Shirtless men

[DeeLight00]

The hot weather has brought them all out where I live. I took DS to the barbers after school and there was a guy in there getting his hair cut, shirtless, in just a pair of shorts. No one batted an eyelid.

I didn't feel offended or sexually aroused, but I did think, what would happen if women did the same? Would we be regarded as mad? Might someone call the police? Would we get sexually assaulted? I think all of these are probable outcomes. Just pondering the double standard!

I think to take your top off in the park to sunbathe is cool, but going to the barbers, supermarket, kebab shop etc shirtless isn't great manners. I guess if the man is vaguely fit and tanned it offends a bit less than an enormous hairy beer gut, but I'd rather it was kept to a minimum.
Adult men in Spain (natives) don't walk around topless, and it's much much hotter there!

This.

Sunbathing yeah.

Going to barbers no.

Imagine having to sit in that chair afterwards. 🤮

Like everything else it's all about social norms. Bare chests for men and skimpy swimwear for women is fine when sitting at beachside bar, but not when in a street cafe/bar, even if it's just one street away.

There are many bare chested joggers in the park but you don't see them like that in the street, they usually put on a top.

There's a group of builders nearby working topless, understandably, but I see they have a t-shirt on when they go off for coffee and supplies.

If you fail to see a difference between a woman bearing her chest and a man, so feel it should be right either way. I don't mind on this that there is a clear difference, would rather look at a nice bare torso any day than lots of boobs wafting about. Just a shame the majority in my area come with a beer gut attached 😬 I think men bearing there chest would be more on a par with women showing their legs, which there is plenty of this year due to the skimpy shorts fashion at the moment- there's equality in action.

If I was truly body confident, I probably would take my top off in public. But I'm not.

Surely body/fat shaming is unacceptable?

Where do you stand on fat women in leggings?

I just think it's trashy. Same for women with arses or bellys or tits hanging out. That is really judgmental but it's just my personal gut reaction 🤷‍♀️

It’s not body shaming.

Its over exposed sweaty domineering alpha guy shaming,

I give no shits about fat women in leggings.

Specific negative reference was made to enormouse hairy beer guts.

It is, without a doubt, body shaming.

Where do you stand on men saying that fat women in leggings are fucking rank?

I didn’t make those references.

I hate all over exposure of flesh. Male/female, thin or fat.

I don't agree with body shaming, anyone. The point of my post is not about the aesthetic but about how others react to the exposed body. If a woman were to walk about with her breasts exposed, would she gain entry to a barbers shop or any shop, for example? I think not. Would she be at greater risk of sexual assault? I think so. Would people think she was mentally unwell? Very likely.

With regards to women wearing skimpy clothing...well it hints at what is beneath but is not overtly exposing the body. This is a far as we can go to remain socially acceptable. Who sets the rules?

Totally agree. The ones walking down the street bare chested covered in tattoos might as well wear a sign saying "I'm a chav".
Never ever saw this in my village until a huge new estate was built on the periphery, which apparently has a third social housing. Ditto men pushing a child in a pushchair actually drinking a can of beer as they walk along, and groups of youths in grey tracksuits. The difference in the type of people walking around is very noticeable.

I always wonder where this started - who decided which body parts were to be kept private?
At our earliest / caveman existence, who thought, you know what, on the females let's cover up these bumps at the top, but on the men we'll leave the nips out to get some air.

What about the arse, and genitals? Who decided they should be private, as opposed to, say the back, or the throat?

You quoted it and wrote 'this' under the quote.

@FamouslyFrothy female genitalia, breasts in particular, have been sexualised by men, therefore we have to keep them covered so as not to arouse / distract. Is it seen as ladylike, therefore good, to keep covered up?

If a woman does expose or wear skimpy clothing, is she a seen as a slag? Asking for it? Would it be seen as her fault if she was sexually assaulted? If a woman does choose to wear skimpy clothing, she's in trouble if not young and slim. She will get comments and disapproval.

I think we are mitigating against being hurt or punished, we may not even see it that way, due to socialisation. The option that is available to men, was taken off the table for us.

Good point. Do you think religion played at part? I need to do some research.

Yeah l did.

But l was referring to the bit about sunbathing. Thin, fat, hairy smooth, l
just don’t want to see it. I don’t really notice the body shape, the ick about the flesh is the main thing.

I did have to sit next to some guy in low slung shorts onceand could see right down his hairy crack . That made me feel a bit sick.

Nor do l think it’s ok for a woman to go to a supermarket in a bikini.

There are still tribes in Africa or South America or other countries where women are bare breasted as the norm, and others where the buttocks of the men are exposed but the penis covered by a thong type of garment. Of course the weather is very hot there so that must have something to do with it, although in other very hot countries people are swathed from head to toe. Religion must have a lot to do with it, it's an interesting question.

@Hateam I stand neutral on anyone of any size who's clothed. If someone chooses to be topless, against my consent I have to look at their chest, so yeah, I'd rather they were physically fit. Not like they care when they get their top off in a hairdressers or a cafe!

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow I'm being called a body shamer cos I don't want to see semi naked mens bellies?! Lol. You clearly understand my stance on the matter. I wouldn't go topless in public, regardless of my size or my sex.

Right you are.

Well, you have to go back a long way:
"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

Then after the incident involving the snake and the apple, it was:
"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."

So what came first, the idea of keeping them covered, or the sexualisation of certain body parts?