Are women taking to shirtlessness in a big way?

I'd never thought I'd say this, but could the ladies be challenging for the lead in our struggle to normalise shirtless running?

Today I googled 'running shirtless' on Blog Search and was quickly reading well-written piece after well-written piece concerning running sans extraneous upper-body attire. Each one by a woman:

- There were 'trying it for the first time' confessionals
- There were 'why you should try this too, girl' proselytisations
- There were even how-to guides on the right attire for shirtless running, complete with clinical discussion on what sort of jogbra to wear and which colour to avoid.

I scanned the Comment sections and almost invariably there was only supportiveness, envy ('I wish I could do it!') and approval being channeled.

Now that I think about it, my own observation at the gym I sometimes use is that more women are adopting the jogbra, while we men stay shirted (of course, gym rules make this mandatory - but that's a gripe for another time).

I'm not complaining, for all sorts of reasons - including the most obvious one. But why is this trend gathering apparent momentum?

One answer puts it down to confidence. As women make strides in arena after arena - now justly sure of their equality - it could only have been a matter of time before this confidence strips away the constraints that inhibit body comfort. Confronted by examples of men who cast aside their shirts to exercise, why should women not partake of the same sense of freedom?

As for why conversions, as we deem it on this blog, should be breaking out all over in the summer of 2012, we might make reference to such things as 'critical mass' (online as well as on the ground) and 'tipping point being reached'. I'm no sociologist, but with every extra jogbraed body out there pounding the pavement, we have an additional role model playing her role. Another sister, or daughter, or mother would have discovered the joys of shirtlessness - and pointing the way to more.


Yet perhaps I should conclude by addressing my fellow men, especially those who feel yet resist that so-natural tug towards tugging off the shirt: The ladies have seen the light, fellows. If once we feared to offend their sensibilities by 'exposing too much', do you need further evidence that there is no erosion of modesty here?

Why I am not a nude runner

It will be very clear from this blog that I am a confirmed proponent of running sans shirt, or in jogbra in the case of women. Many comments have come in either in support of this position (along with some pretty critical ones) - but every once in a while someone will suggest taking the next step: Why not run nude?

Now of course, in many parts of the world, there is a simple answer to the question: If you tried to in pretty much any precinct, you would soon be in the clink. But in some 'enlightened' places, and certainly in specific colonies, you could indeed choose to shed every last thread.

I have never ventured to do so and do not intend to. This is not because I have any lack of respect for those of the nudist persuasion. Indeed, perhaps some of us who have converted to shirtlessness are indeed travellers on a journey that - in the fulness of time - will lead to the embracing of nakedness as the ideal. But that path is not one I see my myself treading.

First of all, I do not see shirtless running as essentially some sort of 'half-way point'. The freedom that I feel when I go bare-chested on my runs will not, I don't think, be materially enhanced by the mere  discarding of yet more articles of clothing. I feel spiritually recharged when trotting along and have to my mind reached a prefect balance between comfort and modesty. To be in quest of yet 'more of a good thing' by looking to go yet barer seems pointless. Indeed, it seems to me that the realities of human biology mean that being totally 'freed of constraint' when running might be distinctly uncomfortable for many of us, as it becomes a case of being 'free of support'.

Secondly, I am precisely a proponent of shirtless running because to my mind it is something that anyone can embrace in almost all communities, and at any age - hence that 'caramaderie' that I have written of that unites all shirtless and jogbraed runners. Even in more conservative quarters, shirtlessness is seldom considered so outrageous a phenomenon as to provoke outright hostility (at most, it typically evokes a tut-tutting of disapproval); were more individuals to embrace a shirtless identity, we can imagine attitudes being further modified, though there would be no radical shift.  Such a degree of acceptance - actual or at least potential - would be very dramatically shattered if we were to now espouse nudism: A decided majority would part company from the minority.

