I'm 53 now, and I remember back in the 1970s seeing and being seen was just not a big deal. We probably had a more natural attitude toward the body, at least in gyms or locker rooms or similar spaces where it just made sense to be naked. Absolutely you showered after gym class and in most schools I went to they were gang showers, too.
It seems to me that the fear of predators and child molesters is a lot more now than it was back then. There simply wasn't the same sort of publicity. I wonder if the fear that a lot of parents have is blown out of proportion compared to the actual risk of their child being victimized. That's just speculation on my part, of course, but just look at the lead stories on your local newscasts now and compare it with back then. This has got to have some effect on the thinking and behavior of both the parents and the kids.
Of course, I can also say that I had unrequited crushes on the middle school gym teacher and the church choir leader. I knew what I wanted and who I wanted. But I was also a quiet introverted kid with no close friends and I didn't have an outlet to explore these desires. It was all years before the Internet, of course. We lived life in person or in books or in our vivid imaginations.
It may be that a lot of kids back then had more freedom simply to do stuff on their own or with other kids, with less supervision and less scheduling. Parents let you wander out to play on your own without expecting you to check in or text them or whatever it is young people do these days.
Of course, there was an atmosphere of societal repression: We were taught that being gay was a bad thing, and even if it wasn't always explicitly addressed (we didn't talk about it in my family or my church) you simply knew because of the wider culture. I didn't feel bad about my body at all. But back then, I did feel bad about being gay.
So something is gained and something is lost. Overall kids growing up these days do have it better. It's just different.
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