I'm pretty surprised at some of the responses to this thread.

For my family with 2 young boys, they are often, very often just in there underwear. No shirt, no shorts, no socks, just a pair of boxer briefs. It's not gross. Heck after there bath it's not uncommon for them to be naked for a little while .

Anonymous wrote:It's gross for the furniture for them to be shirtless, rubbing their body oil all over the couch.

Now do skirts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH grew up with shirts required type of household. I was an only child, I am absolutely fine with no shirts around the house.

If you require shirts, do you think it gives a complex that your body needs to be covered?

My male twenty something and thirty something neighbors are regularly shirtless, my sons see them out and about washing cars, walking dogs, mailbox runs etc.

Should I be more strict about wearing shirts?

Gross. This is not true in our neighborhood at all. Shirts for everyone. Wearing a soft cotton shirt is not a hardship.

Gross? What is gross about not wearing a shirt while you wash a car?

Anonymous wrote:My 10 year old spends a good portion of his summer days without a shirt. My husband says he looks like he stumbled out of a Trump rally.

That’s just your own classist bigotry not some sort of rational insight.

i see 4 year old boys running around naked outside their house in our neighborhood.

It's gross for the furniture for them to be shirtless, rubbing their body oil all over the couch.

So you don't allow short sleeves or ungloved hands, either? Skin is skin.

I'm surprised that there is so much debate about this. People should be comfortable in their own homes. If men or boys want to walk around shirtless or in boxers, that is fine. We wouldn't allow this with guests in the home, of course, or for meals at the table, but it seems pretty harmless otherwise, as long as we see nothing more than what one would see at the beach or swimming pool. Anyone offended by the human body needs to get over that.

Anonymous wrote:It's gross for the furniture for them to be shirtless, rubbing their body oil all over the couch.

Not as gross as dogs’ and cats’ buttholes 🤢

Shirtless guys were definitely more common in the 1970s and 1980s when boomers were younger.

My brother lived in just his briefs around the house. Outside during the summer, just gym shorts, a baseball cap, shoes and those striped tube socks to the knees but always bare chested.

If I or my sister had gone anywhere in the house in our underwear, mom would have had a fit. But like many Italian American mothers, mom loved us girls dearly but she adored our brother to the point of worship. He was considered perfect and could do no wrong.

My sister once set down at the breakfast table in shorts and a bikini top. Mom raved at her to put on some clothes. Meanwhile my teenage brother was at the table in just the pair of tighty whities he’d worn to bed.

Always hated this double standard, so when I was raising my own kids, my DS and DD were made to wear clothes at all times outside the bedroom or bathroom. If girls have to wear shorts and a shirt, so should boys. Fortunately my DS never had a desire to go around the house without a shirt.

DH grew up in a family that didn’t go around unclothed, so he was in agreement.

I do recognize families have different customs, so I’m not being critical of others. DH came from a loving family but they are not affectionate at all. The Italian side of my family was all about hugs and kisses. My mom always woke me, my sister and especially my brother by kissing on us until we woke up. Mom still kisses all of us, on the lips. My DH finds that to be the weirdest thing and thinks it is gross.

So I recognize families have differences and there is no right or wrong in things like shirts being required.

All-boy house here and no one is ever shirtless. My kids won't even swim without a swim shirt. Husband wears white t shirt to cut the grass and such. He says hanging out shirtless is a "boomer thing" and indeed we both remember all our mustachioed dads and uncles sitting around shirtless!

It's gross for the furniture for them to be shirtless, rubbing their body oil all over the couch.

My DH and both DS (18 and 15) never wear shirts around the house and the boys are usually in just boxers.

They are well groomed and dressed in public, but who cares around the house. Let them be comfortable.

DD (16) has never once even mentioned it as it has always been normal to her.

I find it weird that some would think it was gross for their DH to be shirtless. I love my husband's body. My husband and sons are very fit. I can't understand why anyone would think a healthy male torso gross unless they were obese.

16 year old son never walks around without a shirt on and neither does my DH.

My 10 year old spends a good portion of his summer days without a shirt. My husband says he looks like he stumbled out of a Trump rally.

Anonymous wrote:DH grew up with shirts required type of household. I was an only child, I am absolutely fine with no shirts around the house.

If you require shirts, do you think it gives a complex that your body needs to be covered?

My male twenty something and thirty something neighbors are regularly shirtless, my sons see them out and about washing cars, walking dogs, mailbox runs etc.

Should I be more strict about wearing shirts?

Gross. This is not true in our neighborhood at all. Shirts for everyone. Wearing a soft cotton shirt is not a hardship.

Anonymous wrote:DH grew up with shirts required type of household. I was an only child, I am absolutely fine with no shirts around the house.

If you require shirts, do you think it gives a complex that your body needs to be covered?

My male twenty something and thirty something neighbors are regularly shirtless, my sons see them out and about washing cars, walking dogs, mailbox runs etc.

Should I be more strict about wearing shirts?

Require shirts at the table when eating, but around the house, wear, or don't wear, whatever makes you comfortable. Goes for husband and sons.