locker room monologue

forgive me for sounding prudish but it seems to me that people are getting bolder nowadays. either that or i have been living in a bubble for the past few years and have failed to notice how "liberated" we have become.

i was in the locker room at my gym yesterday getting changed when it suddenly occurred to me that men were walking around me completely in the buff! i mean, it shouldn't be surprising since it was the men's locker room. but i have been coming to this gym for the past 4 years and for the past 4 years, the guys here, be they be flabby old men or ripped adonises, they all change in the shower stalls, away from prying eyes (not that i pry). i shouldn't really complain now that i have a new purpose of going to the gym but it was just an interesting observation. how times have changed i though to myself, while ogling at a delightful set of steamed buns...

truly, times have changed, and correspondingly, people's level of comfort. i still used to remember how the very mentioning of "sex" used to make people blush. now, "sex" is used so often and unabashed that, in casual conversations, the topic is almost expected to turn up. blame it on my rather conservative upbringing, but i still feel awkward when talking about sexual issues. i found myself talking to my gym instructor yesterday and instead of just saying "erection" point blank, i had to mask it into something more humorous and pleasant, like "junior's salute".

don't get me wrong, i'm no preacher's daughter. i can be quite vulgar and graphic on certain occasions. but i guess my moments of disinhibition are still rather sporadic as compared to some of my friends who can drop words (that i am still to embarrassed to say, or even type!) like they were talking about what they had for breakfast.

topics that were once considered taboo have definitely become more mainstream. hell, to have my 60-something mom act so cool when i came out to her, much more when we had a conversation about "ejaculation" means that we have definitely come a long way from the days when such acts would mean you getting lashes! people are more vocal now and more confident to express what they think and how they feel. since coming out, my mom would now ask me about my sexuality. i am constantly finding myself flabbergasted by her inquisitiveness that sometimes, i'm embarrassed to answer her back! past gestures of discreetness are becoming more and more of a rarity and are now being replaced by bolder forms of self expression.

it's all good i suppose. the days wherein you get beaten up or teased ruthlessly by your neanderthal peers for being the odd man out are slowly becoming a thing of the past. it is now ok to be weird, to be eccentric, to be different, to be blunt, to be bold, to be honest to oneself. it's ok now for a guy to get a facial. it's ok now to wear pink without being thought of as a woos. it's ok now to enjoy musicals and theater and art for that matter without being judged as snooty. it's ok now to use words like aubergine, taupe, and vermillion without sounding queer. and i guess, it's now also ok to walk about in locker rooms with your royal jewels hanging in full display for people to oooh and ahhh.