Who is more uncomfortable being naked-men or women?

Nudeslave83

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This is a question that came up on another board (CFNM village) on one of my stories when someone commented that most of my stories were more softcore and how often the character would embrace their own nudity but it did get me thinking of something I think about very often, and that is who is more embarrassed being naked, particularly being naked while others are dressed, men or women such as in a CMNF or CFNM situation?

I think the case can be made for both but here I am going to examine the two positions and their relative strength and weaknesses.

I think conventionally in society there is more of an attitude of seeing male nudity is humorous and seeing men as sort of more the exhibitionist of the sexes, with women being generally raised to be more modest and also women having a lot more body shame in general, which I think makes a lot of women more uncomfortable with their own bodies and more judgmental about their own bodies, often comparing their bodies to other women and wondering about how attractive they are. So in that regard I think that women have it tough as far as body image goes and being comfortable being naked in their own skin. And that's not even getting into the shaming of female sexuality in general.

But then to flip it on the other side I was thinking it is precisely for that reason that women would probably be more comfortable being naked in front of men who are dressed or not dressed or otherwise than men would be about being naked in front of women. Simply put because women are constantly sexualized and objectified from a young age they develop thicker skins about it and they are more used to being seen as sex objects. You see a lot more women becoming strippers than men and I think that a woman if she is confident in her appearance can be much more arrogant and confident being naked. So I think that a woman would be more likely to get used to being naked or sexually objectified than a man. A woman confident in her sexuality is perhaps one of the most powerful and intimidating people around.

Consider the possibility of a man being naked. Here in society men are supposed to be seen as the strong dominating ones, to be strong and in control and to have layers of armor. Clothing is one of the strongest forms of armor. That is why you could often see men in positions of power wearing suits that cover their entire bodies and going to strip clubs where scantily clad women will dance naked for them and they feel confident being in a position of power. A female stripper is seen as cool, exciting, a male stripper more often seen as diminished in the eyes of his peers.

What I think that men are not used to overwhelmingly is being in a position of submission, particularly in being in a submission position before women and I think that's precisely what happens in CFNM and why it's such a powerful situation. Rarely is a man seen as vulnerable and exposed and sexualized by the opposite sex in the way that a man would look at a woman. I think that a man being subjected to the female gaze it is something that is much more difficult for him to take them for a woman to take being subjected to a man's gaze, whether naked or otherwise. When a man is stripped of his clothing he is stripped of his power and this puts him in a really awkward and embarrassing situation. It is often said that a woman's greatest fear is that a man will kill her while a man's greatest fear is that a woman will laugh at him. I think that is precisely why CFNM would be so intimidating (from a man's perspective), because that is a situation in which his naked form would be put up for ridicule before women. Even if they are attracted to his body the women are still the ones holding all of the power and he is in the position of subordination to them. It is somewhat of an emasculating position to be in and it's probably an uncomfortable position for most men to be in unless they are naturally submissive, and as a naturally submissive man I can say I'd still find it EXTREMELY uncomfortable!

I can say that speaking personally as a very shy individual that I know that if I were in a CFNM situation if I ever were to lucky enough to be living my fantasy, I certainly would not be feeling powerful about it, I would feel like an ant under a magnifying glass! I could never picture myself being confident while I was naked in front of a bunch of dressed women. Hell even with a naked woman I think that if we were mutually naked she would probably still be holding all the cards. Honestly even if I was dressed and she was naked I would be the one feeling kind of awkward! So again maybe I'm projecting my own feelings onto people in general here, but to me if a woman is comfortable in her own skin that is one powerful woman!

But the simple matter is that I feel when it comes down to it a woman can take being naked in front of a man a lot more easily than a man can take being naked in front of women. That is something that I emphasize in a lot of my stories. I feel that when it comes down to it women will ultimately be more able to deal with the embarrassment and the vulnerability of being exposed and be able to blow it off more easily. Men are not used to being seen as an assortment of body parts there for the consumption of the female gaze, to be sized up and judged as sexual beings.

