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Comment by thedz | Hacker News Reader

> She didn't flinch and just went on about her business like nothing had happened, and he was thinking what a fuss/embarrassment etc that would have caused if it happened in a hotel in the US -- when it's just an adult being naked with another adult present. It's not like everybody hasn't seen genitals before or it's a big deal.

I'd caution against using a single situational anecdote and drawing conclusions about an entire culture. For one, it's highly likely that many maids in the U.S. (especially at a dedicated guesthouse or bathhouse) would also have a more minimized reaction to guest nudity and privacy. The experienced ones have seen some shit.

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At work there were a few times when an older lady who worked in facilities/janitorial would come into the washroom when I was at the urinal. I was facing the other way so it was no big deal but I thought it was funny.

For the women's washroom the cleaners are required to shout Facilities! a few times before entering. It's odd though because women are in stalls and men are skin to the wind at urinals. But I do find US and Canada are becoming incredibly prudish. I've read even gyms are installing individual showers/rooms since the new generation don't like to be seen naked.

Even scents are illegal or not PC "this is a scent free workplace" signs are ubiquitous. But people in other countries laugh at how ridiculous that is.

> But I do find US and Canada are becoming incredibly prudish. I've read even gyms are installing individual showers/rooms since the new generation don't like to be seen naked.

I don't think wanting some modicum of privacy is "prudish". I don't want to use a communal shower. I've always found that creepy.

I remember my middle school was built right before I started. They built separated showers in the gym for the girls and a communal shower for the boys. I remember thinking that was so bizarre. I also remember literally no boys ever using that shower.

I'm not a fan either, but I think the point is more that other cultures, and even earlier US generations, didn't see it as creepy.

But some of those generations would be creeped out by women wearing pants and short skirts, men wearing jeans everywhere, and people talking openly about sex and menstruation.

Cultural expectations have certainly shifted. I just don't think "prudish" is the appropriate word. No one, e.g., thinks it's prudish to want privacy when taking a shit. The fact that nudity is involved isn't, to me at least, sufficient to label it "prudish".

Perhaps trying to defend yourself with the example of "taking a shit" is orthogonal to taking a shower.

prude: a person who is or claims to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudit

To think being around other naked people is creepy seems to fit the bill (not faulting you, but true).

Wanting privacy is not the same as being shocked. Do you defecate in public or are you a prude?

Is there much of a gap between "creepy" and "shocking"? Defecating in public is unsanitary, gross, indecent, none of which apply to simply being naked.

Trying to equate taking a dump in public with using a common shower is very much considered prude. Of course the stigma attached to the term plus the subjectivity involved makes it fuzzy.

Yes. Creepy and shocking are different. Odd that you think these are synonyms but "gross" isn't. Also amusing that you claim indecency and don't realize that's the cry of the prude.

There's also nothing about unsanitary about public defecation. On the street, yes. But a toilet or latrine is no less sanitary when you take the walls down. It's just not private any more.

My experience is that it's no big deal if everyone else is doing it. On the other hand, it's rare to find a critical mass of men who don't care about being seen naked unless your gym has a bunch of men over 50.

Japan, Finland, and I'm sure other cultures are completely fine with this. The West (and in particular the US) are the prudes about this one.

Scents.. ? what? I have been living in Germany for the last five years, so could you explain that one?

I've never ever seen what he's describing. I've never even heard of it until today. It is absolutely not ubiquitous in the US.

My wife is very anti-scent, and her workplace I believe has anti-scent rules, but some people don't care and wear thick perfumes anyway. Not everyone can stand to have to sit next to someone who wears a thick fog of perfume all day, especially if they are allergic or have trouble breathing because of it, so they ban it at many work places. It's like that annoying teen who sprays half a bottle of Axe bodyspray and stand in the same room, it feels like someone is spraying the can down your throat! It's almost worse than having people smoke next to you!

Oh man, that explains why a Canadian friend of mine was complaining about a lady in his workplace wearing perfume and I was completely mystified.

Artificial scents are the most potent trigger for asthma attacks (along with tobacco) and asthma attacks kill many times more people than terrorism does, every year.

Heckuva tangent to "scents" there. How are you connecting prudishness around nudity to people finding strong odors unpleasant?

Not so much finding scents (any amount) unpleasant but one person demanding everyone should not wear any scent just because that one person doesn't like it.

That mindset of I don't like X so nobody else should either. And in a similar way for gym locker rooms some people are uncomfortable so the gym must remodel the entire locker room!

Wouldn't a maid in the US have excused themselves and left the bathroom?

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