I came across this article yesterday - The Male Body: Repulsive or Beautiful? - and I found it to be very profound. To be honest, the issue it addresses (of males not being affirmed in their physical beauty and desirability) is not an issue that's ever crossed my mind before. We're all familiar with a woman's longing to be found physically desirable, but the fact that men have that same need isn't something that's ever discussed in our society. It's something I plan to be more intentional about in my own future relationships with men. I'm curious to hear what other folks think about this topic. Regardless of gender or sexual orientation, how much of an effort do we make to let the men we love know how beautiful and desirable we find their bodies? If you're a male, do you identify at all with this article and the author's experience?
No, but he has a valid point. Men by default are attracted to people based on their looks, and women based on emotion. And that's that. Emotion and attraction respectively can play into it, but in the end, that is the way it is. Just due to the nature and the accepted norms of our society (i.e. men go after women, never the other way around), men are taught that the female body is something to be attracted to, and male attraction re-enforces that. I personally find that the attractiveness of the person is not their gender, but how attractive they actually are.
I tend to associate the word "beautiful" with delicate works of art, and I don't find male bodies to be like that. I do fine them very appealing and desirable, though, and I try to let my partner know his is very appealing and desirable. Lex
I find guys and girls both attractive physically. Girls I just go sexually crazy for faster though lol. Guys it's all in the face, not below the waist.
I find it to be an interesting idea and i do feel people often over look this pressure to look good physically that is placed on males. However i don't think we see it in any comparable level to how females experience it. Sure a girl may be told the female form is beautiful but the image of what the female form is supposed to look like is ridiculously warped. As for comments about guys being the only pursuers and women only being attracted to emotions there has actually been a serious and massive shift in girls taking sexual agency (especially in college environments) and i know many, many, many women who are all about finding someone who is physically attractive in the way that men are commonly thought to pursue women who are attractive.
/\ Also to further that, I've found girls (at least two so far) seriously checking out my ass like they were about to grope me lol. Not that I'm complaining. Grope away. It's awesome! But, I doubt girls don't see something they find physically appealing. I just don't know why it's my butt. Also I should note gay/bi guys and girls see something physically attractive in guys, so not meaning to exclude guys from the above - just these examples pertain specifically to experiences with girls. Rather awesome experiences! The male body's definitely doing something.
Everyone wants to feel attractive and desirable. Why would guys be any different? =P And honestly? The idea of how a man should look is JUST as warped as women. This is made even more clear by the fact that there ARE men with eating disorders: I mean, really. Society expects men to be HARD and RAW and RIPPLING... When many of us pretty much look like: Women are pressured more openly, but they're also pressured about slightly different things, too. I'd say the discrimination is fairly equal, it's just not on the same matters. We need to lighten up on everyone no matter what their gender.
I am only repulsed by a body if it shows someone just does not care about themselves to take care of themselves. Someone who is active is going to be more attractive to me, even if they arent ripped or trim. Someone who is lazy is going to be unattractive to me, even if they are skinny. I think the flaw in this article is that in male culture, there is the push to workout and be hyper masculine, and women have been attracted to that for a long time.
There are certainly times when I just look a guy and go "Damn, that's a cute body!" So, I highly reject the assertion that the male body is inherently repulsive.
Muscle dysmorphia is a very real thing, and guys do often obsess about building themselves up to have picture perfect bodies. Yes, I think the male body is beautiful. If a body is toned, then of course it's nice to look at. And I think there's something special about a guy who is self conscious about his body letting you see it. I'm sure I could see most shapes of bodies in a context of trust and think that it's beautiful for the sheer fact that the guy is allowing me to see it.
i definitely find the male body beautiful, like a roman statue or something. but that could be because im one of those queerosexuals that you're always hearing about on television
Men are pressured more to act a certain way than they are about looks, but it is definitely there. I think I find the average woman more attractive than the average man, but the guys that I find physically attractive I find really, REALLY attractive. I have a very narrow type (not the standard ideal of attractiveness for guys either) but the guys that fit it are more attractive than any I know.
The main point I took from the article wasn't so much about the pressure put on men by society to be physically attractive, though that certainly exists. And of course if you're attracted to men then you're going to find something appealing in their bodies. But there's a difference in looking at a guy and feeling an attraction, or thinking "hey, he's hot/beautiful/whatever" - or even trying to grope a guy's butt in a club - and actually telling the man you're with that you truly desire him on a physical level. Is the author outside the norm for needing that kind of verbal affirmation? Personally, I think it's something we ALL could stand to hear more often, from our partners and from society in general.
Personally I find the male body to be EXTREMELY beautiful. I agree with a lot of what he said in the article, although I do believe that it's not necessarily as true today as it was in the past. I also think the statement that the artist of old certainly knew that only the female form is beautiful is completely false. If you look at art history, depictions of the male form were much more common than the female for many thousands of years.
Ok article but I really liked looking around the site. I love everything about men. I think at a good weight the male form is more beautiful than the female.
I don't find girls sexually appealing as much as I find them attractive. Men are more sexually appealing, but less attractive.
honestly, who would not find this body to be beautiful? I know most of us dont look like this, but even straight guys couldn't find this body repulsive, could they?
This might be a little shameful, but honestly, I think part of our attraction to men comes from their purported "repulsiveness." I mean there's a reason you see so many pictures of guys with messy hair, unshaven, or covered in dirt. We obviously find it appealing, at least subconsciously. I sure do. But I also think Neil Patrick Harris is about the most beautiful person God has ever created.
I find that body attractive in the same way I find the female body attractive, which is to say that it doesn't really turn me on at all, but it would look great in a statue or painting.