Why Britain Needs Nude Public Baths for Better Body Image

The Swedish have Saunas, the Turkish have Hamam and the Japanese have Sento and Onsen. The Brits? Well… we have calves that last saw the light of day 8 months ago and our desire to undress extends only to men wearing pants on the underground once a year.

Welcome to Britain, the land of inhibitions. Only the oldest of our generations recalls a time when showing skin was truly a no-go, and even then they’re missing a world of under-wardrobe wonders. The Victorian era was the last in a long line that found women’s ankles provocative. As such, all dresses were made to the foot and were a bloody inconvenience for most things. To flash a bit of ankle was not just flirtation, it was scandalous.

Given that kind of history, it’s maybe not such a surprise that we Brits are a little buttoned up when it comes to taking our clothes off. But we no longer live in an era of stunted sexuality and small town scandal. We’re in an international age and we know enough of other countries to admit what they do better. This time, it’s public nudity.

Let’s get this straight: by public nudity, I don’t mean getting your tits out for the lads, nor taking your shirt off in a park every time it rises above 10 degrees. We can keep a lot of that with the lid firmly on thanks. What I do mean is the need (and I do think it’s necessary) for us to expose our bodies and fears to others in a safe – and sanitary – space.

I lived in Japan where public baths are a normal way of life. It began in religious temples but soon exploded into the wider world. Japan’s natural hot springs were tapped, changing sento into the better known onset. Bathing publicly worked out cheaper, brought the community together and gave everyone a place to chin wag whilst getting clean.

Originally Japanese public baths were nude and mixed. The introduction of our western values caused mixed nudity to be outlawed every so often. Nowadays Japan still has a few mixed thths, mostly in the north, but I for one prefer to keep my nudity gendered.

I’ve been travelling to Japan since I was a teenager. Yet it took living there to work up the courage and shed both my inhibitions and my clothes. I also didn’t have much of a choice about it: it was for an all-paid for work retreat. That’s right. The first time I got naked in a public place since puberty was with my boss.

Everyone else’s normality in the proceedings certainly helped, but it didn’t quash my self-consciousness. I still wanted to get into the water up to my neck ASAP, rather than sit on tiny little stools and shower myself whilst discussing the next days work, trying to look my boss in the eyes. Once I got used to it though, there was no stopping me. I was free, easy and among bodies of different ages, styles, shapes and sizes. In the end I forgot both them and me. It was wonderful and utterly relaxing. I can safely say going to those Japanese changed my entire outlook on nudity and my confidence in my own body.

Japan is a long way, geographically and culturally, from the UK. Public baths aren’t just a Far East phenomenon though – they’re throughout Europe. Scandinavia, the Baltics and around the Mediterranean all had public nude bathing and many continue to do so. Yet the Brits have dug their heels in and stuck to their stiff upper lip.

Of course fashion has changed with the times, and we see a lot more of the body than we ever have before (except perhaps the 60s, but that’s always the exception). Our acceptance of our bodies and others is however at an all time low. It’s somehow a statement for celebrities to expose utterly inane stretch marks. Some still think it’s ‘slutty’ to expose more of your body than most. We still have mental illness arising from body image.

I’d argue one of the best ways to normalise normal is public bathing. Not only does it encourage self-confidence, but it also shows achievable body goals. I firmly believe that everyone should do their best to be healthy and it’s naive to think all weights are. But constantly beaming unattainable body images into our brains doesn’t encourage weight loss or gain.

Seeing normal people with normal bodies shows us what’s within our reach, while at the same time showing that what we already have is perfectly commonplace. And if we can achieve all that while relaxing, cleaning and catching up, I fail to see the downside.

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