I sometimes felt the same way as a tween, but for opposite reasons. I started puberty toward the young end of the spectrum, and by about 10, I was much more obviously developed than most of my peers. I found this intensely embarrassing, especially when a classmate gave me the nickname Hairy after he saw me playing basketball without a shirt.

I didn't realize I could have been proud of my hairy pits as a sign of maturity. At the time, I simply rued being different.

When I started 6th grade at about 11, things changed. I was moved up a grade for academic reasons, my teacher complaining that I was so bored she didn't know what to do with me. So, suddenly, I was in junior high a year early, and the locker room was filled with boys more in line with my physical development.

That was kind of a relief. And for some reason, I never had any anxiety over showing signs of arousal. I think because I was too nervous around the older boys to have that kind of physical response.

Even in high school, I was never anxious about that. I'm not sure why. I remember in 11th grade (still a year younger than everybody else), my locker was next to one used by a guy who was in my advanced math class. We were both nerds when it came to academics. He was kind and sweet. And gorgeous! But not once out of all the many times he was naked beside me after gym class did I pop a boner. Never even thought of it as a possibility. What that says about nudity taboos and my own anxiety, I don't know. Probably something.

To your point, I was really embarrassed about nudity. That was just a value I grew up with.

Not until much later in life — when the Air Force sent me to West Berlin, and I lived in Europe for about 5 years — did I become really comfortable with nudity. German spa culture and beach culture will do that to you! Lol

I've definitely noticed that male culture in the United States is becoming more nudity averse. Before I moved from Detroit a few years ago, I was a member of a health club that was frequented by a lot of professionals, including doctors, engineers, and journalists.

The locker rooms were the traditional open plan without private changing cubicles. This wasn't strange to me, it was what I expected. I'll never forget the time I was chatting with a columnist for the Detroit News who was about my age. We were both getting dressed and not being particularly shy about it — when a group of young men in their mid to late 20s walked in.

The contortions they went through to change! It was so obvious that the columnist and I sort of raised our eyebrows at each other in amusement. Clearly, we both wanted to laugh, but we didn't want to embarrass the younger guys who were obviously very uncomfortable. I later realized that they weren't that unusual in my health club. Younger guys tended to be much more nudity averse than older guys.

Is this increasing nudity taboo among American men a function of homophobia? I don't know, but I think you raise a great question!