Does a person's comfort level with nudity affect their comfort level with genital exams?

For those unlike me who are nudists or are very comfortable with nudity in front of strangers, is there any excitement, nervousness, or discomfort with the genital exam portion of your physical exams?

For me, nudity in front of a stranger is such an infrequent siuatuon that when you add in the close proximity of the dressed doctor, the visual focus on the genitals, and the palpation of the genitals, it turns into a completely foreign experience that is both unnerving and thrilling at the same time.

It's probably different for guys because they have that "size" hangup, but for girls and women, if they are comfortable being nude in front of people, the genital exam is nothing more than a show and tell.

You've hit on the set up: one person is dressed; the other is naked, and it's usually a tight space. That is the likely point of any stress beyond simply being naked. It's not like a locker room with lots of folks in that state.

Socializing with other nude people died make you pretty comfortable about nudity at the doctors office, but a hands on genital check is an unusual event so I while I don't find it embarrassing, I do find it a bit exciting.

I don't think being a nudist or having comfort with that really applies to a medical exam. The process of an exam requires more than exposure, which seems more than just being naked. It's not the same as parading on a beach or around one's house. I think the comparison doesn't really apply when considering the medical experience. It does make sense relating nudity in other public settings such as a changing room or locker area. Just my thoughts.......thanks.

I'm in good shape, take care of myself and wear the same size as I did in college, so I'm perfectly comfortable in my "nubies."

I'll show my bits to anyone who wants to take a look.

I didn't say TOUCH, I said take a look.

I am comfortable being nude in public amongst other nudists on the beach. At a nudist beach everyone just enjoys being outside naked with no clothes on. If anyone looks at my genitals at a nudist beach it is pretty much curious casual looking from a distance. It’s not so much that I mind being nude at the Doctor’s, and I would be fine sitting in the room naked with no gown as she discusses health matters with me. Although, when my doctor is within a foot or two away staring right at my penis and scrotum and she is also touching my genitals, I do find it unnerving and it is emotionally uncomfortable. I think it is the fact that at that moment, the doctor has such a direct focused attention on my cock and balls and that I am subjugated to her examining me as she feels is needed. I always feel a paradox of emotions between being uncomfortably nervous and vulnerably excited when I am getting a genital or digital rectal exam by my doctor.

I had a strictly education based on censorious moral beliefs and nudity in a social contest was generally forbidden often during shower times after sports. Until I was an adult, pediatricians are the only extraneous people which is considered normal to expose certain parts of the body to due to the necessity of their role. I think this contributed strongly to my feelings. The doctor office became the only place where nudity is not only "not punished" but even necessary and in many cases compulsory and enforced. During my first exam (that I can remember) I wasn't collaborative and the doctor and her assistant undressed me forcefully, I remember me on the table and the instant when she lowered my pants. I felt very embarrassed to be exposed, shortly after a few attempt to resist I felt the manual contact on the penis and I get frozen in fear for the entire continuing of the procedure. After some examinations I felt more accustomed to the situation (at least until they didn't start treatments for prepuce... but this is an other story ). I think if nudity was more tolerated outside the doctor office I would reacted more collaboratively since first examination, which was definitively not painful and tolerable. At last it resulted in a traumatic experience -not for the procedure in itself- but for my excessive sense of modesty imposed by social behaviors.

Well I am used to being topless on beaches and I have been full nude on a beach for what was a short time really so I am not too experienced at showing everything I have got. But when I had my second ever exam when I went to my gynecologist last week I thought it would have been easier if I had not had to wear the gown. I really would not have minded having nothing on. But I think what makes me think more is not really nudity but just that a man who is not my husband was looking between my legs and seeing absolutely everything. Not just that either but doing all the love tunnel parts of the exam too. I do not think going nude for a while makes a big difference to what I feel about that.

I've enjoyed reading all of these responses. It's so interesting to me to read how many of you who are very comfortable with extended, social nudity, still feel the effects of the unusual nature of a genital exam.

I suppose this implies that people like me who are not used to any level of nudity around strangers have an additional level of discomfort to overcome. Instead of just dealing with the focused gaze and very intimate level of touch involved, I also have to get over the very strange feeling of being almost entirely uncovered in front of someone else.

I've let myself be in a lot of situations over the last year where I'm at least partially nude (usually this will include genitals, but not breasts). I think that it has made me more relaxed in taking clothes off at the doctors, especially where my genitals aren't going to be seen closely. So for example if my clothing is pulled down for an injection. I still get that kind of nervous feeling at the point I know my genitals are going to be examined. I think because it's a doctor doing the looking and it's not a sexual situation. It just makes it feel different.

The one time that I do absolutely get nervous is allowing my breasts to be examined. I don't like that they're still there and having them exposed in any context makes me very uncomfortable (I'm a trans guy). For some reason I don't feel like that about my genitals.

I'm totally comfortable nude at Blacks Beach San Diego, Ca and in the back yard on a warm sunny day. Totally nude in the gym locker room and in the steam room. It's ok at home when alone but I tend to feel cold unless it's very warm, so I prefer at least a shirt on. Sleep nude but need a cover close by, if it cools down at night. I'd be ok nude in a setting with others, but most public situations dictate clothes. Based on what some people, both sexes, try and fit into, nude is usually better.

