Over the past few weeks, in the context of a doctor appointment and a visit to a public swimming pool, I've had a chance to experience for myself some of the cultural attitudes toward nudity here in Finland. In case you haven't heard, Finns are exceptionally blasé about nudity, to the point that it's weird to cover up your nakedness in a single-sex public sauna or gym locker room. This is certainly a departure from the American attitude toward nudity in such spaces. It's even more of a shock for me, an American who has spent the last five years in a region of the world known for its conservative nakedness-covering policies. In the locker room at our neighborhood pool in Sharjah, there was a sign asking people to not change in or out of clothing in the open area, out of respect for the local culture.
I went from that paradigm to the following (contains oblique discussion of a visit to a gynecologist):
1. So, yes, I went to the gynecologist because at a general checkup, the doctor here asked when my last exam was, and I realized it had been at least six years (despite going through a pregnancy in the UAE). So I showed up for the exam appointment and in the room were the doctor (female), a nurse (female), and a trainee nurse (male). It was a medium-sized room - about as big as our living room. There were no privacy screens or curtained areas or even a simple sheet/shield thing. I was expected to just shuck my pants and underwear right there and then, in front of everyone, and walk across the room, in front of that same everyone, to the examination table. There was not one single concession to modesty. It was jarring, but good practice for...
2. The swimming pool locker room (single-sex). Everybody walks around naked in there. Everybody. Old ladies, young girls, and everything in between. You shower naked and scrub yourself down before getting in the pool, and do the same in reverse when you're done. I thought this would be harder than it ended up being. Turns out that all our bodies are at once so different and yet somehow essentially the same - there's no point in comparing.
I have yet to experience a public sauna naked. I think I could do it. The real test would be going to such a sauna with a friend, which is totally normal here. You Americans out there, do you think you could do something like change out of clothes, shower, and then go sit in a sauna, naked, with a friend? I'll need some more time to prepare for that cultural experience.