August 5, 2016

"I want to show that like women, some men have body-image issues due to internalized societal ideals."

Said Abigail Ekue, who photographed 500 naked men, some of whom you'll see at the link but not without scrolling down.
“I wanted something different from the studio-based bodyscapes or flexing physique male nudes,” she wrote... Instead, Ekue was interested in everyday images of bodies at rest ― bodies that are imperfect, vulnerable, normal.
Via Metafilter, where the first commenter says "I know that the 'standard wisdom' is that the Male Junk is unappealing, but that's actually not true" and gets a conversation going, including pointing at this "Seinfeld" clip, which I assume was written by a heterosexual man:

60 comments:

traditionalguy said...

Elaine nailed it.

Rob said...

"I got your imperfect male body right HERE."

buwaya said...

There is a reason there is no market for this sort of thing.
A very good reason.

Laslo Spatula said...

"which I assume was written by a heterosexual man..."

ADDED:
Find the female Seinfeld writers.. .

There ARE some.

Leifer's inner-monologue driven, observational style is often autobiographical encompassing subjects about her Jewish ancestry and upbringing, coming out, same-sex marriage, relationships (having been married previously to a man and now partnered with a woman) and parenting....

I am Laslo.

Bob Ellison said...

But there still is this thing about men who are magnets to women. You ever see Thelma and Louise? That was Brad Pitt's first big film, and he only played a bit part. He walks around skinny in a pair of jeans, and Thelma (or Louise, maybe) keeps saying how sexy he is.

Some women, sometimes, do seem to admire the male form, and obviously some men admire the male form as well.

But the male junk is ugly, I mean, c'mon.

Laslo Spatula said...

"But the male junk is ugly, I mean, c'mon."

In Profile my Junk looks like a Pez Dispenser with Abraham Lincoln at the top.

I am here to Free your Slaves.

If by "Slaves" you mean Thighs.

I am Laslo.

Sebastian said...

"I want to show that like women, some men have body-image issues due to internalized societal ideals . . . Ekue was interested in everyday images of bodies at rest ― bodies that are imperfect, vulnerable, normal" The images I saw don't give the vibe of men with issues (nor particularly "vulnerable"). Some men may have "issues," or feel "vulnerable," but this sounds like a woman artist projecting. The description "imperfect" itself invokes an internalized societal ideal. So is she trying to say it is "normal" to have "body image issues" due to "internalized societal ideals"? If so, I call BS.

Unknown said...

Bob Ellison said...
But the male junk is ugly, I mean, c'mon.

8/5/16, 6:02 PM


i disagree 100%.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laslo Spatula said...

"i disagree 100%."

A full one-hundred percent?

There aren't -- say -- two percent that are abscessed and herpes-ridden?

A herpes-ridden abscessed cock is not ugly?

A cock with lesions and tumors and abscesses and warts and funky blisters and odd drippings can still be not ugly?

Men in bus stations at night rejoice.

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

Now: a vagina with lesions and tumors and abscesses and warts and funky blisters and odd drippings: she'll steal your wallet.

I am Laslo.

chuck said...

Everyone has got to have issues these days. Don't got issues? Now that's disgusting.

mockturtle said...

Laslo's post yesterday about the vagina sums it up for me regarding the male apparatus. It looks sexiest behind a pair of tight jockey shorts or jeans but I have never considered it any uglier than the female 'junk'. As I would imagine the female parts would be to a man, the male stuff is better felt than seen.

mockturtle said...

Maybe Ann posted this to get us off the Muslim topic. After all, we don't want her to get a fatwa issued against her, now do we?

mockturtle said...

And Elaine is SO WRONG!

Birches said...

Elaine is right. Dick pics are not welcome by most women. I think some of those gay men on metafilter are just jealous. But the male form can be appealing. Take David Beckham in his skivies or Tim Tebow running shirtless, but it's sexier because of what you can't see.

Heartless Aztec said...

A twenty five year old sitcom that hasn't aged a day. Still completely relevant. Think about that for a minute.

mockturtle said...

In the movie of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love [unedited version], there is a scene of full frontal nudity with Oliver Reed that keeps me awake all night.

