Be stripped or be told to strip?

[Freesub]

Which one do you guys think is more embarassing? Being told to get your clothes off in front of someone whom you don't want to be seen naked by, or being physically stripped in front of them?

[CrisN]

The act of being forcibly exposed amplifies the sense of powerlessness and objectification, making it more intense

[PhilMarlowe]

I think it is more embarrassing for guys to be stripped by girls and for girls to have to strip off their own clothes.

/Phil

[Hooked6]

The answer depends on the gender of the person being forced to be naked. I have studied psychological torture used during WW2 by both the Axis powers (Germany and Japan mostly) and the Allies (mostly England and America) in using humiliation and embarrassment as initial steps in breaking the will to resist.

Both sides have similar approaches in this area based on the success of gaining cooperation, retrieving information, or breaking the will of their prisoners.

Their conclusions were universally as follows:

Women - especially those in the 20-45 ages, women generally found it easier to be STRIPPED by others. The reason being is that they found being stripped by men the natural order of such things socially and they were less embarrassed by it as it wasn't their fault. They hated it, but it wasn't as psychologically stigmatizing. Being forced to remove their own clothes in front of a crowd of men themselves made them feel violated and much, much harder to do. Their torturers found that if they were successful in getting them to do this themselves they had already taken a huge step in controlling them and the stigma stayed with their prisoners for a long time.

Men - were the opposite. Men always have the natural instinct to be in control and had generally had no issue removing their clothes themselves whether in front of other men or other women in control. Psychologically, it was much harder on the males if they were forcibly stripped by others against their will. There were no longer in control of anything and this was the first step in breaking down their will.

Philmarlowe is correct in his post based on this validated history.

Hooked6

[TeenFan]

I agree with what has been said so far.

A man, when given the order to remove clothing, can do so while still acting defiant. He can take off his garments, then toss them at his
captors while sneering or even spitting in their direction. He can cuss them out even as he becomes seemingly naked and vulnerable.

However...the ability to maintain dignity while disrobing probably goes down as the age of the male goes down. A fifteen year old would not
have the same reactions as a thirty year old male. A young teen will likely be just as humiliated as a grown woman when forced to disrobe in
front of others.

If boy is under fourteen, and completely pre-pubescent, then the fear factor probably goes down, and being naked may seem more natural.
After all, it would be common for an aunt, grandma, or sometimes another grown woman to tell a kid who is 10-12 to get into the bath...and
not give that boy complete privacy.

[CrisN]

If what Phil and Hooked6 say is true, then it would actually be really interesting to see a gender separated poll.
Reactions might vary quite a bit depending on who’s answering and it’d be fascinating to see if the psychological patterns they mentioned still hold today

[NickTwisp]

My one true-life experience in this regard was being told to change into my Scout bathing suit in the campsite's 3-sided cabins [referred to as lean-to's (sp?)]. My Dad was yelling at me to 'get on with it" and change. This with various women and girls milling around the campsite near the cabin (as I describe in a "True Stories" post) about this.

In retrospect, a bolder teen would have just told Dad to "can it, I'm going off into the woods to change like the other boys did" Doubtful that my Dad would have physically stripped me. More likely he would have continued to bellow at me until I was in tears. Crying was my usual reaction to my father getting angry at me.

Uncomfortable enough as that embarrassing experience was, having someone physically undress a person would to my imagination be worse.

[superevil7]

I'm a man, and I'd say being told to strip naked would be worse. Simply because if someone puts their hands on me, man or woman, then I feel totally justified in fighting back. If I'm in a situation where I'm being told to strip against my will however, then things must have gone terribly wrong.

I added against my will in there because a girlfriend telling me to strip in private wouldn't be awful at all

[Jetsfan]

If there is no way to avoid ending up naked, I'd prefer to undress myself. At least, you have a little control over the process of stripping. You choose what to take off and in what order. If you are forcibly stripped, all control is surrendered. You will be restrained in some manner and your clothes, in all likelihood, will be torn from your body. If you resist, you will be putting on more of a show.

Bottom line is, I'd much rather watch someone forcibly stripped than be the victim. But if it's my day in the barrel, I'd prefer to undress myself.

[RaccoonBatteryStaple]

Bottom line is, I'd much rather watch someone forcibly stripped than be the victim. But if it's my day in the barrel, I'd prefer to undress myself.

The more I think about this the more I think it's very situational. As you point out, if you disrobe yourself you maintain some amount of control whereas once other hands are involved all bets are off.

But as I mentioned recently in another thread I think the embarrassment and humiliation factors can play out differently depending on the scenario and who should "own" the act. If it's a bullying scenario where I might want to defend my pride, I think I'd rather make the bullies do the dirty work. If it's a dare or I lost a bet, I'd rather do it myself which I suppose is the same side of the pride coin. That's from the POV of being the target.

As an observer, seeing the surprise and embarrassment of being exposed is a plus, but I think even more intense is seeing someone's will broken and they meekly surrender their modesty in utter defeat.