Thirdly, the 'sensuous buzz' that many cite as a benefit of running shirtless - others have described it as 'feeling sexy' or sensual - is, to my mind, bound up with the fact that we are choosing to both simultaneously expose part of our anatomy and yet cover up another part. . We project the confidence of being willing to 'go this far', and the confidence to say 'this is just enough'. Art, someone once said, is all about knowing when to stop. I'm right where I want to be.

Young but shirtless: Your views?

       It has been reported in some parts of the world that people below the age of 20 are now less  willing to go shirtless when running or otherwise exercising. Perhaps casually stripping to the waist was something common in an earlier era, but these days - it is alleged - a more advanced conception of sartorial decency (among other things) has sparked generalised covering-up.

First of all, I invite folks to write in with their opinions on whether is true. As someone who only converted to running bare-chested when well into his 20s, it has been my hope that more would realise earlier that shirtlessness is a healthy and joyful cause. It pains me to think that cause may be failing with that very age group that should be spending the most hours getting healthy and fit.

While awaiting responses, here are my views - which are underpinned by two relevant recent comments posted on this site.

Post 1:

 

Anonymous said... Just to say thanks for your site. For the last 2 months my eldest son (11) has started to come runnning without his top... Don't think he'd have done this without the positive remarks here.

What these words suggest is that, first of all, youngsters are not so much immunised against shirtless running as starved of positive role models. If they only hear of bare-chested folk in the context of poor dress sense, melanoma or thuggery - or for that matter see bare-chestedness on display only with ridiculously well-toned movie-universe denizens - it's no surprise that they begin to perhaps unconsciously shrink away from shirtlessness. 

This parent's post further suggests that when young folks are exposed to the truth that shirtless men (or jogbraed women) are no more bizarre, at-risk, lame or ostracised than their mums and dads, they feel freed to shed their upper-body attire in appropriate situations. Obviously, an obscure blog like this one will reach only a small fraction of our youth. It is the behaviour and example of people in the wider community that is more likely to make a difference.

 Post 2:

Hi,

My name is Austin and I am the captain of my cross-country team and I happened to stumble upon your blog today about shirtless running.  I go to a private, christian school who aren't letting us run with our shirts off anymore because they say that it is not the standard equipment for a cross country runner.  We completely hate this rule because right now we are having to run in upper 90 degree weather and we're almost getting to the point of heat exhaustion and its just ridiculous.  We are trying to do everything we can to fight it, so I was wondering if you had any research to go along with the benefits of shirtless running?  Thank you for taking the time to read this message and I hope to hear from you soon!

In digesting this second post, we arrive at a second truth: That at times it is the deliberate, constrictive standards-setting of adults that keeps tops mindlessly on when they need not be. In the present case, I had to write back to Austin to say that I was not aware of scientifically-valid research that validates shirtless running. I hope this did not deter him and his comrades, since I do not see why the onus needs to be on those of us who go shirtless to justify our preference in exercise attire. The larger point that needs making, however, is that many youngsters may take their lead on 'appropriate exercise attire' from what the 'experts' in school prescribe. If more schools are closing down their options, it is no surprise that such narrow-mindedness might spill over to when these budding sportsmen are outside school. Yet I would need to be convinced that most communities' implied sartorial codes are really so draconian as to dictate when (or whether) their young people can take off their shirts when exercising.

Overall, then, I think it is far from a given that young folks are really shying away from shirtlessness of their own accord. With Austin and the 11-year-old son, we see that there are still young converts out there who can fly our flag.


The battle is not yet lost.



 

 

Feeling uncomfortable while running shirtless

Many people who would otherwise be stripping down to bare chest or jogbra are held back by a sense that they are somehow offending against decency, propriety or modesty. And 'sense' is the word: It's not something they could articulate fully, but rather an inchoate discomfort that disrupts what should otherwise be blissful liberation.