The penis with the man is sexy, not just a picture of a penis. I don't imagine a photo of just a vagina up close would be sexy to a man, either. But I could be wrong.

Sprezzatura said...

I know it is totally lame and shallow, but it's sorta cool to repeatedly hear from third parties that gals jabber, in an approving way, amongst themselves about your cock.

Sprezzatura said...

Or, so I've been told.

Sprezzatura said...

Things people say to your face are not always trustable. Sometimes folks try to snatch other folks. Third party chit chat is less likely to be manipulative BS.

n.n said...

Failure to mature, and the attendant psychoses, is a real and progressive problem in liberal societies that normalize moral, social, and evolutionary dysfunction. There is nothing more exemplary than progressives and liberals' adaptation of the Nazi's "final solution" for inconvenient and unwanted Americans with moral rationale for women's wealth, pleasure, leisure, and narcissistic indulgence and so that the State can increase its revenue and the Church its leverage; and Planned Parenthood channeling Mengele for fun and profit; class diversity schemes to tag people by the color of their skin; selective exclusion of politically inconvenient or unprofitable orientations; etc.

mockturtle said...

n.n., I tend to agree with you but do all of your posts have to be about abortion??

Fabi said...

I'm certain that my legs are better looking than any of those who posed.

n.n said...

mockturtle:

No, but, logically, the dysfunction in our society is directly proportional to progressive debasement. The violation of basic moral principles forms the foundation of corruption in our society.

That said, I have been concerned about causing saturation and fatigue from maintaining focus on principles. I'll consider an alternative framing, perhaps less hostile to the proponents, that will still emphasize reconciliation of moral and natural imperatives.

n.n said...

To start...

Guys, girls, others, grow up. Discover your dignity. Embrace your diversity. Strive.

n.n said...

The violation of basic moral principles and physical truths forms the foundation of corruption in our society. Not everyone shares the progressive and liberal faith in gods from the twilight zone. Not everyone agrees with their religious instruction and liberal judges' interpretation. Most people will not voluntarily join the Pro-Choice Church.

John Althouse Cohen said...

Via Metafilter, where the first commenter says "I know that the 'standard wisdom' is that the Male Junk is unappealing, but that's actually not true" and gets a conversation going, including pointing at this "Seinfeld" clip, which I assume was written by a heterosexual man:

Why make that assumption? The episode was actually written by a woman, Jennifer Crittenden.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I genuinely hate myself and yet there are times when I look at my package -- and all that it's connected to -- and see myself as wonderfully beautiful.

Some kind of neurosis, is my best surmise.

And yet, in my more religious moments, I see it as God taking pity and trying to say He's sorry, in His own little way.

walter said...

Trump could learn a lot fom NN about staying on message.

What say you about all this, Titus?

Ann Althouse said...

I stand corrected.

I don't know if Crittenden is haterosexual, but I totally reject the notion that women don't care how men look and that the male body is just a tool that only looks that way because that's what works.

Ann Althouse said...

That's my funniest typo ever.

Sprezzatura said...

I thought the same thing as JAC did, i.e., why make that assumption? I didn't write a comment, but my thinking was that fiction writers spend a lot of time putting words in the mouths of people who are not of their own particular demographic. Why can't a gay dude or a gal write words for a straight dude?

I think a writer can write what they think a fictional straight male character would say, that doesn't require the writer to be a straight male.

Titus said...

I have a tight toned body because I work hard on it. Today was my 7th day in a row at the gym. I usually do 13-16 different stations with 5 sets consisting of 12-20 reps. Why because I want to attract other hiot bodies. Today I was working the runway. The packed streets of mass ave and I was getting checked out by much younger guys. A biker actually stopped and had a conversation with me and asked about my plans this weekend. The bodies are hot here both male and female and u must compete. Validation

mockturtle said...

OK, just curious. Does any woman on this thread think Elaine was right??

mockturtle said...

I should have specified straight woman [or 'haterosexual', as Ann remarked, LOL.]

Titus said...

