Hei! I’m not from Norway but I’ve been really curious about how the Norwegian military works especially because it seems a lot more gender-equal and relaxed compared to other countries.
I’ve read that men and women sometimes share barracks and even shower facilities during basic training. Is that actually true? And how does it work in practice?
Like, are the showers fully communal? Do people just change around each other or is there some level of privacy? Is it awkward at first, or does everyone just kind of get used to it?
I’ve even seen video clips where male and female soldiers do a skinny-dipping exercise togetherand I’ve read articles that mention soldiers continuing to bathe together even after basic training. That sounds so wild to me (in a respectful way!) since it’s so different from what I’m used to.
Would love to hear from anyone who’s served or knows more about it especially women. How do people handle the nudity and shared spaces? Genuinely curious and trying to learn more about how it works in Norway 🇳🇴
What’s it like doing basic training in the Norwegian Military, especially for women?
byu/MMWonderful inNorway
Posted by MMWonderful
6 Comments
From where I served, we shared the barracks yes, but didn’t shower at the same time. Same showers, but took turns showering.
There were fewer girls, so they usually just showered first, then the boys went after that.
But if everyone just agreed to shower together, I guess we could do it? I don’t think there were any rules against it, but not 100% sure.
Slave labour, imagine a North Korean work camp but with brunost instead of rice for food.
When I was a conscript 15 year ago we shared a barracks, the girls had a bathroom (toilets+ showers) for themselves. The barracks were from the fifties and of lower standard.
I visited another unit and helped them with some stuff, they had a newer barracks where the females shared room with the boys. Unisex, more private bathrooms.
Sexism was, at least for the most part, heavily punished. I think my unit was among the first to blend the sexes.
My Sergeant was female and a real machine.
When we (were forced to) skinny dipped the female soldiers did so around a bend in the creek, but when we were on exercise we usually has a quick clean in our underwear. Usually we operated in smaller teams and were used to each other.
Its not weird unless you make it weird. When you get to know a person often they become way less fuckable, but I know it happened on leave and in more or less discrete places in the barracks. There were a couple of more or less couples in my company.
[Yes, Norwegian military is just like in Starship Troopers](https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/starship-troopers-shower-scene.jpg?w=1600&h=900&fit=crop) (no not really, but Norwegians are generally less prudish and concerned with nudity)
Men and women share rooms in the barracks and shower facilities, but it is not like you all get naked at the same time. Just like men don’t walk around naked in a shared room, women don’t either. And if you do bunk in a room with women, you and they use the shared shower facilities at different times.
You might see each other in your military issued underwear, but it is less sexy than if you go to the beach with the same persons. People can handle themselves seeing some skin. And the women are not sexy hotties in lingerie, they are your buddies.
Just like gay dudes works fine in the military, so does female soldiers.
Nice try, Vlad.