This extract from a blog post (which enumerates challenges 'most long-distance runners face') illustrates the problem.We should note that writer Amy stayed the course!:

 As I mentioned before, Dallas has started to warm up. Around the 13 mile mark, I took my shirt off. I’ve never done that before! I know it’s not a big deal, (I’m obviously wearing a sports bra), but I still felt uncomfortable. The trail was mostly empty but every now and then someone would run, walk, or bike by. Every time they did I felt like throwing my shirt back on! You’d think I was running around naked.
I tried to remind myself that I am hot (literally, sweating, red face…really hot). There was only 1 water fountain on the trail (and I didn’t bring any), so I was also feeling very dehydrated.  Although I didn’t want to offend anyone with my shirtless running, I also didn’t want to pass out from heat exhaustion. So, shirtless it was!

I would say many of us who are now confirmed shirtless runners have had to bust through this transitional stage. Some of the posts and comments on this blog have tackled the matter, but four of the most successful 'cures' are quickly summarised:

1) Run through it: If you resist the urge to 'cover up' but just keep going, after a while the sense of discomfort naturally recedes. Many folks report that the tipping point is just after one's perspiration begins to flow unhindered by attire, and a slight breeze combines with that to cool one's upper body that much more effectively.

2) Avoid crowds: The writer of the post was already running in a fairly deserted area, and certainly for beginners hordes of people are best avoided; the discomfort might become so acute that the shirtless run becomes unrelieved misery. No point in that!

3) Start small: Intersperse your usual fully-clothed runs with perhaps five minutes of shirtless striding. This will allow you to compare the difference in comfort level between the two phases, and gets you more used to the 'psychic shock' of stripping down. Over time, lengthen the time you keep your shirt off: Before you know it, it might be second nature.

4) Seek other converts: You might choose to run where other shirtless runners can be found. There can be strength in numbers! A note though: A possible alternative 'confidence issue' might arise if you are yourself still working off a few winter pounds: You might be slightly intimidated by the ridiculously toned torsos revealed. Just remember that you don't need to look like some sort of professional athlete to feel comfortable with shedding excess kit; on the other hand if you are seriously flabby, perhaps you now have an additional incentive to get healthier soonest.

Those needing further encouragement are urged to comb through the entries on this blog. A full range of opinion has been canvassed (including those heartily opposed to the whole notion of going bare!).You may find that your 'private insecurities' were widely shared by many who have since converted fully to running shirtless or jogbraed.

Updating this blog: Your help needed

Dear readers:

This blog is just a few entries short of the 50th post mark! Here are some new features I'm already piloting, or are thinking of doing so, as the half-century looms:

1) The new info bar (it's above the 'Notes' and the first post). The first four sections I've bashed out are below in beta; swing by and critique, or suggest other useful sections:

'About me': Pretty obvious
'Vocabulary': Some terms one keeps falling over on this blog
'Links': I need good ones. Please contribute: Leave a comment or e-mail me at barethomas@gmail.com
'Policies': Some principles guiding the use of other writers' materials and other topics


2) I've begun Tweeting. Click on the Twitter icon on the upper right corner of the page to follow me! I will use Twitter to trial ideas, gather feedback and relay interesting Netstuff (observations, articles, quotes, tweets). Warning: On Twitter, I am barethomas10. There is ANOTHER barethomas, who's not me.

3) I'm thinking of serving up some ads, maybe Amazon or Google - that sort of thing. I want to be sure it won't clutter up or cheapen the page, but a little return could allow the blog to be upgraded further down the road. Anyone has ideas, criticism or advice? Any site designer want to freshen up the look? I can offer only an ad/link, a prominent acknowledgement and a post on the finished article by way of payment.

4) I've added a 'Share' button at the end of each post to offer a convenient way for posts here to be shared through social media like Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon and so on. It will help drive traffic to the site, so your assistance in spreading the word would be a huge help!

5) I've already installed a 'Latest Comments' widget to give your great feedback more prominence. Thanks so much, and keep it coming. However, while anonymous comments will continue to be allowed, please consider identifying yourself so we'll know who's saying what.