I think that this is an excellent and interesting question.

Firstly I think it boils down to how we were raised with regards to nudity and being nude and that stems from our religious , cultural and social upbringing as theses affect the way we view our own nudity, alone or in the presence of others, as well as viewing the nudity of others. So in the context of personal nudity in the privacy of our own homes, people are more casual in relation to clothing, though what each considers appropriate varies considerably.

We also have to consider our own comfort level with regards to how comfortable we are with our own body, especially in social setting , but more so in a medical setting where we are exposed to others in much more intimate ways , where not only looking but touching is involved .

In addition to this we must also add in the concepts of inhibition, modesty and social nudism Inhibition may be defined as a feeling that makes one self-conscious and unable to act in a relaxed and natural way. Modesty as an attitude of propriety and decency in dress, language, and behaviour. Social nudism involves the nude appearance of the human body in relatively public settings not restricted by gender. Social nudism may take place in any private social context, such as at one's home with friends or with acquaintances at a nudist facility or event, such as a naturist club, community center, resort or other facility.

We need also the incorporate some Bioethics about a patient's modesty into this discussion. In order to emotionally not react or show to the patient that they are not unprofessionally reacting to the patient's nudity, we may take on a bland, emotionally neutral affect which demonstrates to the patient a sexually inert physician or nurse. Since the physician or nurse is sexually inert, he or she expects the patient to be likewise.

Now back to the OP question. I think to some extent it does, a person's level of comfort with nudity does affect our comfort level with exams be it genital or not . Now with regards specifically to genital exams , both men and women often feel vulnerable , exposed even a bit humiliated at times especially if the examiner is of the opposite sex. Feelings of jealously are sometimes involved especially where partners, spouses and significant others are concern .

Also you get the opposite view where some do quite enjoy the exposure especially with members of the opposite sex or they feel more comfortable being examined by someone of the opposite or same sex.

Well these are just of my thoughts , opinions beliefs on the subject.

RN

I'm not a nudist but as you get older more and more people will have seen you naked anyway so I think it does become less uncomfortable. When I was a teenager it was very uncomfortable for me to get a genital exam, when I was still a virgin nobody but me had ever paid much attention to my bits so I guess I was scared to show them to the doctor. Now that I'm in my 30s and have had a few different partners who all liked what I had in my pants I feel a lot less uncomfortable with the idea.

Taboos enforced in early childhood by parents and others will shape your [dis]comfort with nudity. I can still remember ~60 years ago, when my neighbor's mother (we were both about 5 at the time) would chastise him in public, "Don't touch your doody, Dave!" My family was similarly conservative and taboo-ridden.

I managed to grow out of it. These days, I don't have any qualms about my wife, doctor, or anyone else seeing any part of me.

I think the more covered one is the easier it is to be examined.

I think the more covered one is the easier it is to be examined.

As someone who is very unused to nudity in front of strangers, I'm a bit of an anomoly in that I don't share the same sentiment as you. I've actually felt quite comfortable in front of doctors of both genders in just my underwear or disposable boxer shorts with no gown. It's kind of like how I feel at the beach or pool - I never go around shirtless elsewhere, but I have no hangups going shirtless for extended periods of time.

I believe that there is a titillating effect of having to remove all your clothes and be exposed in front of a stranger that is one of the major attractions to the MedFet kink. It is one thing to be on a nude beach where everyone else is also naked, and another thing to have to take your clothes off and be subjected to a close inspection and examination by a stranger who is fully clothed. It is difficult to not think about the sexual side of being the only naked person in the room. It is like being told to not think about a pink elephant. Ha! Everyone of you just thought about one. And there is the concern of being embarrassed by getting wet if you are a female, or becoming erect is you are male.

You are right about the difference between being undressed on a nude beach where you are among other persons like you and being naked in the medical field in front of a clothed person but I must add that it is not at all the same for me if a doctor or even a technician is wearing a white labcoat or with an other color or if he is in regular civil cloths.

I admit easily to obey to the instructions of a man or a woman who is wearing a labcoat, it is logical for me, I consider him or her as a medical person used to see nude persons and I feel more comfortable.

It is also why I am not embarrassed in front of a woman nurse wearing a labcoat now that I am an adult, of course it was different when I was a teenager.

I believe that there is a titillating effect of having to remove all your clothes and be exposed in front of a stranger that is one of the major attractions to the MedFet kink. It is one thing to be on a nude beach where everyone else is also naked, and another thing to have to take your clothes off and be subjected to a close inspection and examination by a stranger who is fully clothed. It is difficult to not think about the sexual side of being the only naked person in the room. It is like being told to not think about a pink elephant. Ha! Everyone of you just thought about one. And there is the concern of being embarrassed by getting wet if you are a female, or becoming erect is you are male.

I think you hit the nail on the head, Dr. David. I was always fairly comfortable about being naked or nearly so in front of the doctor, but a little more concerned about getting an erection in front of the doctor. As I get older, I think the difference between the two issues (really just two sides of the same coin) becomes less.

