Tag Archives: Culture

Is Hollywood Coming to Terms With Male Parts?

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This from Newsweek

Hollywood Confronts the Last Taboo

Why are so many actors dropping their pants?


A film’s success rises or falls on the smallest of details. And so it was that the director of this month’s medieval stoner comedy Your Highness found himself in a boardroom with the suits at Universal Studios, discussing every last facet of his minotaur’s manhood. How to light the half-man/half-bull’s prosthetic appendage? How large should the dimensions be? And what would the anatomy suggest about the beast’s religious leanings? “We took the leap, culturally, and we circumcised him,” the director, David Gordon Green, explains.

Yes, much has changed in Hollywood since Clark Gable pushed the boundaries of taste by appearing without an undershirt in 1934’s It Happened One Night. For decades the dividing line between an R and an X rating was decidedly phallic-shaped. Not anymore. Male genitalia are getting unprecedented screen time at the multiplex and all over premium cable. “Male nudity has a humorous value because it’s taboo,” says Green, whose film garnered an R. “There’s a gracefulness to the female form that’s subject to this Last Tango in Paris, Jayne Mansfield–type of adoration. Where guys just don’t get the same shot. So that, for me, is where it’s ripe to come in and pull the pants down.”

Full-frontal dude-ity isn’t limited to visual punchlines in comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and this summer’s The Hangover Part II. Male genitals (or, to use the now popular Hollywood vernacular, “peens”) are cropping up across the cultural grid, on cable shows like Starz’s Spartacus: Blood and Sand and HBO’s Game of Thrones, and in blue-chip Broadway fare like Equus, where Daniel Radcliffe showed he’s more than just Harry Potter. Over the years, A-list actors like Richard Gere, Tom Cruise, and Ewan McGregor have also played the full-monty card to establish their dramatic bona fides, but the full-frontal shots were fleeting. Now nude guys get much more hang time.

Take the Showtime reality series Gigolos, which follows the sexploits of high-priced male escorts plying their trade in Las Vegas. Even when the men aren’t shown servicing their female clientele, the show features no shortage of man parts. “Depending on your perspective and upbringing, more male nudity can be viewed as less repressed and more balanced with what we see of women,” says Gigolos executive producer Jay Blumenfield. “Or it can be a sign of the coming apocalypse. Our feeling is that a naked body is nothing to be ashamed of.”

The trend has Hollywood directors facing the kinds of casting decisions that used to bedevil their porn-making brethren. For a sequence in March’s raunch comedy Hall Pass, Owen Wilson’s doofus character passes out in a gym hot tub and is revived by a naked man in the locker room. The nude guy was a small part, but the movie’s directors, Bobby and Peter Farrelly, had to vet reams of actors’ photos to find someone who, uh, fit the bill. Once they’d found their man and were shooting the sequence, Wilson began to fret about photos of the scene leaking from the set. “That was Owen’s biggest fear in doing that scene,” Bobby Farrelly says. “Someone’s going to snap a picture of that on their phone, and it was going to get out before the movie was released. At least now there’s context for him hanging out with this giant penis.”

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Young Irish Women See Nothing Wrong With Going Topless

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Some 70 per cent of Irish women under the age of 30 are happy to go topless while on holidays, a new survey has shown.

According to the the results of recent research carried out by Club 18-30, there is a marked contrast between racy 18-30-year-old holidaymakers and the more reserved over 30s.

According to the online survey of several hundred Irish holidaymakers, 70 per cent of 18-30 year old females are happy to sunbathe topless, but more than 50 per cent of over 30s rule this out completely.

Similarly, about 50 per cent of men under 30 don’t have a problem visiting a nude beach, while almost 60 per cent of their older counterparts would be uncomfortable doing so.

Meanwhile, close to 68 per cent of males are happy to have their other halves sunbathe topless.

