Swim
 

dorcas3,

As usual your remarks are very well thought out and make complete sense. As most people on the board know, I am a new serious swimmer, not quite 3 months. I started out wearing briefs that I already had, but none were tight enough to be comfortable swimming laps. I got several new ones, some Turbos, some Nikes, and some Sportis, all low cut, tight with 2-2.5" sides. I've been swimming in them exclusively at a my local Y among a very nice, friendly group of men and women. A few guys wear speedos that have longer side seams; mine are, by far the smallest. I feel perfectly comfortable wearing them and there hasn't even been a hint of disapproval. So, I fully agree that if you wear brief suits to do lap swimming, it is the natural setting and activity and those swimming along with you will not bat an eyelash.

D67

I agree with Dooley67 and dorcas3. Its better to get used to wearing a Speedo while doing the activity its designed for, swimming laps. All of the guys I swim with wear swim briefs. They would laugh me out of the pool if I tried to swim in something other than briefs.

mountains and molehills
 

This article on US homophobia is from Brazil SIX YEARS ago - its content I could recite in my sleep - so, any bigoted attitudes changed yet? (see last line)
http://brasilmagic.wordpress.com/200...an-homophobia/

Good article

I agree knikon good article.

I agree that it is a good article as well. The content is very much like what we've been saying in the 85 comments that preceded mine, but it is nice to see that our opinions are validated.

D67

homophobia
 

I think I know what is intended in the post but the English composition is mangled.
Words of last week cannot be "validated" by words of six years ago which have only just been drawn to your attention - you have illogically reversed the time frame.
You can say you are pleased to read similar sentiments from the past - though of course you should not been pleased if nothing has changed in six years in America - hence the question was asked but it has most unintelligently been ignored with responses only of "good article".

Byron,

You are absolutely right because you are all knowing and the rest of us know nothing. It must be very lonely at the top with no one of you intellect to interact with (oh my goodness, I ended a sentence with a preposition).

It would be a very good idea if you learned to be more tactful and less insulting in your comments to fellow board members. Nobody else attacks like you do except in a defensive posture when you have done so first.

But oh, I waste my words.

D67

In simple words
 

Byron, shut up.

my orders....
 

May I combine lightening up with shutting up or are they to be entirely separate modes of conduct ?
Anyway the latter is easy as I just noted my total posts - over 3000 in less than three years - so target achieved and time to depart.
I leave you with the immortal words of Groucho Marx: I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member.

My orders
 

Fellow forum members,

It sounds like Byron is telling us that he will be leaving the forum and I am very sorry to hear that. I may have been one of the people whose replies to him caused him to make this decision; however, I do not regret those replies because bullies must be called on their behavior.

I regret his decision because I have the utmost respect for Byron's intellect, and I believe him to be a brilliant man with a wonderful command of the English language, a researcher who could run rings around any reference librarian, a person who is always willing to take on an investigative challenge, and an excellent grammarian.

Unfortunately, Byron's rudeness and demeaning of other individuals is what many of us have objected to, and with repeated pleas to refrain from his rudeness, Byron did not change his behavior. He has bullied others with his gift for language and that I will surely not miss. There could have been such a better outcome had he only been willing to take the advice that was given to him and stopped the verbally abusive behavior.

For those positive contributions, Byron will be missed.

D67

My orders
 

Dooley; you have expressed my sentiments extremely well. Yes, I have also tangled with Byron and it is too bad that what he has brought to the board is offset by what I call his dark side. Perhaps he may yet return with a different perspective.

My orders
 

I don't believe for a second that Bryon has left the board. Bryon derives too much pleasure from letting everyone know just how intellegent
he is and goes out of his way to say that. Bryon will be back and much more spiteful in my humble opinion.

Everyone just calm down and take a deep breath. I am sorry there are these rifts, but long ago I've learned long ago that personal spats on message boards never go anywhere. Bryan posts great photos and I don't know how he finds some of them. Just ignoring anything I dont like to read always works well. Which leads be back to the idea that everyone should not try to respond to whatever it is they don't like. Carrying on back and forth with another poster just digs a deeper hole, and just not responding is the best strategy if you want a poster to stop doing something you don't like.

