Showcasing vintage male photography, mostly nude. You must be 18 years of age or older to visit this blog! If you hold a copyright on any material shown on this blog, notify me, and it will be removed immediately.
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Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Rugby Team
Based on the sheer number of photos I've seen, I'd say rugby players are
among the most likely team sports men to doff their clothes for the camera.
Yes, I think you're wholly correct on that... Stripping off and larking about in the buff would appear to be de rigueur. As I have written before, Rugby Football is very much more of a middle class discipline in Britain, with Soccer being very much more a working class or "blue collar" pursuit. The reason for this goes way back to the different rules for "football" which evolved in the British public schools. But it remains just a fact, the middle classes are historically far less prudish than the working classes - deriving probably from the fact that working class housing was far smaller, siblings had to share rooms and efforts had to be made to maintain one's privacy. That said, large numbers of Rugby players still come from the public and independent schools where there is no culture of privacy but one very much of social libertarianism. The other social phenomenon to factor in is the fact that Rugby Football is just about the one social enclave left where everyone is assumed to be heterosexual. Then we have to consider the class system - again - because it still remains one of the fundamental building blocks of British society. If a working class lad takes off his department store clothing and a public schoolboy strips off his bespoke suit, both look the same, nudity bringing everyone down to the lowest common denominator. The psychology, therefore, is that stripping off and larking around in the nude is in fact the one way social distinctions can be temporarily erased and everyone equal.
Yes, I think you're wholly correct on that... Stripping off and larking about in the buff would appear to be de rigueur. As I have written before, Rugby Football is very much more of a middle class discipline in Britain, with Soccer being very much more a working class or "blue collar" pursuit. The reason for this goes way back to the different rules for "football" which evolved in the British public schools. But it remains just a fact, the middle classes are historically far less prudish than the working classes - deriving probably from the fact that working class housing was far smaller, siblings had to share rooms and efforts had to be made to maintain one's privacy. That said, large numbers of Rugby players still come from the public and independent schools where there is no culture of privacy but one very much of social libertarianism. The other social phenomenon to factor in is the fact that Rugby Football is just about the one social enclave left where everyone is assumed to be heterosexual. Then we have to consider the class system - again - because it still remains one of the fundamental building blocks of British society. If a working class lad takes off his department store clothing and a public schoolboy strips off his bespoke suit, both look the same, nudity bringing everyone down to the lowest common denominator. The psychology, therefore, is that stripping off and larking around in the nude is in fact the one way social distinctions can be temporarily erased and everyone equal.
ReplyDeleteYour social commentary is always welcome, Julian. It gives a great perspective to what led up to some of these photos. Thanks!
DeleteIDK, Rowers tend to get nekkid a lot, too.
ReplyDeleteWell, the rowing club at Warwick University set the trend for that.
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