Burnley Grammar School

Danny, back in my school cricketing days, cricketers' jockstraps were of the same fabric construction as the usual athletes' type, but with a pocket in the inside of the pouch into which was inserted a plastic "box" (a simple cup-shaped plastic protective moulding. I've still got one, bought over ten years ago when my son needed some protection for a paint-balling session. The cup has long since been discarded, but I still wear the basic jockstrap itself for my weekly Pilates class. I've never come across a jockstrap with an integrated built-in protective element.

Danny,
My Ex told me their school had a no underpants rule when they started at secondary school and that some of the boys could have done with wearing a jockstrap sooner than the start of the third year.

Our PE uniform list didn't specify that training bras must be worn, but our PE teacher did speak to a few girls about getting one if she thought there was too much movement under their PE shirts

I don't think any of us boys really liked the forced nudity, even at younger ages. But it was the way things were done. You just temporarily abandoned modesty if you wanted good marks in phys ed. I used to feel very embarrassed if a girl in my school classes had seen me swimming naked the period before.

They always say, "Concentrate on swimming and forget who is watching." Like I really could forget having perhaps 50 females in my other classes seeing my pеnis without permission. And I did have erеctions a few times. Just awful if I couldn't get in the water quickly.

Some of the other guys in the class talked about it one day and the consensus was that "this sucks, those girls shouldn't be allowed to watch us if we have to swim naked."

I remember feeling very violated. It was all I could do to hold back tears of shame that the girls knew all my secrets of puberty. Also resentful of the school for setting us up like that, having no respect for our modesty. The adults just didn't "get it" that 14 year old girls would experience a sexual thrill seeing boys their age naked and erect.

I wished I could see the girls naked or at the very least in bikinis, but that was strictly forbidden. The girls also swam but at different times, and all girls wore modest one-piece suits. Oh, the unfairness of it all.

Andrea, it was the same at our school, jockstraps were never mentioned by our PE teachers and I don't know anyone who wore them.
But then we only did light PE exercises in the school gym or yard, and besides we kept our underpants on under out PE shorts so there was no need for a jockstrap since we mostly all wore briefs at that time.
I suppose it was more suggested or required in schools where boys had to do PE in just PE shorts with no underpants underneath.

The cricket box type straps worn by boys for cricket is a totally different thing than a normal jockstrap since it is worn as protection against hits by cricket balls against the genitals and is thus made of a hard cup.
Were training bras required for girls at your school for PE?

Andrea
Was a boarding school but the day kids wore jockstraps too. I just remember boys senior to us saying on our getting into the senior school, " you're in seniors now go and you'll need a jockstrap from now on." I certainly wasn't going without ia jockstrap if my mates had them. Yes, of course some boys were advised by their dads or older brothers but most of all it was peer pressure.

That sounds like a sensible arrangement, was it a boarding school?

My son's school (non-boarding) had a uniform shop selling girls PE kit, but not jockstraps or sports bras. In fact I don't think jockstraps weren't mentioned by the boys PE teachers.

The local cricket club stipulated that boys had to wear a box when batting (in addition to helmets and pads etc.).

Did your PE teachers advise you to by a jockstrap? My Ex told me they were advised to buy one at the start of their third year at secondary school, so that would have been aged about 13 too.

Andrea

I was 13 and we got them from the school's sports shop. The Guy just took your name, house and housemaster's signature and parents paid for all items at the end of term! :-)

Clothing for PE

The following are required for PE:

T-shirt, shorts & trainers (any colour)
PE classes take place both indoors and outdoors and therefore students should bring clothing as appropriate for weather conditions.
Students are required to shower after PE and should bring a towel.

On Wednesdays, at certain times of the year, Year 7 students will need to bring a swimming kit for swimming lessons.

castlehill.stockport.sch.uk

George,
My son wore his ordinary briefs for PE, but had to have a jockstrap with a pouch and box when he started playing junior cricket at the age of 11 or 12.

We bought this from our local sports shop. How old were you when you got your first jockstraps and where did you buy them from?

Danny,it was understandable that you were self-conscious wearing uniform shorts when walking to and from school through town.
Of course we looked childish wearing shorts at 14 that were more suitable for boys considerably younger than ourselves.
Some of us actually enjoyed running in just our shorts,but I found it humiliating and embarrassing.

