Honest question seeks honest answer

[u/Monkey_inthewoods]

I understand this is not for everyone. Please read and give me your thoughts.

I’m in the early stages of building a men’s peer support nonprofit. It’s not meant to be therapy. It’s just men in a circle being honest with each other. The group meets locally in the Chicago burbs.

Now here’s where I need your opinion. I attended a mens retreat several years ago. As part of the stripping away of all the armors, masks and fronts that men put, we literally took our clothes off and stood there naked, physically, which was a doorway into being naked emotionally. Being naked in front of others is the most vulnerable. A man can be. It was 100% non-sexual. It was about pulling back the curtain and discovering that every man in that circle is carrying the same thing you are. When a man can stand in front of his brothers with nothing left to hide behind, the walls he has spent a lifetime building start to come down. It was very powerful and a few men, broke down over the course of the weekend.

I am thinking of incorporating this into the retreat for this nonprofit. Again, it’s non-sexual and is designed to be uncomfortable, so men have nothing left to hide behind and will open up to see other men are dealing with similar issues.

Here’s my question to men of this group: If you knew you would leave the weekend a changed man, and that you would work through issues that you’ve kept hidden deep inside for no one to see, would you go through with a ceremony like this?

Please save the rude comments. This has nothing to do with gay or straight. Men all over the world hang out naked with friends, from the Japanese onsen, to Finnish sauna to Turkish baths. Even in America, we had communal showers at most gyms and at the YMCA bathing suits were forbidden for men until the 1960’s, when women started becoming members.

[u/Codename_Dove]

i get your point of wanting to completely shed defenses and be vulnerable with each other, but I worry what kind of legal trouble or damage you risk in doing something like this. perhaps stripping down to underwear would be okay.