Speedo Shame Origin

[Dooley67]

I've been wearing brief suits since I was a late teenager in NY, Brooklyn specifically, where either speedo type suits or square cuts were very common for guys, so it was never an issue. When I came to Maine for graduate school at the age of 21, I continued wearing speedos and never had an issue with it.

The only time I stopped wearing speedos for about a year was when I had gained 15 unwanted pounds and I didn't like the way I looked in a brief suit. I didn't like the way I looked in a fitted dress shirt either. You see, it was my choice and my decision. Since losing the weight and becoming a serious swimmer, I returned to wearing speedos, the narrower the better - my limit is 1.5" for my own sense of what looks decent. For me it was how I felt I looked, not how others' thought I looked or what others' think of me because I wear speedos. I've worn speedos in beaches in the US and in other countries being sensitive to the customs of the countries other than the U.S. I wear them because that's my swimsuit of choice.

My point in writing all of this is that you need to do what is acceptable to you (within the framework of decency), not what you think is acceptable to others. I agree with STS that the perceived speedo stigma may be made to be more than it actually is. While we could attach all sorts of psychological meanings to the phenomenon, it may very well be like what Freud said, "a cigar is sometimes just a cigar."

Valorian 2, you may take some heat from your family, but if you have evolved into a more self confident person in certain ways, one of which is as one who feels comfortable wearing a speedo, then let your family know that's who you are at this point in your life. And don't apologize or feel the need to justify your decision to be who you are. It may be tough at first, but they'll eventually adjust and, realistically, they will have to if they want you to continue coming to family events. Be who you are. Good luck.

D67