*sighs* it's my own fault for reading comments

[seperis]

Pentagon begins tackling "don't ask, don't tell"

From comments:

I wonder why there is no mention of a heterosexuals right to privacy in this discussion. You parents and you young people who are considering the military might want to consider that the military, the president and the liberals in congress have no regard for your right to privacy.

In the military it is not uncommon for many persons to be in a communal shower at the same time. It is not uncommon for service members to undress and dress in barracks in front of many people.

I don’t have a daughter, but if I did I would not want her to undress in front of men who have a sexual interest in her. I feel the same way about my son. Write your senators and your state rep about this issue and protect our soldier’s, marine’s, airmen’s and sailor’s right privacy and not to be leered at.

Gay’s in the military is not a good idea. Unless you taxpayers are willing to spend the money to build separate barracks, bathrooms, showers, etc.

Notes:

I'm going to simplify this. I think we're running into a disconnect between Repressed Fantasies 101 and The Real World or Theory versus Practice.

Dear People,

Please stop referring to Everything I Know About Them Homosekshuals I Learned From Porn I Saw on the Internet as a medium of real life experience. I am not denying there might be or could be sexual shenanigans in communal showers somewhere in the world, because the world is large and well, there are sexual shenanigans everywhere. But let's put this on the table; communal showers aren't practically sexy. Just bear with me--you've been calithenicing, running, jumping, sweating, shooting things, and trying not to wonder why you thought this was a good life plan for eighteen hours, which culminates in a tile room that smells like disinfectant, socks, and a mix of many kinds of sweat and probably mildew, and likely dead rats. I'm going to say, and I say this as someone with a healthy libido, should I be in a shower with twenty hot guys, which in theory is OMG YES, in practice, I'll shiv their asses for soap, okay? Fuck sex, I want that sand out of my underwear and then I want dinner and sleep and contemplate how I got to this point in my life. It's the military. They're a little busy with trying not to die in physical training or you know, shooting things.

There is a reason human beings, as a rule, do not go on dates still wet wearing towels and in general, we don't say "Hey, I like you. Wanna get some coffee and a communal shower?". Only in porn is anyone attractive while desperately scrubbing off mud and trying to balance on one foot to get those hard to reach places. And frankly, having seen some of that porn? Not so much, no.

Jesus.

So. Just to reiterate--not that it couldn't happen, but honestly, you're also not that hot. Especially covered in day old sweat and dirt. Thank you. Stop watching bad porn. Hell, stop watching porn. Obviously it's fucking with your fantasy to reality filter.

Short version: they're really going to repeal it? Wow. So something just might actually go right. I'm not sure how to handle news that is not life-endingly bad. This feels like--maybe hope? Don't quote me on that.

Comments

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I have been in enough communal showers to seriously boggle at the idea of sex in them, because seriously, it's rare than any location can make you feel less sexy. And also, the smell. eww.

[geeklite.livejournal.com]

Hee yes. He tells me that even though he sees couples who do PDAs in the gym and/or locker room, none of them have gone for it right there in the shower where he can see it.

Also he wears Crocs to shower in, which I keep telling him may be stopping him from getting any action ;)

[tricksterquinn.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it's keeping him from getting any fungus. *shudders*

[ineptshieldmaid.livejournal.com]

I think part of the problem here is that your average not-in-my-shower homophobic guy is not afraid that his hypothetical gay colleague is going to JUMP him in the shower. He probably knows that's not a feasible situation.

What he's afraid of is a gay man LOOKING at him. Naked. Or clothed. But especially naked. Because either he has to accept that a gay man might look at him in the same way as he looks at women (as a nekkid object there for the pleasure of looking at, and fantasising about)... or he has to realise that most gay men WON'T look at him like that, which makes him the bad guy. And our average not-in-my-shower fellow doesn't have the theoretical framework to PROCESS that, he's not gay or female and he hasn't taken gender studies and he's had no *reason* to think hard about the politics of gender interaction. So it freaks him out.