A reader quotes another:
"I think I speak for the great majority of straight men when I say that the sight of a penis that is not my own fills me with revulsion. " I find that hard to believe, considering how many penises straight men see in straight porn.
Another writes:
If your reader finds other penises so revolting, how does he cope with Greco-Roman statuary or Renaissance art? I think his casually homophobic remarks about supposedly gay naked men making "them straights" uncomfortable speaks to a larger neurosis that, in the developed world, is peculiar to America. Topless beaches are the norm in certain regions of Europe and, to the best of my knowledge, female visitors don't constantly fear lecherous stares.
Another:
A reader says of the current LOFO norm: "It's not homophobia or neurosis; it's a natural reaction to the idea that you may be the subject of one-sided sexual gratification." Welcome to a woman's world.
Some straight men have a complete and utter willingness to fulfill their one-sided sexual gratification in leering at us. I hope the awareness that comes from being on the receiving end will make them be a bit more subtle about showing their natural desires.
Another elaborates on that point:
First of all, lesbians exist. Why would this dynamic be any different for straight women getting naked in the locker room? And yet, I suspect that women don't bother too much about the fact that a nearby lesbian may be getting some "one-sided sexual gratification" from their nudity.
Which brings me to my second point: straight men exist. I suspect that both of these straight guys who are oh-so-terrified of old-man dick and lurking homos have happily derived a little unreciprocated pleasure from the female form (clothed or nude) without giving it a second thought, let alone the agonized soul searching you excerpted. I'd be curious to know how they justify denying others the same visual liberties they take every day.
I think this story is ultimately about straight guys being uncomfortable with the awareness of themselves as sexual object rather than sexual subject. But their wives, girlfriends, and female coworkers deal with that issue constantly and handle it with admirable stoicism. (Whether they should have to is another story.)
Man up, guys: some dudes are going to be into you, but that doesn't make you gay. It's not catching!
Another:
I'm rather curious whether your female readers report any generational locker room differences. As someone who was a fat kid and always afraid of the locker room, I think the main difference is that older men grew up being judged less harshly on their appearance and consequently have less sense of bodily shame or a need to compare themselves to others. I know that in high school (thanks to our hard-hitting school newspaper), the boys' stalls didn't have doors, and the girls' did. I bet old women have some modesty in the gym, since women have for generations been judged by their appearance. And as men have increasingly faced unrealistic standards of six-pack abs on television and film, not to mention unnaturally smoothe and shiny torsos, I bet they've started to keep it covered, especially when they think they don't quite measure up.
The Dish 