This article is inspired by Conan O’Brien’s bod. On Dec. 2, 2010, O’Brien donned jeggings for the entirety of his acclaimed late-night talk show, “Conan.” For those who aren’t aware, jeggings are denim or denim-ish leggings that have been increasing in popularity since mid-2010 and they are very, very tight.
Watching O’Brien strut with grace and sarcastic confidence about the stage as he bared his long, slender legs before a floored audience took me completely aback. I was surprised by the shape of his legs, lean yet somehow unfeminine, and his overall body shape was strange and unfamiliar in this skin-tight light. Assessing the situation up and down, it occurred to me that structurally his legs were quite nice. So why was I feeling more fluster than attraction?
The answer is that the male form simply isn’t given as much open attention aånd appreciation in our society as the female form. It is generally more concealed or distorted by the type of clothing that most men wear, like baggy jeans, sweats, t-shirts and sweatshirts. The human body is something that takes getting used to.
While we are bombarded by images of half-or-more-naked women in almost every aspect of the media in our daily life (glorifying woman as an object of beauty and pleasure, be that purely sexual), men’s bodies are hardly held in the same esteem—especially from the waist down. In general, we are just not as accustomed to the way it is built.
There is something very wrong with this—with the tendency for perfectly fit men running around in booty-shorts to inspire giggles and raised eyebrows from even the most flaming heterosexual women, while a clan of college girls doing the same brings boundless joy to all that are attracted to that gender.
As a flaming heterosexual woman, I feel jipped of the ability to appreciate man’s natural beauty.
Granted, the image we see of woman in the media is hardly natural, an ideal that cannot (or should not) typically be attained. However, the easily observable female-to-male ratio within the media we absorb has the general effect on society that women are more beautiful creatures than men. Men are therefore seen as lesser in terms of attractiveness, which is why it is generally more understandable for girls to be bisexual than men. It’s because we all get—or have been told—that women have a higher hotness factor.
This is simply not true. How beautiful someone is has everything to do with how one perceives them, and this perception changes over time. The male image suffers from our society’s current perception. It is uncommon to see a man’s thighs in everyday life or in a normal setting, so when it occurs, it is often perceived as some kind of joke or a flamboyant statement.
People who are attracted to men are therefore limited in how attracted they can be, how much pleasure and appreciation they can extract from the natural form of their preferred sex. It is just not fair to either party.
If men’s bodies, in full, were accepted and understood by all, everyone would benefit. Guys would feel more comfortable and confident in their own skin, and women (and perhaps unaccustomed gay men) would be more able to enjoy every part of them. Men should not be objectified as women have, and objectifying men in the media is not the answer.
However, we should take steps to get everyone accustomed to both sides of the human body so that people are more mature in their perception of it.
It is rather sad that, even as an avid heterosexual, I am still sometimes weirded out by certain aspects of the male body (i.e. dude legs) when the female version is recognized and appreciated as beautiful by the general population.
As a society, we should take steps to combat this so that lesbians and straight men don’t get to have all the fun.
Puget Sound, take a lesson from the rugby team—it is not only okay, or progressive, but empowering for everyone for men to show off their bods. So guys, feel free to slip into those jeggings with pride, and don’t let a few flinches and chortles get you down—everything’s a process.