A shirtless, lean young man stands in front of another person who’s removing his clothing. The man places his hands behind him, resting his palms on his ass.
This picture caught my eye, at first, because the man’s body is gorgeous in precisely the way I fantasies about men’s bodies most of the time; well-defined musculature that is neither too skinny or too built. It makes me wonder, more than most things do, about the distinction between wanting to be with someone who has these characteristics and wanting to be someone who has them. The other reason I like the picture is because of the way the other person seems to be roughly holding the man’s pants, and the way the first man seems to almost be presenting himself to be undressed as a gift.
In a very literal sense, commercial products like lingerie offer women the promise that their partner will want to unwrap them. At its basest, these women are buying desirability. Undressing one’s partner is almost always something a man is expected to do to a woman in hegemonic society. I’ve long felt at odds with the way desirability is marketed to me, and ultimately this not only results in a struggle to accept one’s own self-image, but also fewer money-making opportunities for many retailers.
(via Tendre Bulle)