I am not much into penis unless it is big. More of a novelty. Most guys I do have a small cock but that is an afterthought to me. The bottoms on the other hand crave a big cock which I have.

walter said...

Thank you for that update, Titus. We all need validation.


Ann Althouse said...
I stand corrected.
I don't know if Crittenden is haterosexual,
--
Is that referring to the "hate fucking" thing Jian Ghomeshi is into?

mockturtle said...

@walter What say you about all this, Titus?

You had to ask.

David said...

All I know is that clip led me to about 45 minutes of Seinfeld clip watching. I did not pay huge attention to it while it was on--too busy with other stuff I think. But wow it is brilliant comedy. Dreyfus gets a lot of credit but she deserves still more.

William said...

With the exception of my penis, women generally like my body. I've never known a woman who was anywhere near as enthusiastic about my cock as I was about her tits. My life has been nothing like a porn movie.

Bad Lieutenant said...

William, I'm terribly sorry to hear it.

walter said...

mockturtle said...You had to ask.
--
Actually yes..lame as this post was. And he delivered.

Birches said...

Elaine is right, mockturtle.

mockturtle said...

Are you a female, Birches? AND an NFL linebacker? ;-)

BN said...

I could never get "Seinfeld". I just didn't like any of them. I didn't want to hang out with them.

Is it me?

Anonymous said...

So maybe this says more about me than about the photographer or her subjects, but . . .

I found these incredibly touching. Because it was face, body, junk, and all. That adds up to a real person. I even liked the pudgy black guy. Did I find him physically appealing? Nope. But I found him open and approachable. His body tells a story. Those dark lines -- he's had some kind of injury. But he looks so chipper!

Incidentally, I find junk in a relaxed state to be more attractive than junk in an erect state. Erect junk just looks weird to me; it doesn't go with the rest of the body. It's got plans of its own. But relaxed junk is just hanging out (so to speak).

mockturtle said...

@BN I could never get "Seinfeld". I just didn't like any of them. I didn't want to hang out with them.

Is it me?


No. The only time I ever watched it was when visiting my brother, who loved it. Most people I know did. Just wasn't my thing. Could never see anything funny about The Office, either. I guess I'm more the Monty Python type.

mockturtle said...

I still haven't seen the photos. Where are they?

mockturtle said...

OK, I found them. A few were quite attractive.

walter said...

"Erect junk just looks weird to me; it doesn't go with the rest of the body. It's got plans of its own."
Ha!

walter said...

mockturtle said...
OK, I found them. A few were quite attractive.
--
But..you have to like them all. Otherwise.."internalized societal ideals" and other impressive phrases.

Valentine Smith said...

So did the writer screw all those guys while they moaned and groaned over their body issues? I wonder if that excited her.

Kimmy's got body issues. And that ass ain't getting any smaller after she dumps West for that Mexican she's gonna have 2 more kids with.

Rusty said...

Lazlo @ 6:05

The day is all downhill from here.

mikee said...

Surfed: You haven't seen an old Andy Griffin show, or Burns & Allen show, recently, have you?

The angle of perspective may change over the years, but the plot lines remain amazingly similar.

tim in vermont said...

Sometimes when I am fed up with women, I think for a moment that I wish I were gay. Then I read Titus and say thank you God, you were right about me.

John Althouse Cohen said...

I don't know if Crittenden is haterosexual [sic]

Jennifer Crittenden was married to a man, though they divorced after just three years.

el polacko said...

when did 'the family jewels' become "male junk" ?

Ann Althouse said...

"Jennifer Crittenden was married to a man, though they divorced after just three years."

I still don't know if she's heterosexual... or hateosexualr.

If the scripted opinion expressed how she felt about her husband, it might explain getting divorced.

Smilin' Jack said...

My favorite Elaine quote on male equipment, from the "shrinkage" episode:

Jerry, George Costanza: Elaine!

Jerry: Do women know about shrinkage?

Elaine: What do you mean like laundry?

Jerry: No, like when a man goes swimming afterwards.

Elaine: It shrinks?

Jerry: Like a frightened turtle!

Elaine: Why does it shrink?

George Costanza: It just does.

Elaine: I don't know how you guys walk around with those things.