Modesty rules

[cjsmith]

I don't have much body modesty, at least not about the parts I'm supposed to cover up. Community theater probably knocked out any seeds of this when I was in high school, and I honestly don't remember the last time I wore a swimsuit.

Last week a doctor told me to disrobe from the waist down, and there was some kind of cotton fabric thing waiting on the table for me. I'm so used to disrobing completely and then wearing the little gown that I didn't have a habit for this instance. So when she came into the room, I was sitting on the crinkly paper, bare-assed, with the cotton thingy still folded beside me. I honestly think she was mildly shocked. I almost giggled at the contrast between her not expecting to see me bare when she walked in, and her ten minutes later being up to the knuckles inside my anatomy.

I am grateful for clothing when it's cold out, or too sunny, or when I'm sitting in the dirt. Bras make my life much more comfortable, so when I'm wandering around the house I will often have one of those even if I don't have much else. I am also grateful for clothing when I'm in a mixed-gender mostly-straight crowd with men I don't know. But societal rules about what parts aren't supposed to show... those aren't me.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Community theater

Ah, that explains it. ;-)

I think I'm with you - clothes are for keeping warm, keeping from getting sunburned, or if a particular decorum not defined by me prohibits nudity. Otherwise, I can shuck 'em pretty easily.

One of my fascinations with being male (or not being female, however you want to look at it) is the concept of the bra, or probably more accurately the need thereof. They, particularly underwires, seem torturous at best to me, so I can only imagine how much comfort must play a part in the proper fitting.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I lurve my underwire bra. Can't find anything that stabilizes well without underwires.

Oddly enough, I've rarely rejected a bra for comfort reasons. Either the cups are the right size or they're not. All the straps are always too big, but I'll tolerate "pretty close" on those until my laziness runs out and I get the sewing machine. Maybe if the cup size is right, then the underwires automatically work properly?

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

It's not just cup size, it's shape and placement.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I was speaking for myself. I have not seen cup shapes or placements that don't work well for me, unless the size is also very wrong.

[platypus]

Those little crinkly gowns are always too small for me, so I simply don't wear them. I'll leave my shirt on but take off my bra if I'm in for a gyn exam; honestly, why do they need me to wear a napkin for half an hour and freeze my bare back for the sake of a minute-long breast exam?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

One of the things I really appreciate about my current gyn is that his office provides SOFT COTTON gowns. Mmmmmm! 8-)

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

What I don't like in gyn exams is the drape*. If someone's spending time in my pussy, I don't want that hidden from me!

Makes some dr's uncomfortable, and I can understand that. A nekkid cooshie is a body part to interact with scientifically. A bare bum with a person's face attached - that's more like a naked person, which is a sexual thing for a lot of people. (I read a poem once called something like "The Naked and The Nude" that really nailed it.)

But I don't care if the dr is uncomfortable. I'm the one with my pants off; I'm the one who is actually vulnerable. That drape stays off.


(*For the guys: the patient is on her back and a cloth or piece of paper is draped across her raised legs to "screen" her. Like in surgeries, only not for sterility.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Huh, interesting. The drape doesn't usually bother me, but I can definitely see your point.

[gorillashaman.livejournal.com]

"The customs of my tribe are strange to me".

My daughter can tell you why we have to wear clothes outside; it's so we don't upset the monkeys.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Upsetting the monkeys... good one. I wouldn't be surprised if, one day, I silently explain it to myself that way. :-)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

When I was at my doctor's office having a small labial sebaceous cyst excised, the nurse, who was near my shoulder, whispered something to the doctor, who then asked, "Mind if _nurse's name_ watches from down here? She's never seen this procedure before." I said, "Yeah, sure!" As the nurse moved down to where she could see better, she said, "Well, I didn't want to intrude on your private parts." There I lay, on my back, feet in stirrups, and a very bright light illuminating my pinkest of bits, and I said, "They're hardly private these days." They both laughed.

I know it's polite, "right," that she asked, but still, she's a medical professional, I was being treated . . . It's not that I don't appreciate their concern. :)

And the paper robe thing before a major genital invasion has always struck me as a bit silly.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

"They're hardly private these days."

*chuckle* Yeah. I see that it's "right" that she asked, but it's still also a bit funny.

[firecat]

The paper gown doesn't fit me, and I put it on my lap like a napkin. This is entirely to make the doctor comfortable. When I'm getting a mammogram, they give me a paper vest that is so small it only covers my back and doesn't cover either breast. That's clearly ridiculous, so last time, although I was wearing it when the technician came in, I told her I was just going to take it off, and she was fine with that.

I never thought about the drape the way genderfur describes it, but I realize that I also feel uncomfortable with it. Mainly because I'd rather see what instruments they are about to use.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh weird. I never got a little vest for my (only, so far) mammogram. That really does seem a bit silly... even if it were the right size.