Gettin' Nekkid

Meta
Title:	Gettin' Nekkid
Creator:	Boy Wonder
Date(s):	2001
Medium:	online
Fandom:	popslash
Topic:
External Links:	online here
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Gettin' Nekkid was an essay posted to Citizens Against Bad Slash by guest writer Boy Wonder. It has the summary: "Boys don't care when they're naked around each other. They are not as shy as we think they are."

Introduction to the guest editorial: "Boy Wonder came to us out of the blue from one of the boy band fandoms (which seem to be loaded with boys) and we nabbed him immediately so he could tell us about sex and prostates and such. Now Boy Wonder (we hope) will do a series of boy-related rants on inaccuracies he sees in slash, from a boy standpoint. We do not know who he is, or where he came from, but we are thrilled to have our first boy citizen. ("Boy," of course, is a relative term. Boy Wonder is a man.) While his rants and musings will have a boy band slant, we feel what he has to say will be of interest of all fandoms, particularly since he is well versed in non-BBS and, most of all, well versed in the ways of the boy."

Excerpt

The thing about nudity. This might not seem like a really serious subject for ranting, but it just makes me nuts! ...we guys shower and dress together all the time. We see each other 'hanging out' there constantly. We're used to it, for crying out loud! And I believe that guys who've been together in any boy band for even a short time (which I'd call maybe a period of a month or less together) would be so used to this it would usually not make any impact at all.

This isn't to say that we don't ever tease one another in the showers or when we're naked. Guys can be especially bad about saying things or making obscene gestures if we find each other hard and/or masturbating. (Yes, most all guys will yank on it if given half a chance -- even when there might be other guys around to see it.) But not based solely on the fact that we're naked in a situation which warrants being that way!

Every single time I read a fic that has, say, Joey Fatone wondering what one of his fellow NSYNCers looks like in the buff, I'm thinking, "right." So, Joey what, closes his eyes when the guys shower together at a venue? And he's never seen the guys getting into their complicated costumes right in front of him?

As a guy, this is such a basic fact of life that I don't even think about -- right up until some fic hits me between the eyes with a shy Lance Bass or Howie Dorough who can't stand to have someone see their peepees. What's that about?