Lauredhel writes on the enjoyable Hoyden Around Town a post comparing the sexualisation of Olympic sports uniforms between the genders. I am not convinced that this is a feminist issue, if anything the male Olympic uniforms are under-sexualised and almost puritanical in their hiding of what are fantastic physiques.
Men's fashion quite literally sucks. Men's fashion is dumpy, frumpy, curtain like in its use of fabric and to be honest punishes those who want to show off their glowing physiques and sexuality. The Olympic fashions display this disparity between the gender's in their socially acceptable ability to express their physiques and sexuality to their contentment.
One of the few positives of recent years in fashion has been the male 'allowance' to ride their pants low and show curve of the stomach to the pelvis. We can probably thank Brad Pitt for that one, though I don't doubt the Hollywood stars do a cycle of steroids before a film where they show off their bodies; however for folks such as myself in their late 30s who spend five to seven days a week in the gym it is a positive.
I am not dumping on those that aren't in shape. I have not always been a fit and trim figure, in the latter years of my marriage my body got away from me and that was a mix of many things of which stress and what was a failing marriage impacted me negatively (when in reality I should have gone the other way and worked harder to make myself more physically attractive) but in my twenties I was a pretty well muscled and trim figure.
I am a tall, skinny and lanky guy, so even when I am in good trim I remain pretty skinny which should be perfect for male fashion; except the only shorts I can buy these days - even small sizes - touch my knees. IMO shorts should never be more than half-way down beyond the thighs.
It is the same with tops, the singlets and t-shirts that pass as fashionable in the sports store are more like curtains or bed-sheets than shirts. They end up draping me down to the knees as well. As a result I end up buying cotton shirts from designbyhumans.com which shrink down to a more pleasant size and fit.
The place where I cannot fathom men's fashion is the gym. Men wear these clothes that are little more than velvet drapes more suitable for the living room than the gym, yet women get to wear sports bras and short shorts. I do not understand why I don't get to go bare chested. The United States has determined my nipples are no where near as offensive as Janet Jackson's metal pierced nipple; yet the gym allows sports bras but not bare male chests.
I am somewhat amenable to the sweat issue, but even so, women can wipe off their sweat with sports bras that expose most of the back, so why can't men?
It is the same in the pool. Most me - and by that I mean 99% - wear big baggy shorts in the pool. They may as well swim with a parachute for all the drag it produces. I can count on one hand those that wear speedos, of which I am one. Yet a woman wearing a bikini or a two piece in the pool would not be blinked at, nor would her sexuality be questioned as men in speedos often face.
I don't think women being over sexualised is the issue. Women are given greater scope to express their sexuality, physique and liberty of fashion than men are. Men's fashion is limited and at the moment is puritanically frumpy, conservative, boring and quite crap.
The male physique needs to be brought back into focus as an instrument of sexuality. Starting with the Olympics where the physiques are exceptional is a good start. Time to hike the shorts up and make the singlets tight again.
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