More on why people run shirtless

Here are five more quirky quotes sourced from the Internet, from people expounding shirtless running:

"If you make it a point to run shirtless once a week, I GUARANTEE you will make better eating decisions... girls included!" - RunMikeRun1 (click here for original source)

"I don’t see why it’s special. I know a lot of people who run shirtless because they don’t want their clothes to get sweaty" - Hollywood star Kellan Lutz (click here for original source)

"I always feel like people are staring at me. I don't like it. It didn't help I was the only the person shirtless, but hey it was hot!" - Leandro (click here for original source)

"Time to test my Heat Theory, in which I theorize that by getting out and getting maximum heat exposure in the hottest part of the day, for example by running shirtless in the sun on asphalt at 2pm, the body is trained to function at a higher temperature, thereby rendering all other parts of the day more bearable, especially when at rest." - Booksy (click here for original source)

"What better way to meet a guy than to see him running shirtless in the park?" - Carly (click here for original source)

Porn, prurience and shirtlessness

Here's an acute, and rather disturbing, observation, excerpted from a comment on The Creed of Shirtless Running (click here), a post found on this very blog. The thought is by Crow. and runs:

I think going shirtless is a good habit... in any conditions where I don't feel bad because of it. People used to do it more, I think a modern prurience has set in because the net has made it easy to associate it with porn. I think people get embarrassed about seeing private stuff in public. The more they see sexuality, or even just a less than totally clothed human body, in adverts, on the net, etc, the more they feel confronted by their newly conditioned reactions when they see it on the street.

Interestingly put! Perhaps I might take three points of interest for further expansion:

1) 'People used to do it more': There are undoubtedly many places in the world where shirtlessness is on the decline. But as far as shirtless runners is concerned, I'd be interested to know if that holds true too. Haven't heard or read too much on that score, but some would claim that more people are running wearing less. My own experience has been that there has been neither an uptick or a drop.

2) 'A modern prurience linked to an association with porn': If indeed day-to-day shirtlessness is ebbing, the fact that shirtlessness is simultaneously more easily 'accessed' through porn sites these days would institute a damning, self-reinforcing cycle!...
a) People's exposure to shirtlessness would increasingly be through media glorifying sexual objectification, which
b) leads us to see all shirtlessness in such terms, causing us to scale back 'ordinary shirtlessness' all the more,
c) further reducing the contexts outside e-porn in which we see bare-chestedness... and so on.
If Crow. is right, then how can the circle be unbroken?

3) 'People get embarrassed about seeing private things public': Of course, some would allege that sexuality ('private things') is increasingly seen in these so-called liberated times as precisely something that can now be flaunted in public. And this may perhaps be why going shirtless - whether when running, exercising or just chillin' - tends now to be associated with 'showing off', at least with some folks. It certainly didn't used to be so, by all accounts.
From this, we might take away the fact that, perhaps for most people, a sense of modesty is still bred into our social DNA, so that we reject 'flaunting for the sake of it', finding it uncouth and cheap. The challenge is to break through the misconception that running shirtless is inherently about that sort of thing. Sundry posts on this blog, of course, hopefully tell against this falsehood.

From the Net: In defence of 'shirts vs skins'

One of the first times I came to realise that going shirtless while exercising was socially acceptable was via that great American tradition of 'shirts vs skins' team play. It's especially common in basketball. But it is, in some places, under siege - so highlighting the topic might be forgiven though this is a 'running-centric' site. Appended below is an editorial from the Orchard Farm Eagle Vision (click here for the original), a school publication.



Shirts vs Skins
by Preson Steinhoff

Is it wrong for a man to have his shirt off? Recently, the boy’s basketball team has been instructed to not take their shirts or jerseys off at any time or for any reason during basketball practice. This rule was made to decrease the spread of staph infection. Boys bumping and running into each other while being sweaty and shirtless may transfer a staph infection from one person to another. However, there is a very low percentage of kids, and even a lower percentage (exactly zero percent) of boys basketball players who even have staph. This makes the possibility of spreading staph infection at Orchard Farm High School practically non existent. Not allowing the basketball team to take their shirts off during practice is not only ludicrous, but also absurdly preposterous.