I THINK I am in good standing with everyone here, and that is my strategy for maintaining that status.

I know men generally have a genetic programming to fight when offended not retreat, buit everyone needs to control those urges and get on with the fun stuff.

Sebbie
Author, "Understanding Male Sexuality" available on Amazon or through your favorite book retailer.

Sebbie,

I agree with you up to a point. If we speak in terms of reinforcement and operant conditioning, not responding should eliminate the behavior because that behavior is not being reinforced. That being said, I still believe that verbal abuse should not and cannot be tolerated. And bullying behavior needs to be confronted for what it is.

On another subject, I believe that you must be on good terms with everyone. How could you not? You bring so much to the board and always show the utmost respect for others.

D67

Well you know, every forum has that guy who seems to have nothing better to do than respond to every single post on every single topic and correct every viewpoint and straighten out every opinion. You have to be able to let it roll off your shoulders, maybe even laugh at it. This whole Board.com and what it's all about is just plain hilarious and borderline ridiculous, how anyone takes it that seriously is beyond me. Quite entertaining, addicting even!
Yeah, this seems to be Byron's life. I hope he doesn't go away, he would miss us as much as we would miss him.

What you feel....only one on the beach in speedo
 

Back to the original topic. My wife and I arrived in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a beach vacation. This morning I swam laps at the local Y in my Turbo Ipanema, a little bit frustrating because the water was very warm and the pool depth is from 3'6" to 5", so in the shallow area, my feet touched bottom when doing the breast stroke if I wasn't careful to really propel myself.

This afternoon we went to the beach and I was truly the only one wearing a speedo (Nike 2"). It was underneath a pair of short Tactics swim shorts. I was so embarrassed to be the only one on the beach in a speedo that I didn't take my shorts off...for a full second....lol. All of the men were wearing board shorts, some shorter than others and there were lots of hot young, thin guys wearing their boardies very low on the hips, as low as my low cut brief. I could only imagine how they would look in a brief like mine. And I felt fine about being the only one. Each to his own.

D67

Way to go, Dooley67 - wear that Turbo suit proudly!

Swimmboy,

Tomorrow it's the red Sporti. I'll wear a different one each day.

D67

feel about....
 

sebbie. I agree with you, I was a senior on the old board and I got mixed up in something similar to what is going on on this board, things were really going tuff and I got very close to quit such as Byron did.
I was getting negative comments all the time because of my spelling being a french canadian english is a second language Even if I speak english fluently I had difficulties to write without doing to many misspellings.
On the old board there was a lot of contest and me and Mike our owner and moderator had exchanges as I was in a sort of way the supplier of the prizes to be sent to the winners. Ayway I emailed Mike telling him that as soon as the many contest were over I would quit the board.
Mike responded Phil (my name is Philip) dont quit dont pay attention to what some say sending negative responses the best thing to do is just ignore them and not respond at all. I have a great respect for Mike I even remember that at the time I was giving away a lot of suits to members that couldnt afford them and never asking to pay postage even I allways paid to send the suits to them.
This was beginning to cost a lot of money so I told the members that I would still send suits to those that couldnt afford to buy them but they would from now on have to pay for the postage cost.
Well beleave it or not some sent me disobliging comments because of this.
Well beleave it or not Mike posted a message on my behalf on the board saying he didnt approve of such comments and the negative comments stopped ( Mike I dont know if you remember this but thanks a lot for what you did)
This is a board that is meant to exchange comments between speedo lovers and negative disobliging comments should not be exchanged between us if such are sent to you just dont respond to them just ignore them as Mike suggested for me to do.
Being a speedo board , topics that have nothing to do with speedos prevail a lot on this new board annoyes a lot of guys (including me ) anyway well there is allways a polite way to respond to them saying that the subjects of conversations should be about speedos only (even those concerning speedos not in the sense of the word is ok after all speedos are speedos.
politness is a golden key that opens many doors so they say.
To close permit me to say that I will never thank Mike enough for this board and he knows that. permit me to add that if those that dont agree with what I just sead well let it be known that your insinuations are nothing more then my complete indifferences (DONT EXPECT ME TO REPLY) On the old board we had a motto witch was speedo on guys so speedo on guys and once more thanks so much Mike.