Even the title of my own CFNM novella, You'll Get Used To It: My Month of CFNM, reflects my belief that being naked in front of women is something that men are simply not used you and will have a hard time getting used to. But women, they are already used to it because that's the world they grew up in. For men it's a new experience and I think that for most men it's rather frightening. It may be exciting, but I am sure that most men if they were naked in front of a group of dressed women would probably have a harder time handling it then a naked woman would in front of a group of men.

So what does everyone here think, who is more easily embarrassed being naked in front of the opposite sex especially when they are dressed? Men or women. Here's a thought experiment that you can do. Picture a member of the opposite sex that you are respect and admire or just a casual acquaintance. So men think about a female friend of yours and how she would feel being seen naked by your male friends and how she would react to that situation, and then think how would you react if you were seen naked by her female friends.

Like if you two were to flip a coin and the loser had to get naked, which of you would be more frightened? I think that if you give it some honest thought you will probably think that you would probably have a harder time being seen naked by her friends and she would by yours! I haven't really discussed this with my friends before but I do feel most of the women I know if I saw them naked would blow it off, but if they saw me naked I'd never be able to look at them without thinking about it.

In fact here's one last observation to consider. Consider men in a strip club and the way they behave. Sure men can be rowdy in a strip club but I think that most of them will sit there mesmerized looking at the stripper, completely fixated on her, her basically holding their attention and keeping them subdued. Now you see women going to a strip club with male strippers and how out-of-control they can get. I think that this just shows everything. When it comes down to it when women are in the position of power they are much more excited than I think men are. So once again a woman who is confident being sexual, she is a lot more confident than a man who is confident being sexual. Men are used to holding the power, so when they are not in that position of power that is why it is all the more terrifying to see the cards finally flipped. So fellas if you find yourself naked and the women holding the cards, watch out! Confident female sexuality can be frightening, but oh so wonderful and exciting.
 
Gee, most of the men I've run across have no issues with being naked.

My background is in dance and acting. I've had to use communal dressing rooms where we had to change costumes quickly. I've seen a few people who had a friend hold up a towel or blanket in front of them but most of us just changed in front of everyone. It was no big deal.

My only issue with being naked is that it can make others uncomfortable. My ex thought the naked body was disgusting. So any time he made me mad, I'd lift my shirt and he'd run. Hehehe.
 
Gee, most of the men I've run across have no issues with being naked.

Guess they aren't shy then lol.

My background is in dance and acting. I've had to use communal dressing rooms where we had to change costumes quickly. I've seen a few people who had a friend hold up a towel or blanket in front of them but most of us just changed in front of everyone. It was no big deal.

Was it a mixed sex group where you had to get naked? I suppose if you are used to being on stage though you aren't shy. I personally don't have experience changing communally. Even in school I just came dressed for gym class.

My only issue with being naked is that it can make others uncomfortable. My ex thought the naked body was disgusting. So any time he made me mad, I'd lift my shirt and he'd run. Hehehe.

I don't feel the naked body is disgusting but if someone was naked in front of me I feel I'd likely be bashful and a bit uncomfortable especially if they were attractive!
 
Gee, most of the men I've run across have no issues with being naked.

My background is in dance and acting. I've had to use communal dressing rooms where we had to change costumes quickly. I've seen a few people who had a friend hold up a towel or blanket in front of them but most of us just changed in front of everyone. It was no big deal.

My only issue with being naked is that it can make others uncomfortable. My ex thought the naked body was disgusting. So any time he made me mad, I'd lift my shirt and he'd run. Hehehe.

Lmao at your ex, what a wiener :D:D
 
I can only speak for myself. I don't have any problem being nude when the context calls for it ... hot tubs, skinny-dipping, going around the house. But my wife does have issues with it; she won't even sleep in the nude anymore. We went to a nude beach once, and she was uncomfortable with it. Some of it may have had to do with the fact that the weather was chillly; another was that she really didn't get off on seeing other naked people the way I do, so there didn't seem to be a point to it.

And another friend wouldn't dream of going nude in public. She is a small woman, and told me that she feels more vulnerable around much larger people, and would feel even more vulnerable if she's naked.
 
