May Showers

I was thinking of something odd.

Locker room showers.

I told you it was odd. While men showering is common in films, it is decidedly uncommon for women. Why is that? I mean it both ways. Why is it popular at all? It seems like a way to introduce a little male nudity (although these scenes typically use angles to prevent that much from being shown). Perhaps sports movies are common and nearly all sports movies focus on men.

The most famous shower scene for women, that I can recall (in a locker room style setting), is Porky's. That movie was influential, though not in a particularly good way. It set the stage for a lot of movies about teenage raunch, mostly about guys trying to take peeks at girls.

I'm sure one obvious reason shower scenes don't involve women is because the PG rated version would be really awkward. Cameras would focus on the back and above the waist, and it would be hard to do side shots. Even so, despite the increase in women's sports, women locker rooms seem utterly taboo. I suspect another reason is the dominance of men in movie making. As few men have entered women's lockers, it may never have occurred to them to make a film with a shower scene for women.

Perhaps I'll try to ponder a deeper subject next time.