I do think if you are comfortable with nudity genital exams will be comfortable for you as well. I enjoy being nude more than I like to be clothed. I had a visit with the ER for a kidney stone, The female doctor that was examining me checked my genitals because i was having pain down there. She sent me for a ultra sound, The lady there ask me if I wanted a towel to cover up, Even though it would be difficult to keep it covered, We both laughed didnt use the towel. So yes I think it effects it directly in my opinion..

I think it can have an effect on comfort level. I say this because when I worked at an OB/GYN office I could tell when women were uncomfortable, especially younger ones. The doctor would try to ease their legs apart and they just could not relax at all. Then you had strippers and friends like a few I had who would walk in and ask in a loud voice want me naked and laugh. Then when I worked trauma you could see the fear when they were told to undress or you started cutting their clothes off. Some would actually try and keep covered.

So yes that plays a part.

You are right about the difference between being undressed on a nude beach where you are among other persons like you and being naked in the medical field in front of a clothed person

I think a key ingredient in medfet is that unlike a nude beach where you are not the subject but the scenery, that when you are nude & exposed in a room where one or more professional folks are clothed, that you ARE the subject. it is YOUR nude and exposed body that is the subject of clothed professional(s). The medfet part comes with 1. how you feel about your body and perhaps yourself in general (comfort level) and 2. how you feel about being exposed, seen, examined, and even touched, while in this clothed doctor nude patient situation (comfort level). And then there's how those feelings of yours change over time, during the course of your experiences as you grow older.

In a parallel situation, there is the potential for me to be painted nude &/or wearing a jockstrap by an artist who has expressed a desire to do so. So comes that part about the comfort level of how I feel being seen and exposed. Those of you who read the crap i write know that those feelings and comfort level have changed dramatically for me over the years.

And definitely with genital exams too. When i was less experienced and therefore less comfortable being nude in front of strangers, being exposed for the doctor was dreadful and awkward. And now of course that i'm essentially a nudist and a very sexual entity, genital exams are actually something to look forward to. Well assuming my primary care ever gives me one for a change LOL

Virtually no experience with nudity for me, but that's no big deal. It doesn't make me uncomfortable.

No big deal for exams either. A genital exam is no more exciting than a foot exam or a dental exam.

I'm not used to nudity but I am used to diaper changes, often by people I don't know all that well, and I think that has increased my comfort level with genital exams.

Probably but a person's comfort level with nudity has a lot to do with their experiences being nude. If you grew up as I did with two brothers sharing a room, stripping down and showering in a gang shower for sports and PE, going to group physicals for sports every year, and stripping down for wrestling weigh-ins, you wouldn't be anxious about genital exams. I also went to scout camp and other things like that where nudity or being mostly undressed was normal and expected. Those experiences definitely raise the comfort level because they were so common and happened all the time. I admit that group physicals where everyone was in their underpants and had to drop them in front of other kids for a hernia exam was strange for the first few times but once I got use to them it was just another thing to do if I wanted to play sports.

I've never been to a nude beach or anything like that, but I really have no problem being nude at all. Although I know it will never happen, I would be totally fine if my female doctor examined me completely nude without a gown!

Davidwest hits on the cultural difference which leads to comfort/normalcy. If, as I did as well, group nudity, changing, showers, weigh-ins were all part of growing up- no big deal- then it's comfortable. Case in point would be the physical discussed by a patient in his 20's on jockphysical. He didn't sound uncomfortable with being in his underwear per nurse instructions with his father, dressed, in the exam room, but when the father left, and the doctor said, 'Take your underwear off and we'll get started,' the boy panicked. The doctor impatiently asked, 'If one of your coaches tells you to do something...' giving us a sense of the era.

"Davidwest" you are right

The comfort level with nudity is depending on education in family and school

If the young men of today had been educated like we were, they certainly would be less shy towards nudity.

when I was a student, we were also used to change in group at a locker room for Pe lessons, to take a shower under supervision of a Pe teacher, to undress in group at least until underwears which were white briefs but also sometimes in the nude in a waiting room for our mandatory school physicals each year, to be examined stark naked by a female doctor assisted by one or two nurses and so on ..

And at that time, it was part of the life, no one thought that it was unfair, we might overcome our embarrassment and comply to instructions, it was considered as normal

if we had complained, our parents would have said that everybody had to face some bad situations in a life and that we might support them to grown up.

The military service and the draft physicals were part of these bad situations but we might comply to the state rules and do our active duty also.

And after being an adult we realize and understand that it was not so bad and certainly not important and may be better than the education today

I've been a nudist for many years, and I've worked as a nude figure model for artists and art schools for five years, posing for nearly one-thousand classes and sessions, usually totally nude. I've spent lots of days where I'm nude in front of other people, groups as large as 40 people, for more hours than I'm clothed in the day. But, I still get butterflies about doctor's visits.

I also volunteer for studies at medical schools, which often involves disrobing, and there is always a thrill to doing this, too. It never really gets old., when they ask me to get undressed, I feel my heart jump a bit and I just tingle all over!

When I'm amongst nudists, that is different, everyone is nude. With medical situations, there is the thrill of being nude in front of others who are fully clothed.