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Frank Answers About Male Shirtlessness

This article on men being shirtless is probably my most “evolved” bIog article. I answered this question twice before on the old blog, once as a brief answer (in 2020) and a second time as a longer essay with many more images (in 2021). I think it’s a good time of the year to post it again–a third iteration (in 2022) on this first day of June, and expanded yet again. I think the interest shown in it by readers reflected the desire for freedom that was inhibited during the social mitigations of the COVID-19 pandemic. We could at least get outside and move about freely. Removing our shirts for those men who dared to do so added to this sense of freedom amidst all the social restrictions of the pandemic. I also think many men would like to be shirtless but are inhibited in doing it in public, maybe by a spouse or family. This remains a desire for some men, however much suppressed, even post-pandemic.

So, on May 31, 2020, this question was asked and answered (now reposted with further additions):

As summer comes during this time in which we have been shut in due to COVID-19, I look forward to getting outside. I’ve already noticed this spring some men riding bikes and walking through parks shirtless. Maybe it’s an expression of freedom during this time of confinement. I’d like to join them. As I get older I find that I like being shirtless outdoors more than I did previously. Maybe it’s a reminder of my boyhood when I played shirtless outside during the summer. But I admit that I’m a bit modest about baring my aging body in public, except on the beach or at a pool. Also, my wife makes comments about seeing older men “spoiling the landscape,” as she says, by showing their bare bulging bellies. That’s not very encouraging. She thinks male shirtlessness should be limited to boys and young men who work out. “I’m okay with shirtless boys and young men with well-defined muscles,” she says. Why do men go shirtless in public anyway? Where do you think it’s appropriate? Where is it inappropriate? Thanks for your reflections on this.

Frank answers: Yes, as warm weather comes, we need to get outside, remove those shirts, feel the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the breeze on our skin. I’m happy to answer this question, because as a man approaching 80, I enjoy being outdoors shirtless, riding my bike or walking through a park or natural area, and soaking up that Vitamin D.

So…as the weather gets warmer some shirts come off, and apparently some women would prefer that they stay on in public places. But I’d also like to raise the question of why other men aren’t claiming their shirtless freedom. Body shame is not only a female issue.

College boys catching the sun of spring

These bros are taking in a warm spring day in NYC’s Central Park.

All ages need the sun, especially older men. The sun offers a dose of Vitamin D that we older folks especially need. Getting it directly from the sun is the bestr way to get it.

Your question raises a general issue about male shirtlessness in public in an otherwise clothed society. Let’s grant at the outset that many women don’t appreciate seeing men going around shirtless, except maybe on the beach or at the pool, where it’s definitely appropriate. And let’s also recognize that there are many men who don’t want to be shirtless in public, sometimes not even on the beach or at a pool.

You hear negative comments from your wife but you also have your own sense of modesty about male shirtlessness in public. It might be worth exploring where this sense of excessive modesty comes from. It can come from your family upbringing or just from a sense of dissatisfaction with your body (perhaps in comparison with other bodies). But norms of modesty vs. nudity are also culturally ingrained and subject to social enforcement through laws.

Modesty is a cultural convention, dictating styles of clothing and the amount of skin that can be exposed. When Victorian missionaries went to Africa and Pacific islands, they encountered peoples who were quite comfortable being naked. This offended their Western sensibilities, which were identified with the Christian virtue of modesty, and soon they had their new flocks wearing petticoats and trousers.

Ibans on Borneo traditional dress

Modesty concerns not just covering skin but what kind if clothing we wear. There once was a time when women wearing trousers was considered scandalous. Some have thought that the history of civilization is defined by clothing styles. Yet the ancient Greeks, who were a highly civilized people, were not in the slightest squeamish about the human form. They wore abundant clothes when the occasion demanded it (perhaps for festivals), but shed their tunics freely when the situation called for it (like participating in the Olympic games).

Ancient Greek sculptures are a testimony to naked competition in the Olympic games.

Down through the centuries if men didn’t always compete in athletic competitions completely naked, they competed partly naked. I include swimmers, runners, boxers, wrestlers, basketball players and those in other sportrs who wear shorts, sleeveless shirts, and sometimes no shirts. Women did not have the same freedom to be naked. Men imposed standards of modesty on them. This still applies in Western society today, especially in the U.S.

So the basic answer as to why men bare their chests is because they can. And if they can some will. I’m not being chauvinistic. I’m sorry women can’t go shirtless—where it’s appropriate. But in many places, men are free (not prohibted by law or social norm) to bare their chest whereas women are not. As to why some women object to this, the answers could be a concern to maintain public standards of dress or insecurity about their own body.

