sexualizing men

[seabeyond]

this commercial is how they often sexualize women on commercials. using the camera as a mans gaze. i listened to some of the reaction from men when this came out. there was a lot of uncomfortable going on. i am curious about mens reaction to this one. how they feel..... honestly, lol, which may be challenging.

this one is interesting because it is a lesson of what women experience (imo) but men being "dense" i say with love, on this issue, it seems they have to hit them upside the head with words. look at me. look at your husband. now.... look at me.

again, this ad received flack from men.

i find both approaches interesting and a very very small reflection on what women experience.

but interesting the two directions these commercials go.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. The Beckham one puts me into fits of fear, shame and denial because...

I ain't Beckham and I ain't getting the women he gets. The women he gets pity me.

True or not, that's the gut feeling and I doubt wearing his underwear would change things. Women's underwear accentuate their sexuality-- men's not so much.

The other one I think is more on the mark because it's funny. It knows damn well that canned scent won't help that much, but why not give it a shot...

[seabeyond]

2. "Women's underwear accentuate their sexuality-- men's not so much." uh

i buy the undies for two teenage sons and hubby. have you gone into the mens underwear department? not accentuate the mens sexuality? i get all hot and flustered buying underwear now a days.

ok, really, teasing a bit on the last sentence.

thanks for your post treasonous.

[emulatorloo]

3. Young men today are also trying to live up to near impossible standards

Muscular with very very low body fat percentage.

This stuff is not just for young women anymore.

Thanks for the commercials.

[On the Road]

4. Are These Clips Supposed to Make Me Feel Uncomfortable?

Really doesn't bother me if David Beckham is being ogled. And the Old Spice commercials are great.

I do understand the point about 'a man's gaze.' It does seem to affect women differently on an individual basis, though. About ten years ago I was at an all-day business meeting with about twenty people (about half women). Since it was a beautiful day, the group as a whole decided to relocate for the afternoon to an outdoor Hooters. A number of women voted for the move, but I think it bothered some of my coworkers. Plus the poor presenters had to compete with waitresses in shorts with hula hoops.

Had a similar experience a few years before with an after-work get-together of the waitstaff. The group as a whole voted to go to a place that was unknown to me at the time, but turned out to be a strip club. Some of the women knew the place and were OK with it, but a couple were outraged.

[seabeyond]

5. "Supposed to Make Me Feel Uncomfortable?" i do not know

i think that is clear in the OP

[CrispyQ]

6. I would call that mild sexualization compared to how they portray women.

With women, the camera would practically be shoved down her popping cleavage & half way up the crack of her super shapely, barely covered ass. The Beckman commercial barely showed his package at all & the Old Spice one he had on jeans & it was just a glimpse. Mild, in comparison. Still, not a good thing.

[boston bean]

7. They didn't even show beckhams front side.

He might as well have been at the beach.

[seabeyond]

8. ok, i was thinking about this

his towel is pretty large. smaller tighter towel. and since they make nipples hard to take a picture, should they do they same in the towel and undies instead of just lying there.... to truly be comparable?

[Scout]

9. i don't know, even with the hot bod, Beckham doesn't appeal to me...

yeah, he's got a nice body, but he's also got that "I'm a conceited jerk, and I'll do you a favor and fuck you" look. besides, if he doesn't give good face i don't care how hot he looks!

besides, when i'm having sex, i'm not spending my time staring at the man's body......

as they say, all cats are gray in the dark!

[seabeyond]

10. honestly?

this thread is not going as i expected.

even in the dark, there is always the feel..... i dunno,

[Scout]

11. yup

if they're "doing it right" looks don't bother me or impress me.

some of the most attractive people i know are also the most conceited ... and that turns me right off no matter how hot the bod.

i'd rather have someone who is not so full of themselves.

[MadrasT]

12. Best lover I ever had

Was not someone anyone would give a second look to in the attractiveness department.

I have never been one to care about physical appearance, and am continually amazed at how insanely fixated on appearance most people seem to be.

[Scout]

13. my pet peeve when it comes to appearance is bad teeth.

i know, some people can't help it, they didn't have dental care...

same here on the lover's thing ... the one who was tallest, darkest, handsome, had large penis--but so arrogant i couldn't stand it, and he thought the large penis meant he didn't have to do anything else, just fuck you and you should be happy with that, damn it!

current/best lover, my husband, is certainly NOT ugly but you would not look at him and go wow, he's hot. we've been togther for almost 15 years!

[One_Life_To_Give]

14. So rare it's flattering

As a middle aged guy it is going to take alot more than a couple of ad's to get me anything more than slightly pleased.
I havn't had to live as a sex object day in and day out for years on end. So the change is somewhat refreshing. What I would find disturbing would be furtherance of the idea that my entire worth and desirability to a woman was based solely upon the size of my wallet. That is probably the closest I can relate to what a woman goes thru regarding being/looking sexy.

[seabeyond]

15. hey one life to live....

thank you very much for coming into this forum, and with insight, share you perspective. this is what i value adn appreciated. and kinda the directional shove i needed with the thought that i was having with this subject. why it was not going in the direction that felt right.

interesting that you see it as slightly pleasing. i dont know that i get why you feel that way.

but you are absolutely right. it would be putting your worth as a wallet that would be parallel with what women have experienced for a lifetime. you are absolutely, point on with that.

also, thank you for a basic, simple understanding of what women experience. more than i can say.

you were very helpful for me, anyway.

[iverglas]

16. the Old Spice ad is just funny

It isn't laughing at anybody, and everybody knows that women really don't judge their partners, or men, on appearance as men do women.

The ad is aimed at women, who are the ones who buy this stuff for "their men". Make women laugh, and you've got us. The universal "wants" when women post at dating sites are "smart and funny". Everybody has their own standards in that regard, of course, but we want men who make us laugh. The guy in the ad does. That's what's attractive about him.

Anybody remember Due South, about the Mountie in Chicago? It was a Canada-US coproduction for the first few years and probably still runs at midnight someplace down there. Paul Gross, who played the Mountie, was a heartthrob: a cute do-gooder, in a funny show. The promos for the show played on that.

The one I can't find on line was a take-off on the Coca-Cola ad with the construction workers and women ogling them out a window. This one had Paul Gross seen from above in full Mountie regalia, with the women seeing the top of his Mountie hat and saying "take it off". So he does. The hat.

Here's another one:

The Full Mountie ... Uncover It All ... Paul Gross in his undies ... funny! It was all tongue-in-cheek and entre-nous. No objectifying. Not remotely similar to how women are objectified in media.