By Petteri, January 2009
I was 11 years old when I started in a elementary boy school. We lived in the capital of Finland, Helsinki.
I had short silky shorts which were in those years very common. I bought my blue shorts with my mother in a small sport shop in the neighbourhood. Those shorts were one layer split shorts. The most common colours were blue, black and white. The white ones were almost transparent. Those shorts were convenient for freedom of movement and I wore those both in indoor and outdoor sports. We medallist wore those shorts in the 1000 meter running. We boys didn't wear any underwear under our shorts. Perhaps it was mother's decision in those years - she wanted to avoid extra wash.
Young boys like me were not shy at all to appear in shorts in public places like a sport court. The shorts leg was open and during sport performances there sometimes was a view into a boy's crotch. Maybe it was possible to see cheeks, balls and a small penis. During sporting activities, we hardly had time to worry about those problems. At least I had no interest in other boys' testicles.
In outdoor sports, I remember the first problem with shorts. We boys were running 100 meters. Some girls were formally waiting their turn. At the same time, they were staring at boys in crouch start. In that squat position there was the proper angle to see the starters' genitals. When some boys noticed the girls' interest, we refused to crouch for starting. Finally the girls were driven away and our running continued.
Perhaps one year later I met the first problems in indoor sport among boys. In locker room I had the feeling that some classmates were staring at me when I was changing into shorts for gym class. Boys wearing long trousers were not forced to remove all their clothes. We in shorts had to show ourselves naked. To avoid this problem some classmates dressed in shorts at home under normal clothes. Some went to the bathroom to change into shorts. I tried to change under a towel. For the ordinary use, the towel was seldom needed. We avoided showering to not appear naked. The boys' interest in other's body was hardly sexual in nature. It was just curiosity - we were nearing maturity.
I and some other boys still wore those shorts. In the sport lesson we had so much activity that we had no time to worry. Once I performed some trick on the parallel bars where I had to stretch my legs. After the trick one class mate pointed out that my balls were visible during that performance. I was a little ashamed but answered: Is that big problem?
A little later an incident happened which I will remember for the rest of my life. It happened in a test where several people were following my performance. Some of my female teachers were present.
I remember I was hanging on a bar. I had to stretch my legs and then it happened. I felt that my testicles were coming out of my shorts' wide leg. It was a miserable feeling knowing that so many were staring at me. It took a while to get to the ground and get my hands free to put my testicles back into the shorts. My face was certainly dark red.
This kind of accidents was of course noticed but it was not discussed. What should people say? I had just turned 14. My balls were grown but the penis itself was still rather small. I was late in development and had only very few pubic hairs on my penis.
I was not alone with these problems. One classmates' full developed penis came out in long jumping. Some girls were present and the boy got a boner.
One of my friends advised to wear a swimsuit under the shorts. I tested but the feeling was ugly - they limited freedom of movement.. My older brother advised me to use briefs under the shorts. White briefs in that day were even longer than my blue shorts. So the briefs were visible all the time. Although the briefs were not as tight as a swimsuit, they prevented genitals to come out. Still butt cheeks and the crotch were visible in some positions. With this look, I managed several years. I didn't know about jockstraps in those years. They were not very common in Finland, at least among boys.
I was perhaps 16 years old when I bought my first two-layer shorts. They contained a so-called inner slip which was called a penis pocket. But that will be my second story.
That is the background to my quirk (or fetishism) with short silky shorts which has lasted for over 40 years. The experiences of shame and courage in adolescence are very strong and long-lasting. I feel that this quirk is a basic element of my personality and it has enriched my life. Of course I had many experiences - perhaps I will write about them in other stories.