How to go swimming when you're marked
Posted at 18:25 on 20 Jul 2011 by Pandora / Blake
Tom took over responsibility for keeping track of my exercise routine the same week we went on holiday with Zille and Duncan. I didn't realise the potential clash until I was waiting for the bus on my way to the pool that Friday, and suddenly remembered that my arse and thighs were black and blue.
Shit! I couldn't believe this hadn't come up before, but I guess I don't mark easily these days, and the times I have must have been weeks I didn't manage to go swimming. I knew from catching sight of myself in the mirror that morning that underwear didn't cover these bruises, and neither would my swimming costume.
I considered my options.
1. Give up and go home.
Not really my style; also I'd already missed out on gym trips while on holiday, and today was my only chance to make good.
2. Try to find somewhere that would sell me some men's swimming trunks, and wear those over my costume.
Tricky. Time-consuming. Possibly expensive. Also would result in me looking daft and attracting attention, which wasn't really what I wanted. Besides, I'd heard horror stories of female friends who tried to swim in trunks being turned away from pools overly keen on enforcing gendered swimwear conventions. Could I risk it?
3. Brazen it out.
Perhaps I could ignore any worried looks and whispered remarks, and return any awkward questions with a withering glance and a "none of your business"?
4. Consult Twitter.
I opted for the latter. Halfway through composing a "help!" tweet, another possibility occurred to me:
5. Wrap towel around waist, over swimming costume, before leaving changing cubicle. Walk to pool thus protected. At poolside, whip off towel and dash into the water in one lightning move, and hope and pray that once I'm submerged no-one looks too closely.
It turned out I wasn't the first person to attempt this method, and after some reassurance from the hivemind I decided to risk it.
As far as I can tell, it worked fine. The entire time I was swimming I felt ever so self-conscious and convinced that everyone else was staring at me, but I was probably imagining it. And whether due to nervous energy or simply feeling refreshed after my holiday, I managed more lengths in my hour than usual, so that was a bonus.
When I was done, I climbed out of the pool and whisked the towel back off the hook and around my waist as quickly as possible, careful not to meet anyone's eye. I didn't get any comments, so I think I got away with it. The only downside was that by the time I'd showered (back decidedly to the wall!) and got back to the privacy of the cubicle, my towel was already wet through, which made drying a little awkward. Still, it's a small price to pay for having this much fun.
Comments
Yeah, the "I fell on my arse" excuse is the default one if asked, but I always tend to think it sounds REALLY suspicious. Perhaps you're right though and non-kinky people simply don't have the associations required to be suspicious.
I'm reminded of the time my partner's mum asked me about the scars on my arms, and I exchanged glances with my partner and said, "Yeah, that was a long time ago. When I was 15 I ... fell into a lot of blackberry bushes."
She picked up on my phrasing with what seemed like relief, and it wasn't for five minutes that I realised that she'd taken the cute euphemism at face value and hadn't actually picked up on the subtext at all. I guess if you haven't had any personal experience of something, you won't make assumptions.
I'm reminded of the time my partner's mum asked me about the scars on my arms, and I exchanged glances with my partner and said, "Yeah, that was a long time ago. When I was 15 I ... fell into a lot of blackberry bushes."
She picked up on my phrasing with what seemed like relief, and it wasn't for five minutes that I realised that she'd taken the cute euphemism at face value and hadn't actually picked up on the subtext at all. I guess if you haven't had any personal experience of something, you won't make assumptions.
One of the very few areas in which male spankees have privilege, I think! I realise that in many other respect my gender puts me at an advantage in terms of representation in porn and having opportunities to play.
Here's a horror story for you: my female friend is self-conscious about her body, and decided that rather than avoid swimming entirely, she would compromise by wearing long shorts over her swimsuit. They enabled her to feel a bit more comfortable about showing flesh off in public. However, her local pool refused to let her wear them. When she insisted, they banned her from the pool.
Really, all this would be so much easier if people were allowed to go swimming in more modest clothes if they wished!
Here's a horror story for you: my female friend is self-conscious about her body, and decided that rather than avoid swimming entirely, she would compromise by wearing long shorts over her swimsuit. They enabled her to feel a bit more comfortable about showing flesh off in public. However, her local pool refused to let her wear them. When she insisted, they banned her from the pool.
Really, all this would be so much easier if people were allowed to go swimming in more modest clothes if they wished!
Does your pool not have individual changing cubicles? Some pools have the option of public changing or group cubicles (and I do tend to use public changing/showering facilities when I can, because I think it's a nice option to have) but I've never visited a pool without at least a few private cubicles in the ladies changing. If the gents facilities don't have this that's definitely a lack! You could get changed in a toilet cubicle I suppose but I realise that wouldn't be very pleasant or convenient. My sympathies.
I'm not surprised! I'm kind of torn on this one. On the one hand, wouldn't it be awesome if kink was accepted and understood enough that kinky bodies could be shown off just as easily as "normal" bodies? The fact that we need to hide the evidence seems to me to be connected to the way that many disabled people feel self-conscious about their bodies and embarrassed to show them in public. Ignorance causes prejudice and people don't want to make themselves vulnerable to that.
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
One of the very few areas in which male spankees have privilege, I think! I realise that in many other respect my gender puts me at an advantage in terms of representation in porn and having opportunities to play.
Here's a horror story for you: my female friend is self-conscious about her body, and decided that rather than avoid swimming entirely, she would compromise by wearing long shorts over her swimsuit. They enabled her to feel a bit more comfortable about showing flesh off in public. However, her local pool refused to let her wear them. When she insisted, they banned her from the pool.