Great post and some really good points.
I have had a penchant for CFNM since long before it had a name or acronym. I had fantasies about being naked for a group of women and doing their bidding. In my youth I was incredibly shy. Over time I have outgrown that mindset. I now am involved in public speaking, regularly.
When speaking, I often select a woman (in my mind) and think how much fun it would be to get naked for her and do as she wishes. I have all sorts of fantasies along this line.
I can't explain why I feel the way I do. I am very much in control in my professional life and most of my colleagues would be shocked to learn of what I secretly love.
I have had the good fortune to experience CFNM a few times (too few) and I loved it. My wife is aware of my fantasies and has helped make some of them become reality. She isn't keen about the "women" part though. She doesn't want her friends to see me naked or maybe she doesn't want them to know about my kink.

Anyway, I am comfortable being naked for my wife and I would love it if she would help me with that next step. I still want to be naked in front of a group of women.
 
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And another friend wouldn't dream of going nude in public. She is a small woman, and told me that she feels more vulnerable around much larger people, and would feel even more vulnerable if she's naked.

I think we all feel smaller and more than when we are naked. I'm an average sized person but if I were naked in the crowd I would feel that I was somehow smaller or more diminished because everyone around me would have the protection of clothing where as I would be standing out like a sore thumb, completely exposed and the focus of attention. That's the real embarrassment of being naked in public or a group when nobody else is naked. It's because you stand out in a way that others do not and all the focus and attention is on you so you feel everyone's eyes on you and that makes you feel like a target.

I have had a penchant for CFNM since long before it had a name or acronym. I had fantasies about being naked for a group of women and doing their bidding. In my youth I was incredibly shy. Over time I have outgrown that mindset. I now am involved in public speaking, regularly.

There is truth to that because when you picture other people naked it makes you feel more confident. It reminds me of the story I wrote where this woman was really afraid of public speaking so her shy male friend tried to convince her that she should try picturing people naked when she is debating them and then he ultimately ends up getting naked for her and increases her confidence through the roof while making him incredibly embarrassed!

I have had the good fortune to experience CFNM a few times (too few) and I loved it. My wife is aware of my fantasies and has helped make some of them become reality. She isn't keen about the "women" part though. She doesn't want her friends to see me naked or maybe she doesn't want them to know about my kink.

I can see how she might feel jealous if other women saw you naked but still you aren't seeing them.
 
Guess they aren't shy then lol.



Was it a mixed sex group where you had to get naked? I suppose if you are used to being on stage though you aren't shy. I personally don't have experience changing communally. Even in school I just came dressed for gym class.



I don't feel the naked body is disgusting but if someone was naked in front of me I feel I'd likely be bashful and a bit uncomfortable especially if they were attractive!

Normally at dance shows it was all women. If there were any guys, they would be in another room. But I was at a week long competition at a college and everyone used the same room.

Long ago, my roommate and I used to meet her BF at the car races. But on the way, we picked up her BF's friend. He was never ready. He always left the door open with a note telling us to come in. And every time, he would come naked and freshly showered from the bathroom and go into his bedroom to get dressed. It didn't embarrass us but we did think it was kind of strange and we always wondered why he did it.
 
Gee, most of the men I've run across have no issues with being naked.

My background is in dance and acting. I've had to use communal dressing rooms where we had to change costumes quickly. I've seen a few people who had a friend hold up a towel or blanket in front of them but most of us just changed in front of everyone. It was no big deal.

My only issue with being naked is that it can make others uncomfortable. My ex thought the naked body was disgusting. So any time he made me mad, I'd lift my shirt and he'd run. Hehehe.

I'm a man that loves to be naked. Must be the exhibitionist in me. I'm not a trench coat flasher, just suggest I get naked or dare me and it's a go.
 
Gender is not the main factor

It is true that social conditioning is a big part of this but if you are among people that have matured beyond mindless social barriers then gender is not a factor. For example on a nude beach both males and females seem to feel free and natural. But what does create discomfort is being in poor shape. There is a reason that many women hit the gym and talk about getting into bikini shape. Guys with a fat gut don't look very sexy on a nude beach and neither do women that let themselves go. Clothing serves to hide blubber bodies and gives people a level of comfort about their appearance that they would not have if they were nude. I think that if society embraced nudity more people would watch their weight and workout to stay fit and healthy.
 
