"Speedo" being a four letter word , is it self-conciousness or homophobia?

[xboxfan34]

Its been a while since I posted here, so I decided "what the hell" might as well discuss something thats been on my chest for quite a while. The speedo issue.

As you can tell by the title of the question, Speedos are a four letter word in America, kid yourselves all you want, if you wear a speedo in a non-gay friendly area in America, you will be made fun of or even personally attacked (I.E being called a "homo" or a "fag") And It never used to be that way. Like I said in a previous topic, guys wore speedos all the time until the late 90s, early 2000s. In the 70s and 80s the guy that could really fill a speedo good got all of the pretty girls. Then speedos got associated with being a homosexual and now no one wants to wear them anymore.

I read a blog post about American Homophobia twoards speedos and it did raise some very interesting points about how Speedos and tight fitting clothes on men are now considered to be homoerotic and thats why no one wears them anymore. But also it brings up the possiblility of it not being for anti-gay reasons but for self-consiousness reasons.


"One of the arguments I hear about Speedos is that people don’t want to see old and fat men wearing them. But so what that if older men have bellies and speedos will show them off? We will see the bellies anyway with the big shorts! Additionally, it’s practically impossible to look wonderful wearing any swimsuit over the ages of 40 or 50, whether you are a man or a woman. Very few people manage that, except the dietaholics and the gymaholics."

I've noticed the speedophobia too firsthand. I don't wear them but I go to the beach a lot (I live in long island, NY) and I have only seen people wear speedos mabye four or five times, and I only see them on the clothing optional areas, not on the main boardwalk areas.
So what do you think? Is this speedophobia in America the result of an anti-gay setiment or is it because men are to self-consious about their bodies?

[Counselor]

It's likely both: a combination of the glorified Hollywood male "standard", and the fact that homosexuality has been heavily demonized in the past few decades, making all men (straight OR gay) more aware of how their body is presented in public, and therefore more self-conscious.

[Nick9]

Interesting. Are we talking about this?



They are more popular here than shorts or trunks or how you call that longer type of swim-wear in English.

[Blue]

That would be it Nick, though I doubt that guy would be ridiculed anywhere for wearing a speedo.

Personally I could care less, if that's what you want to wear, then wear it but then, I don't base what I think a person is or isn't based on clothing- as far as I;m concerned people wear what they wear because they like it and/or it's comfortable to them or, it's what they think is appropriate for the location and situation. That's all you can safely assume about clothing choices.

[hue]

I don't know about why speedos get such reactions when women dressed in similar swimwear are heartily welcomed. I dress modestly but in "women's" clothing and get a wide variety of reactions. a woman in the same clothes would go unnoticed. fortunately, I like the attention!

[Nick9]

That would be it Nick, though I doubt that guy would be ridiculed anywhere for wearing a speedo.

:biggrin: I guess you are right.

[Hayden]

When I read the subject line I thought you were going to be asking for help for a crossword puzzle.

[xboxfan34]

Interesting. Are we talking about this?


They are more popular here than shorts or trunks or how you call that longer type of swim-wear in English.

(insert Gene Simmons-esque tounge flicking here) Wait where were we?

In all seriousness, there are some places in this country where someone who looks like that wears a speedo and is still ridiculed and called a "homo" or a "fag". I'm sorry, but it's true

[MikeMG]

It's pure homophobia. I know exactly what you are saying, they were socially acceptable even on straight men up to the 90s. Men knew what they were doing when they were wearing them. The body image thing for men started way before that.

In other countries like Italy, they are totally acceptable on the beach, and at all ages. And also its ok to touch another man without being gay.

I also think its more the woman then the men who have caused this backlash. I was watching a show a while back on the best beaches in America and the one thing that got my attention was some bimbo in a bikini saying that speedos don't leave anything to the imagination. I guess she didn't look in the mirror. Then she went on to say all the hot guys wear board shorts.

Even in Hawaii, where you see a lot more variety of bathing suites I caught the same reaction, sitting at a table overlooking the beach. A guy who looked really hot, just like that picture came out of the water to rinse off in the out door shower. The women next to us said," that's disgusting." Truth is, her husband was much more disgusting.

Part of it I also think came from the Rap music community. There are songs about "fags" in them but also the way they dress. The whole baggy shorts thing made it way into mainstream fashion. Shorts used to be like the word "short" now they are almost like pants that are cut at the ankle. Basically anything that showed off your legs or any part of the male body below the waste was gay.

But I go back to women in America, because they have a double standard. They will argue that it is sexist if you call out an older or heavy set woman for wearing a skimpy bikini. They even make special bikinis for heavy women. But a guy in a speedo, even a real worked out one "ewww, gross, disgusting".

That needs to change. They need to be called out on that. if its so disgusting, then you have hang ups about nature and the male anatomy and maybe you should try being with other women.

I like seeing these "im not homophobic" , homophobes when they go to places in Europe. Nude statutes everywhere mostly of the male form. They like to say, oh, its ok there but not here. But when I point out its art and not porn, so why not here, they start making up excuses. "but the children" which I guess they don't have in Europe?

It's gotten so bad that even art schools have been affected. I used to work in a big chain art college. The one that's being sued by the government for billions of dollars, yes that one. Anyhoooo, As you may not know, life drawing with nude models is a foundation class almost every student is required to take. This has been this way for decades in all art schools. Its very professional, the models dont run around the halls naked and half the time they are not that pretty to look. So like most art colleges they display some work in the outside halls in a display case. Well, one day, some preachy religious women who was teaching there complained that it was pornographic. But instead of the school telling her to take her head out of her ass, they just took it down and stopped displaying life drawing permanently. Sign of a bad art school when they wont stand up art and worried more about offending one person. But still, all you need here is one person going "eeewww" and everyone goes along with it.

We need to educate our girlfriends. Trust me, if women thought speedos were hot, the guys would get over their hangups real quick.

It's a double standard if the only way a guy can be in a speedo is if he is a Abercrombie and Fitch model. By that standard, woman should ware long dresses to the beach like they did in the 1920's unless they are a Victory Secrets model. And I am sorry, a one pieces still shows everything. Leave something to the imagination! Come on ladies, its time to get over the hangups. The male body is beautiful to look at, all parts of it. Great artists knew that. Besides, Board Shorts Boring.

Italian Men in Speedos?
http://blog.amielsius.com/2011/04/welcom...eedo-land/

[Undreamt]

fashons come and go unfortunatly at the moment its skinny jeans and flabby underwear
anything else gets quite bad directiions