I agree with you D67.... To each their own. Glad you wore the Turbo, and it is also cool the guys got to wear the boardies.

Way to go Dooley67, wear your brief swimwear to the beach.

I think the society of today have problems with the male genitalia, the “bulge” in a Speedo is maybe the only one moment when the society of today have a time to see “face to face” the penis (or something that “speak” about the penis)… them the people (when they see a bulge in a speedo) they feel afraid, someone feel shy, another feel horny, another have ideas about the sin, etc. for they is better no see a penis, them a good idea to take away the “conversation about the penis” or “the image of a penis” (in the bulge of a Speedo) is begging to put the “gay tag” to all the guys who wear Speedos and with this tag they make sure about all the st8 guys who want to wear Speedos they will think 3, 4 ,5 or 100 times before if wear or not wear a Speedo………… them, the gay guys are only the “scapegoat” in this “homophobic-speedo story”.
Women are “better buyers” than the men, them the market actually likes give more power to the women and take of power to the guys, them have a society sick with the men human body is a good business, the price that we must to pay is “Freudians psychological problems with penis” (men who feel afraid to have bulge, women who have “phallic envy”)
Also is very difficult to explain a woman about she have “phallic envy” because they want to think , and the media teach her the “phallic envy” is feminism or “empowerment”

my perspective
 

I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that there is some truth to the "speedo" (used as a generic term) gay relationship. Other than those who wear swim briefs for the actual sport (swimming, diving, triathlons, etc) I do think that there is a greater acceptance of wearing speedo type swimsuits in the gay population than in the straight population. As a case in point, I frequently will visit Ogunquit Beach here in Maine (USA). Ogunquit has a very vibrant gay section. If you walk up and down the entire beach, you will rarely find a single guy in a swim brief, even among the very large French Canadian tourists (often thought to have a "speedo" preference). However, once you pass into the section of beach frequented by the gay beach goers, you will see a wide variety of tight fitting, form exposing swim suits in brief and bikini styles. I do not think there is anything wrong with anyone wearing a swim brief and while that act alone is not gay, I do think it is safe to say that there is a greater likelihood that a gay guy will wear a more showy swimsuit at the beach than it is for a straight guy to do the same. I don't agree that it has anything to do with fear of a bulge or such, I think it is tied more to the bodily attributes that each population finds attractive.

It's that argument again of whether you want to pose in them or swim in them. Like how women will wear bikinis at the beach but not at the public pool, because bikinis are for posing, and gays must regard Speedos in the same way.

So if you go to the pubic pool for a swim, I don't see how that could be associated with being gay.

I agree with both STS and Bede. You all know where I'm coming from what I wrote in my story so this is in the context of a mostly straight man. I do think that most people do associate speedos with gays because as STS wrote that there is a greater likelihood that a gay men will wear a speedo than a straight man. I have always worn speedos even before I became a serious swimmer because they are the most comfortable for me and I like the way they look. They have always felt better swimming than any other types, my point being that while I have some gay leanings, that is not what made me a speedo wearer nor would I have considered myself a poser And while Bede's point is well taken, I think there is a third choice, and that is, a guy can be a speedo wearer, like I was before becoming a serious swimmer, because he likes them and finds them comfortable.

D67

I really find it odd how male nudity can be conflated with homosexuality, while female nudity isn't.

I think all the guys (st8 or gay) would like to be more naked, shirtless or in shorts or Speedos, BUT if the society put the tag “A MAN IN A SPEEDO IS GAY” and the children grow listening this them only the gay guy will took finally the decision to wear a Speedo and just a few group of st8 will use it………

Bede,

And add to your thought that in the locker room, most men walk around naked while I'm told by my wife that women do not and are more modest. So would that mean that male nudity in the locker room is because all men are either latent or blatant homosexuals? It's a real stretch, but equating male nudity with homosexuality is also a stretch as you imply.

