I was just listening to the most recent Savage Lovecast (#991) and a listener asked for Dan’s permission to walk around his house naked in front of windows with their blinds up even though people on the outside might see him and the fact that being seen by someone kind of turned him on.
Dan’s advice shocked me. First, he said the caller didn’t need his permission and could do what he liked (not the shocking part), but then he said the caller might get arrested. Apparently, there are several cases of people being naked in their own homes and being seen from outside and then getting arrested and, reader, let me tell you. I am naked in my own home and walk in front of windows every goddamned day.
Our house has huge plate glass windows that look out onto the street and every morning I get up and go into the kitchen for my morning caffeine and I do this walk in front of the massive windows in exactly the same state I sleep: entirely naked (except for, you know, that one part). Of course, I know I might be seen at some point even though we live on a pretty quiet street at that time of day. I know and I just don’t care. It’s my fucking house, after all, and I feel like I should be able to enjoy it however I like. And I’m not doing anything sexual. I’m just walking, albeit nakedly. And locked.
Then Dan got onto the subject of secret perving and the ethics of that. Such as, is it OK for a foot fetishist to have a job selling shoes? Dan says yes, as long as the act of putting a shoe on someone doesn’t result in visible erections and profuse drooling. The best analog I have to that is being locked up all the time and sometimes being in situations where the device can be seen.
There’s kind of three levels to this. One is when I’m just walking around wearing jeans or something and the device (especially the Steelheart) can be perceived. I saw that it was visible this morning when I put my jeans on. The bulge of the tube was evident in the mirror in our bedroom, though a slight adjustment made it go away. But that means at other points in the day, the bulge is certainly reemerging and someone could easily see it and I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about that.
The second level is when I’m running. I have some running tights I occasionally wear and thin running shorts and the tights in particular leave little to the imagination. I’m 100% positive people have seen the obvious bulge of the device as I ran by because I’ve seen people look directly at it.
The third level is the TSA. I have been caught by them before and had to show the device. I’ve also been scanned and had the device show up and the agent just waved me though. I used to go though TSA locked all the time and almost always got though unaccosted, but tend not to anymore because I don’t want the hassle.
I can forthrightly say in all these cases I don’t care whatsoever if anyone sees the device. I’m so over it. I know there are some who would say I’m forcing them to participate in my sex life, but I don’t think of it that way. Being permanently locked is a lot more than just “my sex life.” I consider it more a lifestyle than an act. For me, it’s not really optional. It’s who and what I am. Similarly, if anyone saw and asked I’d tell them. But I don’t feel like being locked is optional for me.
Over on Reddit, there was a guy recently who said he didn’t lock up outside the house at all for fear that someone might see the bulge and know he’s locked. Oh, sweet summer child. That’s adorable. Truth is, people (and guys especially) are always checking out our bulges and vanishingly few would see one that’s larger than usual and think it’s anything other than a big dick.
So anyway, maybe it’s different to walk in your own house naked vs. walking in your own house sporting a shiny metal object where your penis used to be. But I think my opinion stands. It’s my house, it’s my body, I’m not hurting anyone. I’m going to keep walking around however I want as I have done for the last 19 years living here. I’m also going to keep going around locked up because I’ve been doing that for almost as long and nobody seems to care.
But, you know, YMMV. Also, young locked newbies, don’t worry about anyone seeing your cute little bulge. You care about it about 1,000x more than they do.
Man, consenting adults should be free to wear whatever they want or be naked in their own house whenever they want. As for your bulge, from your writing it seems like you usually handle yourself in a way that’s respectful to others when you are in public. I’m tiny but my tits are naturally big and are always going to look super sexual but I’m still wearing a bikini top whenever I want….I swear I think some uptight people actually get off in some way by acting overly offended…and….anyone who protests too much against someone else’s proclivities …. they’re coming from a place of their own internalized shame.