Laying on his stomach on a tiled stone floor, a naked man bends his leg at the knee and points his toes to show off a black and chrome-plated ankle cuff.
This fantastically sexy photograph was suggested by heartbreaknympho. I’m enthralled by how much emotive intent is evident in the image without any of the obvious signals. Even though there are no facial expressions or detailed scenery to give us insight into what might be going on or how this man feels, the picture is unmistakably playful and lighthearted.
The model, with his relaxed thighs and pointed toes, feels very lively, frisky, maybe even impish to me. He’s flirting, but he’s doing it by being the attractor instead of the attracted. It’s transgressive for men to behave this way because contemporary culture polices masculinity according, in part, to the pursuer-pursued paradigm of sexual attraction. Coquettish men automatically empower women to be desirous, which is the reciprocal social taboo.
Finally, add sexual submissiveness into the mix and the hegemonic masculine “roles” come full circle in an oppressive, reifying way: the only widespread cultural scripts most submissive men have to guide them are that of the “worthless worm” or the “chivalrous knight.” Why these two? Because if he chooses “worthless worm,” then he is by definition unable to be desired since there’s nothing of value in him for a woman to want. If, on the other hand, he chooses “chivalrous knight,” then he is by definition the desirous partner attempting to “win the heart of his princess.”
Little wonder I feel the need for a new cultural script of submissive masculinity. I’m so over this sexism.