A Summer Without Pools

A summer without pools is like Christmas without presents. And I'd happily give up Christmas to live an endless summer.

At the moment, the prospect of being able to go to the pool this summer is looking pretty grim. (For once, you might get through the summer without having to listen to me rant about the stigma of men's swim briefs in this country :-p). And I was thinking about how sad it will be not to be able to lounge in the heat and sunshine, and splash about - of course, even without a pool, I can do these things at home, in my back yard, with the garden hose. But what I can't get at home is all the eye candy; and I'm not gonna lie to you about how much I enjoy the sight of attractive young women in barely there bikinis, skin glistening wet - all in close proximity.

I have mixed feelings about stating this so openly, because on the one hand, it seems stupidly obvious, and something that I'm sure a lot of people appreciate about pool culture, without it needing to be said - or, rather, refraining from saying it because, on the other hand, you're liable to be labeled a "pervert". And yeah, I am a pervert, but that doesn't mean I want people associating me with all the bad things that tend to go along with that. I'm not a creep or a predator just because I'm not ashamed to enjoy the erotic pleasures in life.

Because, although the pool is a place where people (and some, perhaps even many of them, will undoubtedly be attractive) congregate while dressed in scandalously skimpy clothing (despite the fact that, aside from the buttoned-up prudes that most people rightfully ignore, nobody ever seems to acknowledge that there's anything indecent or inappropriate, or indeed even threatening to a "family friendly" atmosphere, about all this nubile flesh on display, in public - I just don't understand how this can all be taken for granted in the narrow context of a beach or swimming pool, but just about anywhere else, similar exposure is grounds for serious concern or alarm), I feel that there is something untoward about admitting that you enjoy those sights on display.

Like, you can go there and get an eyeful, and as long as you behave, there's no problem. But if you were to, say, come right out and express the desire to be surrounded by scantily clad women (or even suggest to the women you might otherwise be surrounded by that you would enjoy seeing them in less clothing), you would be drawn and quartered. Or, in the best case scenario, your request would be laughed off, and the women still wouldn't consider disrobing.

And I just want to say, what's so wrong with that desire, anyway? Is there some reason - some obligation we have - that it ought not to be fulfilled? Does enjoying that somehow make you a bad person? Or is it because we've been exposed to too many bad role models, and the public consciousness associates those sorts of desires with bad men - predatory, chauvinistic, single-minded males who habitually harass and objectify women?

I have nothing but respect for the fairer sex. I treat them as human beings. I also really enjoy the sight of their bodies. Not to the exclusion of their minds, or personalities. But if I enjoy their bodies, too, is that wrong? Is that not an earthly pleasure we should be allowed to indulge in? Openly and honestly, and not pursued by surreptitious means (the difference between keeping mum and satisfying yourself with whatever you can get, versus asking straight out for what it is you want in life). Because I seem to encounter an awful lot of barriers to doing just that, and it's frustrating.