Platonic Intimacy and Nudism Between Men
"Platonic Intimacy" is about allowing yourself to be vulnerable with another person, and it encompasses traits such as trust, security, and closeness. It is a deeply emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and experiential connection between two friends. It is not, however, sexual (hence the platonic aspect of the term). Part of sharing this connection with someone is the absence or reduction of insecurities someone may have while with their friend. It includes sharing secrets or talking about sensitive matters in a trusting, judgment-free environment. Having an intimate connection with someone, whether it be your spouse, partner, family member, or friend, is an important part of the human experience.
The term has been garnering more attention in recent years as the importance of friendships has increased. Fewer people in the United States are ending up in long-term relationships or marriages, making these individuals' friends the only long-term relationships they have outside of their families. As such, there has arguably been an increase in platonic, intimate friendships in recent years as people turn to friendships instead of dating to form this connection.
Most articles about Platonic Intimacy, however, omit or ignore the role nudity can play in these friendships. I'd argue that there is or should also be a nonsexual physical component to platonic intimacy. At the most basic level, things like hugs and other forms of everyday physical touch would be natural between two male friends who share this close of a bond. At a more nuanced level, platonically intimate men should be just as comfortable being nude around each other as well. Just as two male friends would bear their souls to each other, it should be just as natural for them to bear their bodies to each other as well.
Nudity is oftentimes associated with vulnerability. There is plenty of evidence (and I doubt anyone on this site would disagree) that social nudity is also a type of bonding. For example, a former soldier (straight and currently still in his 20s, for context) talked on his podcast about how he had to cuddle naked with a fellow soldier while deployed and how close it made the two. He went on to explain that it was the nudity, not the other aspects of life while deployed that made the two so close. He joked about how being naked in the cold meant their Ds were as small and shriveled as could be (no way to fluff up like in the locker room) but there was no other choice but for each man to have to see the other in that state, and it was this vulnerability that formed the bond between the two. Another more light-hearted example is the "Boy Scout Rule of Ds" from the tv show Workaholics. Essentially, the rule is if one friend sees the other's D, there is an imbalance in the friendship that can only be restored by the friend showing his D to the other friend.
In conclusion, nudity among male friends should be more common and less taboo than it currently is, particularly among non-nudists. It helps form deeper connections and destroys the final barrier between two men.
I could not agree more with your statement here. I was a Boy Scouts and communal showers were a thing during summer camp, naked swims at night were organized with everyone invited, and changing in front of each other was never an issue. I recall being taught about "buddy camping" during winter campouts and how combined body heat with a friend was a great way to stay warm. I miss those moments and I would gladly be open to it today. Nowadays we have the younger generation exploring male bonding like that with the premise of "no-homo" statements exchanged. :-/ How sad.
Re: the soldier - I have a Marine friend who was talking about boot camp, and yeah, they strip you of ALL reservations and social shyness. He said his group ("barracks"? "regimen"?) once had to stand naked, back to front, in a line, pressed right up next to each other. By the time bootcamp was done, he had seen All of all of them. Which is why he had no problem taking one of my nude photos one day lol
Re: the soldier - I have a Marine friend who was talking about boot camp, and yeah, they strip you of ALL reservations and social shyness. He said his group ("barracks"? "regimen"?) once had to stand naked, back to front, in a line, pressed right up next to each other. By the time bootcamp was done, he had seen All of all of them. Which is why he had no problem taking one of my nude photos one day lol
My brother was in the Marines, and he said it was quite common for them to go out and run 5 miles and come back to the communal showers, they'd all strip and jog around the outer wall of the room while washing on the move. He said during boot camp this happened numerous times just during the first month. I think the military might be one of the last aspects of daily life where communal nudity is still a thing, outside of nudist resorts/communities/beaches and the like. I played baseball up into high school, and it was very normal for us to strip down after school to change into what we wore during practice or to the game that night. Or we would hit the locker room after practice and a multiple of us all showered together in the gang shower. We would crack jokes about being naked, or one boy would helicopter his dick around and make every else laugh. It was definitely a time of bonding for us.
Well I guess it does. Because guy culture, or just mainstream culture views the guy with the biggest dick to be a bigger better man than the one with the smaller dick.
So being naked for smaller or simply average sized men is viewed as showing vulnerability.
Regarding the original, totally agree and it is so rewarding to be able to share something so private and deep within you to another guy that is healing and knowing that you are not been judged. It allows you and him to connect on a deeper level and to add the aspect of nudity with that sharing, it satisfies both at many levels. Hugs are one way to connect with another but done nude, there is that physical touch of skin to skin. To do a hug where are genitals are part of the touching, that is more intimate than any other touching between guys, not in a sexual way but just that their genitals touched.
As it was brought up in the last comment, the fact that bigger is looked as been better or 'more of a man', that is true but if you a confident guy and respect yourself, and see nudity as just that, then what size you are soft, semi or full boner, is just what it is. To say or hold to the mind set that you are less of a man due to what you were given genetic is, at least from my view point, very shallow mind set. I've known guys with micro penises and they had children, so their penis worked just as it was made to do.
I would agree that the military does bring guys together as we have to rely on each other to get to the final goal as a team and been nude around each other breaks down the barriers that there is between individuals. I did find that was the case especially thru boot cam in the Air Force when I went thru it in '78. As years went on the common showers in the barracks went to shared bathrooms between rooms and eventually when to each room having their own bathroom. The closeness that open showers that brought between guys I could see was not there when I retired from the military. But we've seen that, for us that are old enough, in the regular world, the gym is a good example.
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