It would suck for a traveling family, though. The parents would be fine seeing each other, nothing they haven't seen before, but with kids there would be some serious issues.
I sometimes forget that this is so different culturally. I'd say that in most families I know, it's pretty normal to see your parents naked. Then again, we also go to the sauna with a bunch of naked strangers, so, all things considered, naked family members are pretty tame in comparison.
Though tbf, I would probably draw the line at seeing my colleagues naked if it can be avoided.
It is interesting how deeply ingrained cultural norms can be in our minds. Like I know logically there's nothing wrong with the nude human body and that seeing your family naked is perfectly normal in many cultures, but the thought of seeing my parents naked makes me so uncomfortable
My dad was routinely naked as a kid, and still even as an adult and him as a skinny old man. My mom was less naked around the house, but wasn't a big deal to see her in bra/underpants.
We'd also go to the Y often and that's always a sea of naked people. Used to sit in the sauna as a kid with old naked dudes, was perfectly normal (though lots of Scandinavians in my region, including our family to a large degree).
This is in the US too FYI, but the US is hardly a mono-culture.
It was definitely uncomfortable when I went to my mom's house (because she was in the middle of a meth-induced psychosis) and heard her talking in the bedroom, so I go back there to see her in tennis shoes, end of list.
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u/Far_Potato9948 20d ago edited 20d ago
Forget where I saw it, but someone put forth a theory it's to discourage business travelers from sharing rooms