When I was in high school, it was mandatory that everyone took showers after gym class. Gym class wasn’t then what it is now. We had gym suits that looked the same for everyone. It didn’t matter if you were eighty pounds or one hundred eighty pounds. You had elastic legs that came up to the thigh and cinched elastic waists with belts. There were small lockers and one large open room. There were curtains around the shower stalls, but they were all in an open shower room. Everyone was going to see you naked at one time or another. I hated those locker rooms. Even when I went out for sports, I still hated the locker rooms. You had a locker room regardless of what school you went to when playing basketball or baseball. The rule for using the showers in the locker room lightened up when it came to sports. Many times our coaches would allow us to go back to the bus, or home with our parents, as soon as the game was over. The locker room rules didn’t change when you were in gym class. Now, I am still hesitant about going to the gym. Even though I know the locker rooms are for changing, and the showers are not mandatory, there is still the stigma of the locker rooms of forty years ago. I don’t know if I will ever get over that feeling. I have always been very private when it comes to my body and I feel that sharing shower rooms and locker rooms always took away my right to privacy.