The political gay men in the 80's wanted to make a statement about AIDS at the time. People were being jailed at these protests for getting out of control and what better way to be seen getting handcuffed than in a Speedo on TV. Many guys were stopped from wearing just a Speedo outside by their parents, mine included. I could swim but had to cover up when I got out of the pool. I asked my parents why I had to cover up my swimsuit one day and was told "so neighbors don't think you're one of them queers we see on TV ". Am I the only person that recalls those protests?

As many have stated, the image of gay parades with numerous guys walking - sometimes prancing - down the street in Speedos and other brief swimwear has enforced the link between gays and speedo-wearing (especially away from the pool) among the general population. And why wouldn't it? Many 'gay-oriented' web sites have many posts about 'bulges' displayed in Speedos, the way you can tell a man's 'religion' by the outline of his penis in a Speedo, how a Speedo shows if a guy points it 'up', 'down', or 'to the side' in his Speedo, etc. Just accept it - Speedos help reveal a guy's private anatomy, and gay guys promote and appreciate that, whereas the general population still feels somewhat uncomfortable about seeing 'everything' a guy has.

Agree
 

Just got done swimming in Turbos at Y. Only mention of what I wear was some time ago when they asked if I swam for the Aussie water polo team- I said of course. I have been in this locker room for a long time with the same gang -never a thing from any of them about my speedos. Some even wear them. If I am swimming in a lane next to a good swimmer and they aren't wearing speedos I suggest them and they all agree! As regards Turbo sizing I can,t beleive that those big guys have such small waists-maybe made special for them.

I have the same experience at my home Y being one of the very few to wear a speedo - sometimes I'm the only one. Locker room conversation is the same as in yours. At the Outer Banks Y where I've been swimming while vacationing, same thing. As a matter of fact, this morning I had just put on my Sporti suit and a guy who had finished his swim, struck up a conversation with me, asked me where I was from, talked a bit about my home state of Maine, stuck his hand out and introduced himself and said he hoped to see me again this week. On the beach, I was the only one in a speedo, a Turbo and absolutely no comments, looks, or anything. Lots of families with kids there. So what's all the hubbub about?

D67

agree
 

D67,

Exactly right....

STS

agree
 

I am in total agreement with Dooley67 and STS.

Bede,

Yesterday at the Y where I've been swimming while on vacation, for the first time I saw a hot young woman in a bikini swimming laps. The suit was the style women wear in Olympic Volleyball.

D67

I would have felt a little distracted with that. :)

I was, but I swam on anyway.

D67

When ever we have a party at the house or meet up with friends at the beach my son and I are usually the only ones wearing speedos. No one has ever made a comment. I guess all our friends are used to it.

One occation I dished out a bunch of suits for guys to wear at the encouragement of everyone's wives and it was pretty funny. A lot of red faces but that was purely out of novelty then genuine embaressment. Same deal when one of my sons friends borrow one of his suits. Hes usually uncomfortable at first but it's a non issue after 5 minutes.

I think a good opportunity to begging to wear speedos is have 2 speedos in a bag when we go t the pool or a beach, one for you and another one if somebody forget his swimming trunk. It make to understand to the other people about is not rare see guys in Speedos and also the guy who is wear the speedo for first time he don’t feel so shy because he is not the only one guy wearing it at his first time.
I use to wear speedos at beaches and swimming pool but when I am coming to the beach/pool I wear my speedo under my board shorts, them if somebody forget his shorts to swim I take of my shorts and I give it to him. Of course I continue my day wearing only Speedos (sometimes speedo and T-shirt) but also I remember a day a group of guys we went together at a hotel for a business and this hotel had a pool outside. The day was very hit and a guy forgot his shorts to swim. He asked to a friend of him if he had another shorts and the friend tell him he had just one and a speedo (because he use his speedo like underwear inside the shorts) them he said to him if he wants use the speedo.. The guy said “nOOO I won’t to use it” but when he saw me using a speedo too the guy thought it 2 times more and took the chance to wear it (the speedo).