nudity and roommates

[Uberreicher]

I just moved in with a bunch of other guys for my senior year of college and I'm wondering what to do about wanting to be nude around the house. It seems almost certain to me that they won't be comfortable with it. It's already November and getting cold, so I probably won't want to be nude all the time, but there are times when I would enjoy the option, like when I'm cooking (it gets hot in the kitchen), or walking to and from the shower, etc. One of them said they might be bringing a hot tub, which I would definitely want to go nude in. I would have to talk with them about it then.

Has anyone had any success in converting roommates into nudists, or at least getting the roommates to not be freaked out by nudity? Any tips?

[Lochsmith]

Asking is probably a good idea for the hot tub and cooking.  I'd say going from the bathroom to your room is fair game at any time.

-G

[Uberreicher]

Thanks for replying. I'm going to start doing that with the bathroom. If they say something, then there can be a conversation. I'll be more careful if they have female guests over, however.

[Storm29]

I'd agree that going to and from the shower is fair game. If you get a lot of negative feedback from that, then you may not want to push the nudity thing any further. If they don't say anything, push it further little by little into other spots of the house. I wouldn't start off by naked cooking though.

[Lochsmith]

What do your roommates do when it comes to the shower and bathroom. Do the ever go back and forth naked or close to that?
-g

[Uberreicher]

I usually walk to and from the shower when it seems like no one else is there, or it's late and everyone is in their room. They aren't in the house enough for me to really worry about a confrontation. As for my roommates, I think they usually change into new clothes before leaving the bathroom. I don't think they are much comfortable with being nude.

I'll actually be moving out of where I'm living now (one of my roommates can't clean up after himself), and am moving into a new place. At the new place I made a point of asking about my roommates' attitude towards nudity. I don't think they would be comfortable with me walking around naked right away, but they wouldn't freak out either. I think I will need to earn their trust first so they don't be "weirded out".

[Lochsmith]

It's too bad about your current situation. Again, regardless
What you say at your next place, going from bathroom to your room and vice. Eras should be fair game 24 hours. Just let them know that's what you are used to and that you will cover up if it makes them that uncomfortable. Not like they haven't seen a naked guy before so that should be acceptable.

-g

[Dail17]

From experience, I think it's better to be yourself up front.  It will be harder to wait several months and then suddenly bust it all out.  Imagine meeting someone naked vs knowing someone clothed for months or years and then suddenly seeing them naked.  The second would be kind of weird and awkward.  My first several roomates I was very conservative with and consequently never felt particularly comfortable changing etc. around.  My current roomate I was straightforward from the getgo and it seemed to work a lot better...my two cents...

[Uberreicher]

I was up front about it at the new place. The trick is whether or not they were being honest. People will say they are comfortable with something when they're really not, because they want to be accommodating. I had that experience once and it didn't work out well for me. I also have a hard time telling when people are being dishonest, so I'm afraid of making those kinds of mistakes.

[Dail17]

Well, I can understand your concerns, I'm just saying that the longer you wait, the more awkward and unnusual it will be when you finally go trouncing through the living room au natural...so I wouldn't hedge yourself in by creating a false normal.

Out of curiousity, would you be open to sharing your experience that you had before where the people claimed to be open but then turned out not to be?  I'd be interested to hear what happened if it's something your comfortable sharing.

[Uberreicher]

There have been times where I told people I was a nudist, and they made offers to either go places or let me be nude in their presence, that I could tell they didn't want me to take them up on. Most people can't bear to be completely honest, so they tell these polite lies to avoid having to tell someone "no". I've since learned to be more careful about who I tell. I try to first find out how open-minded a person is before trying to steer the conversation in that direction.

[drumgeek]

Two of my close friends are aware of my being a nudist - one of them was a roommate for many years, I just casually mentioned I liked to wander around naked and that was that...he was perfectly cool with it.  He now has a pool and hot tub - one day my other friend (female) and I showed up and just said "we're going skinnydipping" and that was that.  We use the pool/hottub frequently and I can't remember the last time a bathing suit was involved.  Sometimes things just work out, depends on the people I guess.

[Uberreicher]

Two of my close friends are aware of my being a nudist - one of them was a roommate for many years, I just casually mentioned I liked to wander around naked and that was that...he was perfectly cool with it.  He now has a pool and hot tub - one day my other friend (female) and I showed up and just said "we're going skinnydipping" and that was that.  We use the pool/hottub frequently and I can't remember the last time a bathing suit was involved.  Sometimes things just work out, depends on the people I guess.

I guess you're right. To an extent, it does require a certain amount of luck in being around the right people. I have one (male) friend that actually has gone skinny-dipping with me. He wouldn't be bothered by me walking around naked. However, both of us have room-mates, so I won't have that opportunity for the time being.

Thanks for sharing.

[saurus]

I guess I never really had this problem - when I lived with friends I wasn't really into being naked so it was never something I felt I needed to do around them.

It sounds like you got the issue sorted out, which is cool. 

I wouldn't know what the right approach would be.  For some people, it might be best to talk about it before hand, but for other people, they might hear the word "naturist/nudist" and that would be instant weirdness flag, and they would never try to accept you.  For other people, it might be best just to walk out naked one day and be like "hey" and maybe this would mean you'd forever be "the naked guy" but if people just wrote it off as "just how he is" that would be okay - but some people might be too shocked and wouldn't really appreciate it and it could single you out as different and make everyone against you.

So I don't know what ways would be best to handle it.