How I used to love the hot, horny days of gay saunas (or bath houses as I believe they’re styled in the US). You could find yourself in the sauna cabin alone with a guy as gorgeous as this, eyes would meet, towels would be slightly arranged to reveal more, and with a nod or a cock of the head you’d be off to a private cabin for a session. Or if it was fairly quiet in the sauna you could just get down to it there and then.
And then along came Grindr to bugger it all up. Yeah, it’s OK for arranging meets and hook ups, but there’s not that ‘frisson’ of eyes meeting and in a second you just KNOW with a thumbnail pic, is there? Far too often from my experience, the goods on offer in the attractive pic turn out to be a bewildering disappointment when you meet up for real anyway.
I don’t think it was Grindr that messed it up in the USA, it was the AIDS crisis. From the 60s thru the 80s there was no internet, and adult bookstores with video arcades with glory holes drilled between the booths were everywhere. There were bathhouses too. Lots of fun, and at a very reasonable cost.
Then came HIV, and the repression began. Glory holes were sealed up, arcade booth door bottoms were cut so store clerks and the police could see if more than one person was in a booth. Bath houses disappeared almost overnight.
I can’t speak for progressive jurisdictions like Portland, OR or Seattle WA, but even though AIDS is now pretty much under control, no effort has been made to resurrect what I consider the Golden Age of Casual Sex.
Well gay saunas were going strong here in the UK and all across Europe right through the AIDS crisis, into the 90’s and early 2000’s (I know, I visited enough of them!) They weren’t shut down by over-zealous police or local officials using the epidemic as an excuse like in the USA, if anything they were much more openly tolerated by local authorities as it became obvious to them what gay men get up to behind closed doors was quite rightly none of their business.
The saunas themselves adapted to the epidemic with the free provision of condoms and lube, and safe sex messages. Some sexual health clinics even held outreach evenings in them, where gay and bi men could get tested.
But Grindr and its online forebear Gaydar started to change all that, as gay and bi men no longer needed to actually visit such a place to seek out sex – they could do it sat on their sofa at home. Similarly it’s had a detrimental effect on gay bars here in the UK. Back then nearly every town of any size had at least one bar where gay and bi guys could meet, hook up or just socialise and enjoy themselves. Now these bars have all but disappeared outside of the major cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. The cause of that? Yep, you guessed it – Grindr!
And I think it’s so sad for the younger generation. In the gay bars and saunas you could actually meet people and become friends and get to know one another. Can you do that on Grindr? Can you hell. It’s a meat market purely for hook ups. You see younger guys on Grindr saying “looking to make friends” and such like in their bio/profile – they’ve not a hope in hell.
I use Grindr all the time, in fact I’m rather addicted to it, and I’ve enjoyed many hook ups and lots of great sex as a result of it. But when it comes to the ‘thrill of the chase,’ well it’s not got a patch on the bars and saunas (as were). And as for engendering a sense of community for gay and bi guys, well it’s been the nail in the coffin of it.
While apps like Grindr certainly provide a less personal experience during the pursuit phase, I concur with Horselips that the demise of gay clubs, baths and other hookup spots preceded the internet.
I lived through the glorious 1970s and early 80s, and I do mean lived! Places to meet gay sex partners were everywhere.
The sexual repression launched by the religious right in response to the AIDS crisis certainly played a role in shutting them down, perhaps the major role. Another factor, ironically, was the mainstreaming of being gay. The safer it became to approach a guy at a regular bar, the less need for gay bars.
“The sexual repression launched by the religious right in response to the AIDS crisis certainly played a role in shutting them down, perhaps the major role.”
Comments 5
How I used to love the hot, horny days of gay saunas (or bath houses as I believe they’re styled in the US). You could find yourself in the sauna cabin alone with a guy as gorgeous as this, eyes would meet, towels would be slightly arranged to reveal more, and with a nod or a cock of the head you’d be off to a private cabin for a session. Or if it was fairly quiet in the sauna you could just get down to it there and then.
And then along came Grindr to bugger it all up. Yeah, it’s OK for arranging meets and hook ups, but there’s not that ‘frisson’ of eyes meeting and in a second you just KNOW with a thumbnail pic, is there? Far too often from my experience, the goods on offer in the attractive pic turn out to be a bewildering disappointment when you meet up for real anyway.
I don’t think it was Grindr that messed it up in the USA, it was the AIDS crisis. From the 60s thru the 80s there was no internet, and adult bookstores with video arcades with glory holes drilled between the booths were everywhere. There were bathhouses too. Lots of fun, and at a very reasonable cost.
Then came HIV, and the repression began. Glory holes were sealed up, arcade booth door bottoms were cut so store clerks and the police could see if more than one person was in a booth. Bath houses disappeared almost overnight.
I can’t speak for progressive jurisdictions like Portland, OR or Seattle WA, but even though AIDS is now pretty much under control, no effort has been made to resurrect what I consider the Golden Age of Casual Sex.
Well gay saunas were going strong here in the UK and all across Europe right through the AIDS crisis, into the 90’s and early 2000’s (I know, I visited enough of them!) They weren’t shut down by over-zealous police or local officials using the epidemic as an excuse like in the USA, if anything they were much more openly tolerated by local authorities as it became obvious to them what gay men get up to behind closed doors was quite rightly none of their business.
The saunas themselves adapted to the epidemic with the free provision of condoms and lube, and safe sex messages. Some sexual health clinics even held outreach evenings in them, where gay and bi men could get tested.
But Grindr and its online forebear Gaydar started to change all that, as gay and bi men no longer needed to actually visit such a place to seek out sex – they could do it sat on their sofa at home. Similarly it’s had a detrimental effect on gay bars here in the UK. Back then nearly every town of any size had at least one bar where gay and bi guys could meet, hook up or just socialise and enjoy themselves. Now these bars have all but disappeared outside of the major cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. The cause of that? Yep, you guessed it – Grindr!
And I think it’s so sad for the younger generation. In the gay bars and saunas you could actually meet people and become friends and get to know one another. Can you do that on Grindr? Can you hell. It’s a meat market purely for hook ups. You see younger guys on Grindr saying “looking to make friends” and such like in their bio/profile – they’ve not a hope in hell.
I use Grindr all the time, in fact I’m rather addicted to it, and I’ve enjoyed many hook ups and lots of great sex as a result of it. But when it comes to the ‘thrill of the chase,’ well it’s not got a patch on the bars and saunas (as were). And as for engendering a sense of community for gay and bi guys, well it’s been the nail in the coffin of it.
While apps like Grindr certainly provide a less personal experience during the pursuit phase, I concur with Horselips that the demise of gay clubs, baths and other hookup spots preceded the internet.
I lived through the glorious 1970s and early 80s, and I do mean lived! Places to meet gay sex partners were everywhere.
The sexual repression launched by the religious right in response to the AIDS crisis certainly played a role in shutting them down, perhaps the major role. Another factor, ironically, was the mainstreaming of being gay. The safer it became to approach a guy at a regular bar, the less need for gay bars.
Oh… the guy in the photo? Yum!
“The sexual repression launched by the religious right in response to the AIDS crisis certainly played a role in shutting them down, perhaps the major role.”
Thank you for saying that. You’re 100% correct.