Really, all this would be so much easier if people were allowed to go swimming in more modest clothes if they wished!
Here's a horror story for you: my female friend is self-conscious about her body, and decided that rather than avoid swimming entirely, she would compromise by wearing long shorts over her swimsuit. They enabled her to feel a bit more comfortable about showing flesh off in public. However, her local pool refused to let her wear them. When she insisted, they banned her from the pool.
Really, all this would be so much easier if people were allowed to go swimming in more modest clothes if they wished!
Does your pool not have individual changing cubicles? Some pools have the option of public changing or group cubicles (and I do tend to use public changing/showering facilities when I can, because I think it's a nice option to have) but I've never visited a pool without at least a few private cubicles in the ladies changing. If the gents facilities don't have this that's definitely a lack! You could get changed in a toilet cubicle I suppose but I realise that wouldn't be very pleasant or convenient. My sympathies.
I'm not surprised! I'm kind of torn on this one. On the one hand, wouldn't it be awesome if kink was accepted and understood enough that kinky bodies could be shown off just as easily as "normal" bodies? The fact that we need to hide the evidence seems to me to be connected to the way that many disabled people feel self-conscious about their bodies and embarrassed to show them in public. Ignorance causes prejudice and people don't want to make themselves vulnerable to that.
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
One of the very few areas in which male spankees have privilege, I think! I realise that in many other respect my gender puts me at an advantage in terms of representation in porn and having opportunities to play.
Here's a horror story for you: my female friend is self-conscious about her body, and decided that rather than avoid swimming entirely, she would compromise by wearing long shorts over her swimsuit. They enabled her to feel a bit more comfortable about showing flesh off in public. However, her local pool refused to let her wear them. When she insisted, they banned her from the pool.
Really, all this would be so much easier if people were allowed to go swimming in more modest clothes if they wished!
Here's a horror story for you: my female friend is self-conscious about her body, and decided that rather than avoid swimming entirely, she would compromise by wearing long shorts over her swimsuit. They enabled her to feel a bit more comfortable about showing flesh off in public. However, her local pool refused to let her wear them. When she insisted, they banned her from the pool.
Really, all this would be so much easier if people were allowed to go swimming in more modest clothes if they wished!
Does your pool not have individual changing cubicles? Some pools have the option of public changing or group cubicles (and I do tend to use public changing/showering facilities when I can, because I think it's a nice option to have) but I've never visited a pool without at least a few private cubicles in the ladies changing. If the gents facilities don't have this that's definitely a lack! You could get changed in a toilet cubicle I suppose but I realise that wouldn't be very pleasant or convenient. My sympathies.
I'm not surprised! I'm kind of torn on this one. On the one hand, wouldn't it be awesome if kink was accepted and understood enough that kinky bodies could be shown off just as easily as "normal" bodies? The fact that we need to hide the evidence seems to me to be connected to the way that many disabled people feel self-conscious about their bodies and embarrassed to show them in public. Ignorance causes prejudice and people don't want to make themselves vulnerable to that.
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
Long shorts are fine whilst swimming but we still have the problem of getting into and out of them. I don't know what goes on in the ladies changing rooms but I'm certain that obvious marks would provoke some pretty unpleasant remarks in the gents changing facilities. I have only ever let one of my male friends know about my spanking habit and would not want any others to find out. For this reason I haven't been swimming for a while.
Does your pool not have individual changing cubicles? Some pools have the option of public changing or group cubicles (and I do tend to use public changing/showering facilities when I can, because I think it's a nice option to have) but I've never visited a pool without at least a few private cubicles in the ladies changing. If the gents facilities don't have this that's definitely a lack! You could get changed in a toilet cubicle I suppose but I realise that wouldn't be very pleasant or convenient. My sympathies.
I'm not surprised! I'm kind of torn on this one. On the one hand, wouldn't it be awesome if kink was accepted and understood enough that kinky bodies could be shown off just as easily as "normal" bodies? The fact that we need to hide the evidence seems to me to be connected to the way that many disabled people feel self-conscious about their bodies and embarrassed to show them in public. Ignorance causes prejudice and people don't want to make themselves vulnerable to that.
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
I'm not surprised! I'm kind of torn on this one. On the one hand, wouldn't it be awesome if kink was accepted and understood enough that kinky bodies could be shown off just as easily as "normal" bodies? The fact that we need to hide the evidence seems to me to be connected to the way that many disabled people feel self-conscious about their bodies and embarrassed to show them in public. Ignorance causes prejudice and people don't want to make themselves vulnerable to that.
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
I had the same problem after I had shot that severe scene for your site, Pandora! But since I didn't go swimming alone and my sports partner didn't know about my kink, I decided to wait until the most obvious marks were gone. Otherwise the looks of my bottom might have raised some rather complicated questions... ;-)
I'm not surprised! I'm kind of torn on this one. On the one hand, wouldn't it be awesome if kink was accepted and understood enough that kinky bodies could be shown off just as easily as "normal" bodies? The fact that we need to hide the evidence seems to me to be connected to the way that many disabled people feel self-conscious about their bodies and embarrassed to show them in public. Ignorance causes prejudice and people don't want to make themselves vulnerable to that.
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
On the other hand, of course everyone has a right to privacy, and I do wish women were given the option of more modest swimwear. And I can see an argument for saying that exposing marks from extreme kinky play in public is an invasive breach of boundaries - sexual practices are not acceptable public display, people around you did not consent to be involved in your kinky activities, and children use public swimming baths.
Clearly we need to have more kink-friendly, adult-only pools. That would make everything simpler!
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