I think the negative attitude of some women toward shirtless men is indicated by the fact that while I see occasional shirtless bikers, walkers, or runners, they’re usually not with women. Men I see doing these activities with women keep their shirts on. That’s my anecdotal observation. To me that suggests that the men know their female companions (presumably their wives) don’t want their man showing his body in public.

Why would women resist having their men be shirtless in public? Let’s back up and consider that the body is who we are. We are identified by our bodies. If we clothe our bodies we have to select and buy the clothing we wear. In a consumer society we are defined by what we wear. The consumer society is identified by the labels, tags, and trademarks of the line of clothing we buy. Our identity is bought and paid for. It is how we fashion ourselves as we exist in society, but it is not who we naturally are. Men wear shirts and coats (and pants and shoes, too, for that matter) for protection from the elements. But these articles of clothing hide who we are as natural human beings. Shirtless men (not to mention naked men) are men just being naturally men without a cultural overlay. To some extent, female insistence on male covering is a way of keeping men constrained by the rules of society or the expectations of our culture.

But men have been acculturated and formed by social standards. Our identity in society has been forced upon us by standards of modesty. Many men are modest about removing their shirt in public and exposing themselves as the males they are. One might say that a sense of shame about their bodies induces men to keep their shirts on. Even boys today are modest and perhaps ashamed of their bodies. (Adolescents are always concerned about their body image.) The social constraints change with changes in society and culture. When I was a boy in the 1950s, we were often shirtless in the summer. Just about every boy in the neighborhood was shirtless in the summertide. That’s not the case today. You might see some boys shedding their shirts when playing basketball (shirts vs. skins) or hanging out on the beach or at a pool. But apart from those venues, it’s rare today to see shirtless boys.

Possibly one reason is that many schools do not allow boys to be shirtless in gym class or sports. When I was in school a lot of the boys were shirtless in gym class (sometimes required) and sometimes while playing sports. Schools usually required nude showers and, up until the 1970s, nude swimming for boys. We boys were used to being naked or shirtless with one another. By wearing swim suits, gym shorts, and t-shirts society forces its standards of modesty upon us, and some men have a hard time overcoming this even in venues where shirtlessness is possible today.

Boys elementary school gym class 1950s

When I was in school in the 1950s we went outdoors if the weather was warm enough. We were shirtless outdoors just as we were shirtless indoors, unless we were playing a game that required some with shirts on (shirts vs. skins) in order to identify teams. Calisthenics? Whether indoors or outdoors, definitely shirtless.

Boys high school gym class in the 1950s

I’ve looked at some high school dress code rules and they specify school shorts and a t-shirt for gym classes. Some schools have adopted a policy that boys cannot be shirtless for any reason. Their reasoning is that it’s a distraction to the other students, especially the girls. Likewise, girls can’t wear spaghetti straps (a distraction to the boys?). Exceptions might be made for outdoor practice in hot weather. Boys running shirtless on public streets or in parks or wooded areas getting in shape for cross country cannot be stopped.

However, I have seen some older teens riding bikes shirtless.

Skate board boys are darting around everywhere.

On college campuses boys get used to being shirtless. College and university campuses are places where boys can run shirtless.

College boys out for a run pass some girls on campus (looks like the University of Notre Dame buildings). Interesting look on the girls’ faces. Do they like seeing half-naked boys or not?

In town shirtless boys and men stand out because they are the exception. The shirtless runner or hiker or biker or pedestrian on city streets catches the eye because most runners, hikers, bikers, pedestrians, etc., are not shirtless. Especially on city streets you expect to see men dressed for commercial and office jobs. But you do occasionally see a shirtless guy on a city street in a hurry to get somewhere. I’ve seen them even in New York City as they scurry around.

In the summer you’re likely to see shirtless men on the New York subway.

Or, if your wife looks up, she’s likely to see shirtless men on their balconies. Especially with workers working from home, they are likely to take their coffee breaks hanging out shirtless on their balconies.

She might see lovers kissing, like this shirtless young man romancing his girlfriend on a terrace.

And, of course, there are many city festivals during the summer like Taste of Chicago when, with the hot sun and crowds, young men will shed their shirts.

On really hot days in the city the fire hydrants are opened and the boys abandon shirts.

Gregory Yersich, age 8, sticks his hands in the stream of an open fire hydrant in the 2900-block of South Lyman Street in Bridgeport on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Trent Sprague/Chicago Tribune)

Young men find it “hot” to remove their shirts at a rock concert.

Shirtless women in public?