Hmmm

Do ya think media (TV, movies, social outlets and advertisements) - They have been pushing this trend of the female “requirement” for many years.

This may date back to the Mad Men of Wall Street back in the 1950s.
 
Having been around many naked men and women in social settings, I really don't think it's a gender thing as much as a social conditioning thing.

Prudes are prudes, body idealists are body idealists, and social conformists are social conformists, no matter what the gender may be. Many people have been conditioned so much that they can't even consider freeing themselves from the confines of their conditioning. They blindly accept everything that has been put on their plate, including dress codes, gender behavior "rules", and social restrictions on consensual sexual behavior.

I am naturally attracted to people of all genders who are respectful of others, but not conditioned to the point of not being able to be naked and open in situations where that is accepted by everyone present.
 
I agree that conditioning definitely has something to do with it. Although I always had a liberal attitude towards sex and nudity and things of that nature I am personally a very shy and somewhat uptight person who is naturally reserved so I think that I would feel deeply uncomfortable being naked in front of a group of people, particularly if they got to keep their clothing on, but partially that is what makes the whole idea exciting. If I was fully comfortable being naked where would be the thrill of being exposed and vulnerable like that?

But I also think that I have discomfort with my body since I am transgender and my body does not reflect who I am and my body also is in great shape physically.
 
Do ya think media (TV, movies, social outlets and advertisements) - They have been pushing this trend of the female “requirement” for many years.

This may date back to the Mad Men of Wall Street back in the 1950s.

I do agree that this is a factor in normalizing things. I think that in this society female nudity or just female flesh on display in general is much more normalized than men being naked. This is a large part of what I was thinking of when I initially wrote this. It's my belief that women have much more sexualized and objectified bodies and are much more identified by their body and their physical appearance compared to men are which I think as a effect of making women perhaps both more comfortable and less comfortable with their bodies. Women's bodies are judged more but at the same time women's bodies are exposed more so a woman probably wouldn't feel as weird being exposed as a man would be. Again I feel women are used to being viewed as their bodies.

As a transgender individual this is something I have given a lot of thought to. One of my big fantasies would be to have a female body and to be sexually objectified and feel what it was like to be seen by society as a sex object. On some level I feel it is sexist and wrong but on another I want to know what it feels like to be on receiving end. Maybe that is a different topic altogether though.
 
As a central European pagan I would offer a rather different perspective, but one that is nevertheless based in social instinct predating christianity. Globalisation erode and diffuse differences quickly; I talk about how I see the different aspects.

I would start with a comment that while open sexuality is unwelcome, functional nudity is no big deal. It is offensive to wear clothes in sauna, but it is also deemed offensive to eat or work in the nude. Also, locally public nudity is confined by non-collaborative weather, but when the opportunity arise it is to be embraced and enjoyed.

The gender norms are rather extremely sexist. Female body is beautiful and desirable. Male genitals are unconditionally offensive.

Philosophically, it could be reduced to a belief that on some deep spiritual level female is, or at least easily can be damaged by being seen naked, especially if nonconsensual, while seeing male nudity is somehow potentially damaging to onlookers instead.

Thus, men are seen as not having any body shame of their own, but should be conscious and concerned about others, and cover themselves unless everyone present consent to be exposed to their nudity. Women shouldn't have any body shame either (although often do, wrongfully comparing themselves with ideals of art), and in contrary, do not need to seek consent of anyone else but themselves, but should be exposed if and only if they are fully comfortable by being seen by everyone present. Shame shouldn't even be part of the equation, consent, respect and honor is.

Since nudity of the same gender should generally be a non-issue, in practice it means that for mixed groups it is always females who control if and who can be nude, and presence of one creep can spoil skinny dipping or, in extreme case, trigger beach-wide dressing wave.

Here, CMNF is a lot more common and simpler situation. For example, I recall an extended family gathering where two girls used visiting sauna as excuse to get naked, and spent most of the afternoon playing with towels, while no one else did lose formal clothing. I have also been to a corporate party where everyone but one guy wore swimsuits, but he had his towel tightly wrapped at all times (unless in water, with laud warnings upon enter and exit) and would it come loose any other time, would be surely be yelled at. Also, certain category of girls can freely get away with full nudity even on the very few regulated beaches where exposed man would be arrested.

