have any unusual reaction, so this might make him feel more confident out of the water, too.
2) He might feel more comfortable doing activities while barefoot. His feet have been strengthened not just from the swimming itself, but also by walking barefoot on the hard surfaces near the water. As a result, his feet might be tough enough that he would go barefoot when feeling the ground or gripping with toes could be beneficial, or even just because he likes being barefoot.
3) He might feel more comfortable doing activities shirtless. Swimming would have considerably strengthened and toughened his torso, and made him accustomed to working with it exposed. As a result, he might be more likely to go shirtless when it is hot or when wet or muddy conditions would just cause the shirt to get in the way, or even just because he likes being shirtless.
4) He might feel less vulnerable when shirtless or barefoot. Research shows that generally, when people wear less clothing, they feel more anxious and apprehensive about possible danger, even if the clothing would barely protect them at all. Because our example swimmer is very accustomed to being shirtless and barefoot, he might feel less anxious about exploring an unfamiliar or possibly dangerous place with his torso and feet exposed.
5) He might be more aware of how much punishment his torso and feet can take and what their weaknesses are. Doing frequent activity while shirtless and barefoot would lead him to understand better how much pressure can be put on his body before it actually starts being hurt. For instance, he might be able to tell what kinds of surfaces he could walk across barefoot, and what surfaces would actually hurt his feet. Likewise, he might be better at telling whether something hitting him in the bare chest would hurt him or if it would harmlessly bounce off.
Have you noticed any of these sorts of changes in your behavior since you started swimming? Thank you for helping with my research!
....so you like looking at shirtless, barefoot men, in skimpy clothing. Questions such as these, posed by an individual such as yourself, say more about you than they do about us. Your looking for confirmation that's OK to admire men, in skimpy clothing, in aquatic settings.
You did not define swim trunks. There are swim briefs, swim trunks (square cuts), jammers, and board shorts (boardies). At the multiple pools that I swim, there are fewer men wearing briefs, a smaller number wearing square cuts, with the most wearing jammers, and the few odd ducks wearing boardies. Almost all the youth swimmers are wearing jammers, the few that do wear swim briefs are most likely involved in water polo, or have been swimming for a number of years already.
I attend a number of pool parties in fashionable Hollywood, CA a few times during the summer and, even in accepting Hollywood swim briefs are few in number.
Generally speaking when out of the pool I believe we all dress rather normally. When you see a person outside of a aquatic facility wearing a competitive type swimsuit, in my experience, its in a community, such as where I live, that has huge aquatic programs in place, triathlons, and open water swimming, and no one really cares because its the norm in these areas. If I am approached by anyone its more like "Do you swim Masters?", or "You swim Masters don't you".
Swimming in a swim brief, for men, is not about vulnerability, its empowering, when outside of a swimming venue, especially in the U.S.A.
I believe you need to review your questions and look at what you are really asking the Masters swimming community.
....so you like looking at shirtless, barefoot men, in skimpy clothing. Questions such as these, posed by an individual such as yourself, say more about you than they do about us. Your looking for confirmation that's OK to admire men, in skimpy clothing, in aquatic settings.
You did not define swim trunks. There are swim briefs, swim trunks (square cuts), jammers, and board shorts (boardies). At the multiple pools that I swim, there are fewer men wearing briefs, a smaller number wearing square cuts, with the most wearing jammers, and the few odd ducks wearing boardies. Almost all the youth swimmers are wearing jammers, the few that do wear swim briefs are most likely involved in water polo, or have been swimming for a number of years already.
I attend a number of pool parties in fashionable Hollywood, CA a few times during the summer and, even in accepting Hollywood swim briefs are few in number.
Generally speaking when out of the pool I believe we all dress rather normally. When you see a person outside of a aquatic facility wearing a competitive type swimsuit, in my experience, its in a community, such as where I live, that has huge aquatic programs in place, triathlons, and open water swimming, and no one really cares because its the norm in these areas. If I am approached by anyone its more like "Do you swim Masters?", or "You swim Masters don't you".
Swimming in a swim brief, for men, is not about vulnerability, its empowering, when outside of a swimming venue, especially in the U.S.A.
I believe you need to review your questions and look at what you are really asking the Masters swimming community.
