Sunday, August 23, 2009

Urrrrrgh, discrimination

7 comments:

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Would the men mind?

Would the WOMEN mind? (Not seeing ordinary-life men shirtless, I mean?)

Remember, there is still no DOWAI site... ;-)

TC [Girl] said...

Pascal said...
"Remember, there is still no DOWAI site... ;-)"

Shhh! Someday, Pascal, I'll probably create one! I've mentioned it to Eo, in the distant past! :-)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

After 12 years, I'm beginning to doubt there'll ever be a DOWAI site. A good one at least.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Well, I guess the problem is, it would need a woman with the equivalent of your subtle taste for discerning beauty. And that's hard to find. Considering that even with the experience your photographers now have, you still need to handpick every picture.

So, "go ahead, TC, I DARE YOU."

(Unlike the typical "male dare", this one means that I actually wish to see you suceed. :-)

Success might come easier for DOWAI, since it would benefit from the support of a famous site like DOMAI. ;-)
And we all know that many women also visit Domai. Heck, MALE beauty of the same style? I for one sure would stick around! "This I've got to see."

The thing is, same as most female nudes on the web are just sex objects for all the tasteless horny men out there, most male nudes I've seen are just sex objects for all the horny gays out there. Or, eventually, beefcakes for the horny women who ALSO exist.
Good for them, that, but... DOWAI would indeed require a special touch, similar to Eolake's, yet intrinsically different. It would require fine discerning of "natural", "simple" maleness, avoiding both the too effeminate gays and the overly macho eye candy for bachelorette parties.
I can tell ya, it's not easy to show the naked beauty of men. Women can just smile and be pretty. Men need to be "just right", not too effeminate, not too he-manish.

There's a whole genre to *invent* there.

For instance, the delicate issue of circumcision. I for one don't like it, visually. Rubs me the wrong way. It feels like automatic sexual emphasis. You know, like a "complete" man pulling back his foreskin to convey a sexual message, similar to a woman "spreading" open with her fingers.
And hair: with, even if there's A LOT? without, even if none at all? only intermediate?
Decisions, decisions... [relevance of the link is in the image]

One good starting inspiration source, would be the tasteful nude calendars of sportsmen. A whole Rugby team in France posed nude for a charity calendar that sold extremely well and received an excellent overall public reaction.
Also, one of the two French pole vault champions in the very recent World Athletics ran naked in the streets to gather attention and make up for his lost sponsorship, a few months ago. (My mother was the first one to remember his face. ;-) A very nice-looking man, and his medal (silver or bronze, I forget) proves he made the right choice. Two frenchies on the pole vault podium, cocorico!

Oh, and another obstacle to expect, is that much fewer hetero men would readily pose naked. Cultural peculiarities, and all. Women are *expected* by the lay man to display themselves. Men... are expected to conquer. As opposed to "lure".

But you know what they say. "Command and Conquer, to each their own role." ;-)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"DOWAI would indeed require a special touch, similar to Eolake's, yet intrinsically different. It would require fine discerning of "natural", "simple" maleness, avoiding both the too effeminate gays and the overly macho eye candy for bachelorette parties."

Yes, it would be more difficult than with Domai, where *some* tradition of "simple nudes" does exist after all in art history. And given that I'm the only editor I know who have managed to keep the delicate balance for females...

Also, since the male is the action-oriented gender, it is unmanly to pose for pictures except in very special circumstances like celebrations. So it would be very tricky to make it look natural.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"DOWAI would indeed require a special touch, similar to Eolake's, yet intrinsically different. It would require fine discerning of "natural", "simple" maleness, avoiding both the too effeminate gays and the overly macho eye candy for bachelorette parties."

Yes, it would be more difficult than with Domai, where *some* tradition of "simple nudes" does exist after all in art history. And given that I'm the only editor I know who have managed to keep the delicate balance for females...

Also, since the male is the action-oriented gender, it is unmanly to pose for pictures except in very special circumstances like celebrations. So it would be very tricky to make it look natural.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Well, you do have ancient Greeks and Romans who made some very nice nude male art, and THEY weren't gay.

Oh.
Scratch that.