CFNM is rather artificial situation, since men would normally undress last, not because of shame, but for making sure nudity is acceptable. I have been surprised by uninvited guests while naked, and decided to not bother getting dressed. That's a position of power, actually, but only can work as such in man's natural domain. Forcing my nudity on others otherwise would be extremely rude. Being allowed to be nude, that's okay, and I have been in that situation too, but that's just it, a permission, and not necessarily arousing on its own.

Overall, nudity is just an attire choice, in no principal way different from any other. A formal dress or any uniform isn't necessary any less, or more sexual than nudity.
 
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I agree that people should be able to go naked freely and that there shouldn't be body shame but nonetheless you can't overcome society's conditioning without actively trying. Deep down I believe that there is nothing inherently sexual about the naked human body but because of the culture I live in that associates nudity with sex I would immediately feel sexualized if I were seen naked, particularly if it was by people who were dressed. If I were naked around a bunch of dressed women I would feel that they were holding a position of power over me because I was naked and they were able to sexually objectify me but not the other way around.

Again it should not necessarily be that way, nudity should not convey or diminish power in any way as it should just be an attire choice, but nonetheless because of the way society is it is hard to avoid these connotations of being naked with being vulnerable and exposed and being dressed with being powerful and in control. No matter how much I may tell myself otherwise if I were naked with people who were dressed I couldn't help but feel myself in an extremely submissive and vulnerable position and could feel the sexual tension just radiating in every direction.
 
Speaking as a social nudist of 40 years and having invited hundreds of singles and couples to join me or me and my wife for a day at the resort, women are more comfortable the first time, because men are too worried that they'll get an erection. Now in the privacy of their own homes I'd say that men are more comfortable.
 
Speaking as a social nudist of 40 years and having invited hundreds of singles and couples to join me or me and my wife for a day at the resort, women are more comfortable the first time, because men are too worried that they'll get an erection. Now in the privacy of their own homes I'd say that men are more comfortable.

I consider it easy to get naked in the comfort of your own home because it's not like anyone is going to see you really. But if women were more likely to get naked in public that shows that they are more comfortable being naked just in general. And I think that that is what you see to a large degree in society at large, you see lots of displays of female nudity but not as many of male nudity.
 
It all depends on their upbringing and NOT whether it is male or female.

if one was brought up to NOT be ashamed of their body or the bodies of others, then they would be more comfortable with being nude or the nudity of others.

However, if they were brought up to believe that nudity was bad or that the body was not a beautiful thing, then they would not be comfortable with nudity of any kind.

So you can't generalize about genders as there are to many variables involved.
 
I've always thought women were more shy about exposing their bodies where men kind of grew up with it in locker rooms and common showers (at least in my youth). Of course, each individual is different. On nude beaches, at least the ones I've been to, more women are willing to take off their tops than guys willing to drop their trunks, but you see a lot of both.
 
I fall back on what my doctor said once. He often has med students with him in his office and I've been examined by some of them either alone or with him present. Last year, he had a female med student that he said was going to come in to examine me. She had asked him if there was anything she shouldn't do with a naked male patient. His answer was, "Men don't care what you do. Just do what you think you need to." No problem with here touching me anywhere, especially since she was pretty cute. (OK, I'm a sleaze) My concern is what kind of a "potential doctor" has to ask if it's ok to touch/examine a naked male patient? Somebody has some maturing to do. I've had "turn your head and cough" tests and prostate exams from female doctors. Frankly I hate prostate exams equally from both genders.
 
I would much rather be naked and free than have to wear clothes. I by no means have the perfect body. I wear my scars and wounds with pride. That being said they are a source of conversation a lot of times.

As someone mentioned don't dare me to get naked I will and I have. Never pass up a good time. Life is to short.
 
I love being naked but yes that is mostly when I am alone or with someone trusted. If you put me in front of a crowd of people I didn't know it would be quite uncomfortable for me.
 
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