Locker room chatter

In the 7th grade, we junior high girls had to "dress out" for the first time in gym. It was an awkward experience for all of us, except for the occasional popular girl who felt completely comfortable in or out of clothing. Most of us, though, found ways to change our clothes without actually taking our clothes off. No one wanted to be naked...and we were only 12 or 13 at the time. If we had only known then how silly we were being about it all, we would have been a little more comfortable. Body image? It seems to be a lifelong problem for women. While changing clothes at my grown-up gym recently, I started to notice that many of the women -- grown women -- were changing their clothes the way we did in junior high; changing without really removing clothes. I made a conscious effort to stop this about six months ago. I refuse to change my clothes like that anymore. And, although I know I don't have the perfect body, who cares? I'm in a gym locker room! I have to believe in myself. I had a conversation with a friend recently who wouldn't shower in the gym until she had a terry-cloth robe to wear from the dressing room into the shower, made all the more awkward by trying to keep it dry. This is crazy. Men seem to have no problem with changing clothes in the locker room. Although I've never really been in a man's locker room, I remember the hoopla when women sportscasters began going into them for post-game interviews. Men would be traipsing around even then without much on. I asked several reliable sources about it and found out, just as I suspected, nakedness is not a big deal in the men's dressing room. As one of my sources put it, "It's a locker room, you're supposed to be naked."

So, what does this have to do with learning to surf? Nothing? or Everything? It seems that most of my life, gaining the confidence to do something has been the key to actually doing it. Although surfing didn't start as a woman's sport, it is one now. More than swimming skills or upper body strength, perhaps the first thing I need to surf successfully, is to believe that I can.