Why should our basketball team not be allowed to take their shirts off during practice like every other school allows their boys to do? I have played on various basketball teams throughout my short career and every basketball team I have played for has always allowed “Shirts and Skins” to be played. They often allowed this when players were hot, which happens frequently with exercise. Our school might be trying to be a leader on this issue, by starting this “no shirtless policy”. I have only one problem with our school being a leader, and that problem is; our school is leading in the wrong direction.

Playing “Shirts and Skins” has been a long lasting tradition in the history of basketball. Why should our school try to diminish this? Would you hate it if our school canceled Winter Break (a long lasting tradition)? The two situations are basically the same and should never be done. Our school believes that we should be able to wear our green and black reversible jerseys instead of going “Shirts and Skins”. This is okay, only until we split up into three teams, and there are only two colors. Being able to take off our shirts would allow us to play with three teams and eliminate this problem we are faced with.

Men don’t have to wear shirts in a swimming pool, (which could spread staph easily through the water), so why can’t they go shirtless in a basketball gym? It is not considered indecent exposure if a man has his shirt off. We are not practicing with women. Some may think that we are putting pressure on kids to take their shirts off, but there isn’t any pressure. Now I know that our school is not a swimming pool, but it is a public place and no one has complained or seemed offended by us practicing with our shirts off.

The boy’s basketball team being restricted from taking off their shirts in practice is extremely pointless. The team wants to be able to distinguish teams during practice. The team wants to keep the tradition of “Shirts and Skins”. The team wants their shirtless freedom! And finally, the team wants your help; the help of standing up to our school and letting them know how crazy it is to deny the boy’s basketball team the right to take their shirts off in practice.

Being shirtless in public an interest to many

I've been checking to see how many of the readers of this blog (which have been far more than I'd ever anticipated) get to this site through a search engine. And it has surprised me how many of them arrive here by way of Google, having keyed in search terms that show a general interest in going shirtless, or running shirtless.

A mere sample of these search terms, from just the last 10 days:

'Shirtless in public'

'Shirtless runner blog'

'running shirtless'

'shirtless jogging'

'women running shirtless' (Note: going jogbraed is honorary shirtlessness in my book)

'dare shirtless jogging' (Note: Go on, try it!)

'gym class bare-chested'

'shirtless running shorts' (Note: Any sort of attire would do!)

'shirtless in public'

'gym class shirtless'

'strip shirtless' (Note: It's a lot more comfortable once the perspiration starts to flow)

'shirtless running forum'

'should I go bare-chested in gym' (Note: If the gym management/school doesn't mind, do!)

'running shirtless in Spain'

'running bare-chested'

These queries came in from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Malaysia, Spain and Zimbabwe.

It just shows many folks are either ready to, or have already joined, our band of happy shirtless brothers and sisters. You won't regret it once you get past any initial jitters. So write in with your experiences, or qualms, or advice.

This blog needs your input

A summary of how this so-new-it's-still-shrink-wrapped blog is doing. I've been hugely encouraged by visits literally from around the world:

The largest number of visitors have come from the United States, followed by arrivals from Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Spain, France, Japan, Singapore, Italy and a couple of other places. In all, folks from 18 countries have dropped by, with the continents of Europe, North America and Asia all extensively represented.

Clearly, then, running/jogging is a pastime enjoyed globally - and doing so shirtless/jogbraed is an option that is at least of interest to many (if only as a target for darts verbal or otherwise). This blog hopes to bring together views, tips and experiences, so visitors are - again - very welcome to leave comments, express views and especially to offer guest posts. While my personal position is obvious - I hope more folks will come to accept that, in principle, shirts are superfluous to our preferred form of exercise - I do want all poles of opinion represented.

Lastly, I should be happy to contribute - or swop - guest posts to/with any blog owner who wants a quirky take on things. I'll not apologise for being enthusiastic - 'nothing like the fervour of the converted', they say, and I admit to once sniffing at shirtless running -but that's not to say I haven't a sense of humour or sensitiveness to... oh, but wait. That's grist for another blog post, I think.