James T

Yeah we all felt grown up slipping on our jockstraps. Don't remember any other brand than Litesome. You could buy jockstraps with a pouch (to slip in a cup or box) or without the pouch part. Most boys had both depending on the sporting activity.

Many here describe doing country runs, often going through town streets, wearing just small white shorts and nothing else. Weren't they not embarrassed by people seeing them?

We wore uniform shorts till age 14 at school and the only time I felt self-conscious about it was when walking through town to and back from school which made us look childish at that age.
Running outside where people can see you in just a pair of white shorts, often very thin and semi transparent by what some describe it here, must have been a lot worse and even humiliating.
I am curious how others felt about this since we never had any outside runs at my school. We did wear white PE shorts in gym or in the schoolyard exercises, but never outside in public.

Turner - I have no idea whether members of staff were comfortable or not - how could I have. I've just reported what happened.

Paul

Were members of staff not embarrassed to swim and shower naked with boys? After all, the 1960s were not all that long ago and privacy requirements between boys and teachers were just as relevant as now. Did the boys discuss the physical attributes of the staff afterwards?

Hi George.
Another of the James's here.
Yes, sorry, confusing. I have posted a few comments in the past. Cant actually locate any at the moment but I seem to remember mentioning shorts which went transparent when wet and also some of us getting jockstraps and feeling very grown-up. They clearly showed through the shorts especially when they were wet doing cross country runs and if we went into the school pool still with jocks and shorts on after pe etc. I don't remember any particular rules in our school to say that we had to change into swim wear, or perhaps we just ignored them!
Incidentally, yes, Litesome.

Danny,

My school was a boarding school and the only two females on the staff were Matron and her deputy. Both saw plenty of boys of all ages naked on a day by day basis. Matron's cure for most things was an enema so she was pretty well acquainted with every boy's bottom.

We did not have things like sports days that were open events because most parents lived some distance away and in those days - 1960s journeys were long and certainly not all parents had a car. My parents lived about 70 miles away and the journey by car always took at least two hours.

We did have plenty of competitions during school time when we wore our usual kit so swimming was naked.

In these competitions there was always a sixth form v.s. staff competition whether it be a swimmming relay, a track relay or a rugby match. There was only one big changing room and staff changed with boys and showered in the same communal showers and when they swam, they were just as naked as we were.

No one thought anything of it.

Mr.Dando did not specify in the PE kit what the boys wore instead of tracksuit bottoms, if they wore anything, since it is not specified in the kit requirement, which sounds strange to me.

I have never heard of boys wearing Tracksuit Bottoms for PE. Why would they?

To James and Paul,

I presume that your school was boys only, in spite of female teachers being present.
At least you did not have to suffer the added humiliation of being made to swim nude together with girls in swimsuits as some mention at their schools.

There is also mention that in some schools they had swimming galas where the boys also had to be naked in front of spectators, mainly parents and siblings including sisters.
But I presume that these were only for junior boys up to 12 or 13 at most. I cannot imagine teenage boys made to swim naked in front of girls and women.

SALESIAN SCHOOL

PHYSICAL EDUCATION KIT

GIRLS
Sky blue polo shirt (collared)
School sweatshirt
Sky blue knee-length sports socks
Navy blue tracksuit bottoms


BOYS
Navy blue polo shirt (collared)
Navy blue reversible sports shirt (long-sleeved)
Navy blue football socks
(Boys do not wear tracksuit bottoms)

Despite this been from 1959 it looks to be almost the same as my middle school gym and sports hall from 1997! The kit we wore wasn't too much different either except we were all barefoot for indoor PE lesson wearing white shorts and shirtless.

Danny,
I wholeheartedly agree with you that boys should not have been forced to swim without trunks. If adults wish to swim naked they are able to make that choice.

When I was at Senior School we were forced to shower naked after playing football or going on cross country runs, I felt uncomfortable at first but soon got used to it.

My cousin had to swim naked at his Senior School and said that it never bothered him, he didn’t have any female teachers or spectators though.

