I don't understand what's the big deal seeing other people swimming/exercising.
Oh goodness, you haven't seen the disgusting ancient pale flab underneath the severe dark clothes of senior scholars in my field: even thinking about it is enough to turn the stomach! For every black turtleneck, there's a turkeyneck; for every long skirt, there's an acre of cellulite; for every tweed jacket there are sagging pudgy waistwattles! (I count myself in, too.) Please, people, unless you are really quite lovely without your clothes, cover it up in the lobbies, elevators, corridors etc! Once you get to the pool, that's different--we'll all pretend amnesia/myopia.
I just happened on this really hateful post. Why dislike the natural aging of the human body so much? But more to the point, it's this kind of criticism that keeps people without perfect bodies (people with crippling injuries or burns, or people who are fat, or excessively thin, or recovering from chemo, etc.)--it keeps them from exercising in public, because they know they're going to be judged and reviled. It makes them feel shame, rather than joy in being able to use whatever bodily strength they do have. Then the lack of exercise makes their health worse, and (yes) they're more apt to die. That's been demonstrated with various populations of imperfect bodies. (See Rosemary Thomson's work in disability studies, for instance.)
If I were the OP, I would ask that this post be deleted.
The Fiona