It seems unfair that men can be shirtless in public but women can’t. Ironically, women can be topless in venues where they can also be fully naked. There are a growing number of “clothing optional” beaches in the U.S., although not nearly as many as in Europe (Mediterranean and Baltic beaches are almost all clothing optional). While the U.S. has been more prudish about clothing optional or topless beaches than Europe, there are a growing number of them (and not all in Florida or California). This is a place where women can be shirtless.

On the other hand, many cities around the world host a World Naked Bike Ride Day also on June 21 and for the same purpose. In these events hundreds of bikers bare all as they ride their bikes through the city streets in support of the environmental movement and calling attention to carbon emissions from automobiles contributing to climate change. “Burn ass, not gas,” is one slogan I saw painted on the backside of a biker. Whether it’s legal or not, participants have tacit social and legal approval to be naked for the Naked Bike Ride, including women.

World Bike Day is held on the summer equinox, June 21. But the Gay Pride Festival and Parade is often held in June also. This urban festival is a prime place for being shirtless, and you don’t have to be gay to go shirtless to the Pride parade. In fact, you can go pantsless also.

Gay Pride in Seattle

Boys in undies is the dress code for the Pride parade — the briefer, the better.

Lesbians have complained that they feel unwelcome in the Gay Pride festivities because many of the gay men are not hospitable toward women and local laws prohibit them from baring their breasts. They may be topless, but have to put pasties over their nipples. There has been a demand for topless equality at Gay Pride parades.

Aug. 26, 2012 – Los Angeles, California (CA, United States – Topless women and men march to call for a constitutional amendment to give women the same right to go shirtless in public that men have during the National Go Topless Protest Day at Venice Beach on Sunday, August 26, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. – ZUMAc68

It’s been argued that women’s breasts can be sexually arousing and therefore should be considered one of the “private parts” of the body that should be covered in public. Apparently, men’s chests aren’t considered sexually arousing (although some women would dispute that).

So where is it appropriate for men to be shirtless in public? And where might it be inappropriate? You expect men to wear bathing suits on the beach and even on the boardwalk. But signs posted on shops and indoor restaurants say, “no shirt, no service.” Male tourists might be shirtless on a hot day in Chicago’s Millennium Park, cooling off in the sprinklers along with the kids. But they should put on a shirt before going into the Art Institute. They may be shirtless at an outdoor rock concert in Grant Park, but it would be inappropriate in Orchestra Hall/Symphony Center. This is all common sense. Maybe it seems arbitrary. But it’s a matter of social expectations and cultural norms.

Shirtlessness has been a part of male work history. In social history, men who have engaged in hard labor on land and sea have usually worked shirtless. In ancient and traditional societies working men usually wore no more than a loin cloth. Even in the Bible, John 21:7 says that Simon Peter was out working in his boat when the risen Christ appeared on the shore. “When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.” Admittedly, this was in warmer climates like the Mediterranean world or tropical places. But it’s also the case that men sweat a lot and moistened shirts become a drag and are uncomfortable. Shirtless workmen are all around us, especially in the building trades—carpenters, bricklayers, roofers, etc.

I think the questioner’s wife would be okay with this shirtless young construction worker.

If it’s acceptable for male laborers to work shirtless, it ought to be appropriate for a suburban householder to mow his lawn shirtless.

.Shirtless Activities

Some venues allow and even encourage shirtlessness. It’s appropriate (almost required) for Chicago Cubs fans to be shirtless in the outfield bleachers, but maybe not in the boxes.

Shirtless bleacher bums at Wrigley Field
Not to be outdone by their north side rivals, south side fans bare their chests for the Chicago White Sox

For those who want to be more participatory in sports, join a pickup skins vs. shirts basketball game on the local playground. The lucky ones get to play shirtless if it’s a hot day.

Or tennis on the courts in the park.

There are other places and situations in which I think it is appropriate for men to be shirtless. I would include any outdoor venue and physical activity such as public beaches and parks, biking, hiking, walking, and jogging, etc.

I would include any physical activity outdoors, such as exercise. One can always do a workout on equipment in a public park. No one should object to men being shirtless in a public park…

Exercising on playground equipment

I would include outdoors yoga.

Growing a tree in a public park.

Joggers are usually shirtless. Shirts are always a drag on runners.

As to why men would want to be shirtless, there are several reasons. One is that the human body cools by sweating. Actually, the cooling occurs because of evaporation of the sweat. While there are wicking shirts today that absorb the sweat, the most effective cooling occurs when the skin is exposed to the air. Women have the same number of sweat glands as men, but men sweat more profusely than women because of their greater muscle mass. Women have to do some really strenuous exercise to work up a sweat.