Danny, being shy and reserved I found it difficult to come to terms with swimming lessons without wearing my swimming trunks,although it amazed me how some boys were absolutely brazen about the ordeal,especially as we were supervised by two female teachers and one male teacher.
It also reminded me of an incident in the pool when a much stronger boy than myself was holding me under the water to see how long I could go without air.
This was witnessed by one of the female teachers who blew her whistle and signaled the boy to leave the pool.
The punishment was swift and severe and left the boy in tears after he had had his buttocks and the back of his legs smacked.

John,
I did not mean to be offensive in any way when I disagreed with your comparison.
I understand your argument about the freedom of nude swimming, I only objected to the forced nudity of boys during swim classes in schools or adult males displaying themselves naked on public beaches.
In fact in my subsequent post I commented about the custom of males swimming nude on public beaches during Victorian and Edwardian times.

The irony is that this was in the extremely prudish Victorian era whereas it would probably not be acceptable today in our modern and supposedly liberated society, although admittedly this nudity was only confined to swimming places and beaches.

Btw, there seems to be another Danny since the last post under the same name on 12th Sept. is not mine.

Paul - Was swimming naked compulsory or optional? And what about the open dormitories, were PJs required, or was naked sleeping allowed.

You've reminded me of an incident at my prep school, which I attended between 1965 and 1969. We had an outdoor unheated pool which was used during the summer term. One boy was very obviously afraid of going in the water and therefore hated swimming. He was always turning up without his swimming trunks so that he would not be able to go in. We had a very sadistic female teacher - a middle aged spinster who eventually retired some years later after teaching at the school for 44 years. She was taking the class for swimming one day and the boy in question came out with the usual excuse that he had forgotten his trunks, and she had obviously had enough of this and told him he would have to swim in his birthday suit.

Now - here's the amusing part, and the only amusing part of this story - this boy had clearly never heard this expression before, and retorted that he did not have a birthday suit! He wasn't trying to be funny - I think he was way too scared to do this, but it's the one thing about this story which does raise a slight smile.

Well she carried out her threat, and this boy who was very timid and probably eight or nine years old at the time of this story, had to strip naked in front of her and then get in the pool in the nude. I can remember watching him crying as he gingerly lowered himself over the edge.

I don't suppose anything like that would be allowed to happen today and frankly, much as I feel children are mollycoddled far too much these days, I can't help thinking it's a good thing that times have changed.

I should have added to my Sanditon comment that at boarding school (from 7-18) we swam naked. We also slept in dorms with no privacy, showered in communal showers and used toilets that had no doors but a small side partition that didn't come out as far as your knees. This was in the 1960s.

In that world swimming naked was perfectly normal and when at home and going to the pool where trunks had to be worn, I found them most uncomfortable. I wish there was somewhere where I could swim naked today, I still hate trunks.

Danny,
I expressed a personal point of view and whether it ‘holds water’ or not is for people to decide. It is my opinion that many people are too prudish, I fail to see how the human body can be offensive if people are simply going for a swim. Many people take part in the Great British Skinny Dip events and participants often say that it has been good for their mental and physical health.

So often in life people have irrational fears, if possible it is frequently a good idea to confront fears and be able to overcome them.

Danny,I agree there is no comparison with'taking a bath in private and swimming in public'.
I considered it a very unfair discrepancy where boys were not allowed swimming trunks,but girls were allowed to wear swimming costumes.
I found it particularly difficult to come to terms with this unfair, outdated custom,especially going through adolescence.
Why was there one rule for girls and another for boys when we both wanted to conserve our modesty?

Paul said -
"I noted in Sanditon (ITV series) last night that while the women went down to the sea in their bathing machines and were dressed in copious swimming outfits that the men simply stripped and swam naked."

I think that is historically accurate in Victorian times on which this series is based when it was normal and common for males to swim naked on public beaches while women wore copious swimming outfits.
Laws started to be introduced much later by local authorities for males over 16 to wear suits on beaches.
It is interesting that boys up to 16 or so were still allowed to swim nude, which is probably why the tradition of boys swimming nude still went on in schools and other places well into the 29th century.
Obviously, unlike adult males, women saw boys swimming nude as non-offensive, so nobody minded.