Another reason men go shirtless is because it gives one a sense of freedom. By this I don’t mean only free from the constrictions of shirts in physical activities, but also free to connect with nature itself outdoors (feeling the sun and wind on one’s naked body) and to bond with other men. It’s simply the case that men bond better when they are shirtless. It’s like, we have nothing to hide from one another.

workout buddies

Men more readily shed their shirts if other men do so (peer encouragement). Unfortunately, all too often in party situations men lose their shirts when they have been drinking and lowering their inhibitions.

As I wrote above, it’s healthy to expose skin outdoors in the sun because we need to soak up Vitamin D the natural way: directly from the sun on our bodies. Dermatologists warn against getting too much exposure to the sun (concern about skin cancer). But the fact is that we need a certain amount of exposure when we can get it during our summer months when we receive the rays of the sun most directly. Vitamin D protects against disease, optimizes physical performance, and improves mental health. Most modern urban people have Vitamin D deficiency because we’re not regularly exposed to the sun. We take Vitamin D supplements, but they’re no substitute for getting our daily dose directly from the source. Seniors especially need to get their daily dose of Vitamin D. Let’s not avert our eyes from aging bodies. Everyone who lives long enough will eventually have one.

Go, Ed!

Shirtlessness outdoors lasts about five months in the temperate zones. Then guys who want to be shirtless move indoors and face the same issue of disapproval, particularly in gyms and yoga studios. This topic of male shirtless freedom continues with https://frank-answers.com/frank-answers-about-indoor-male-shirtlessness/ — a new article posted on 09/02/2022.

So, a toast from Frank to all who claim and practice their shirtless freedom.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is shirtless-college-boys-with-football.jpg
C’mon, guys. Shedd those shirts!

Frank Senn

I’m a retired Lutheran pastor. I was in parish ministry for forty years and taught at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago for three years. I've been an adjunct professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. Since my retirement in 2013 I've also taught courses at Trinity Theological College in Singapore, Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia, and Carey Theological College in Vancouver. I have a Ph.D. in theology (liturgical studies) from the University of Notre Dame.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. John

    I think the part in the question about “I’m okay with shirtless boys and young men with well-defined muscles.” is terrible and contributes to growing issues of body-shame among men today.

    Instead, a value I think more people should have is this: Just as you see young faces and old faces, pretty faces and ugly faces, normal faces and weird faces, no one would dare say “put a bag over it”. We should treat each other’s bodies the way we treat each others faces, you don’t have to like it, you just have to respect it.

    1. Frank Senn

      Michael Quigley
      Dear Pastor Frank,
      I am a 51 y/o man with body shame issues. I was medically retired from the Navy in 2019 after serving 30 years in the military. The reason I was made to retire was due to a heart condition that required open-heart surgery. I am very self-conscious about the huge pink fleshy scar down the center of my chest.
      Additionally, as an aging man in the time of COVID, I have packed on the pounds since my retirement and cannot seem to loose weight like I used to. In short, I really am self-conscious about being shirtless (let alone naked)… even in front of my husband! (I forgot to mention that I am gay).
      Finally, I find myself missing my youth and feel very jealous of all the beautiful and viral young men who go around shirtless. I want to be free like that again, but feel as if I would only draw unkind attention to myself.
      Thanks for your thoughtful posts and answers. I hope that as I keep reading, I learn to have a better view of myself.

      1. Frank Senn

        Dear Michael,
        You are just the kind of person I write for. As a former Navy man you have no need to be ashamed of your wounds. As an aging man I have my wound: a surgery scar from my navel to my pelvis from a colectomy to remove part of my colon. I’ve also acquired a round belly, a symptom of Type II diabetes (and the natural tendency of fat in a male body to settled around the belly). Yet I practice yoga shirtless. See my recent article, https://frank-answers.com/frank-answers-about-aversion-to-nudity/ I added a photo of myself to the post to demonstrate that, as well as a photo of a young friend who practices yoga shirtless even though he wears a colostomy bag and shows his long abdominal surgical scar. If you want to go shirtless, do it!
        Frank

  2. Angel

    Interesting article Frank. Let me introduce myself. My name is Angel, from Mexico, I’m 22 y.o. and I think shirtlessness depends on each culture. Here in Mexico, we have a lot of warm months (March to November) and it’s common to see neighbors outside in the streets, talking to each other while we’re spending our time sitting in front of our houses shirtless. Also i enjoy being shirtless when I go to the park and practice calisthenics.

    JUNE 4, 2021

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