“The youth market which we are serving clearly like to let loose,” says Sharon Harney of tour operator Club 18-30. “‘They want a relaxed, fun-loving time from their holidays, and are obviously a good deal more daring than the previous generation.”

 

Skin

Men claim to be much more comfortable in their own skin than women, with 35 per cent believing they have the ideal beach body, compared to only 7 per cent of women.

Oddly, the study found a number of men willing to answer a question on what male has the most idyllic body and 42 per cent voted for Matthew McConaughey.

Amongst women, Kim Kardashian has the most desirable bikini body, closely followed by curvy British contender Kelly Brook.

A Review Recently Posted on Amazon

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A Song in the Park

Don’t let the title fool you: “A Song in the Park” may sound quaint or confined, but the park in question is the enormous Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas, and the song is no less than the melody of love in a marvelous arrangement unexpected yet familiar. The protagonists–a surgeon running from a fatal mistake, and a park ranger secluding himself from a failed relationship–overcome their initial surprise at their easy affinity to develop a deep relationship forged in the trials of commitments to profession, family, and community. With an entertaining and well-developed supporting cast, the two main characters literally build their place in the world as they overcome the challenges of bigotry and narrow-mindedness, all in the build-up to a nail-biting climax in which those negative characteristics are personified by a criminal hiding somewhere in the park’s vast desert landscape. This is terrific writing by Brant, with deft treatment of the everyday intimacies that nourish any love relationship (regardless of ethnicity or sexual orientation). In the end, the “song in the park” is a sweet metaphor: the sunny, joyful harmony of something (the park/the couple’s relationship) that is both integrally natural as well as dependent on the care and maintenance of man. Highly enjoyable read with an uplifting message!

A note from the author:

I always appreciate those who take the time to write a review on Amazon.  And since I’m trying to tempt you read my novel, I’ll share them with you here.  Bear in mind much of my personal mail comes from women who have read this tale.   It’s not just men, gay, straight or in-between, who enjoy a thoughtfully written human romantic drama.  The book is available in Kindle format or paperback at Amazon.com.

Martin

A Note From Martin

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I’ve been asked why a serious writer has a blog about naked men.  Well, first and foremost I write about men, their challenges, their emotions, their sexuality, not to mention the female characters who are always influential in every man’s life.  Secondly, the blog is a diversion from sitting hunched over a keyboard day after day.  That, coupled with a bike ride now and then, a good book or a good movie rounds out my weeks quite nicely.

As for the blog, I want to celebrate the male and female form, without all the misguided social mores.  There is nothing immoral, shameful or sinful about any part of the human body.  On the contrary, the human body is nature’s finest work, a thing of magic and mystery, a thing of beauty.  I quite agree clothes are a practical necessity, but on a beach?  Or sunning in the park.  I find it distasteful that we indoctrinate our children to be ashamed of their bodies, that there is something dirty about certain body parts.  They grow up, like so many of us have, to deny themselves the natural joy of their own body, and the sensual sharing of it with others.

I want to celebrate human sexuality,  no matter what form it takes shape , stripped of the demagoguery handed down through the ages.  Pay attention to your mind.  Get down under the countless negative layers imposed on you from the day you were born, and your mind will guide you through the maze of right and wrong.  Follow the natural edicts ingrained in human reasoning and it will lead you without the autocratic preachings of history’s self-righteous.  You aren’t by nature sexual heathens run amuck.  You will want someone to love, someone to share your body with, someone to share your life; and by following the compass you were born with, you will accomplish this without all the useless baggage.  Thinly disguised and concurrent with the plot, just as it is here on this blog, you’ll find this is the same theme in my novels.

Getting Naked

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For many, exposing the human body is an immoral act somewhere south of bank robbing, an opinion belied in the picture above.  But then those in the picture are young.  Yong people do things.  They haven’t had time to sort things out.  They aren’t mature enough to analyze the immorality of such things.  And they haven’t gotten fat!

But there are a few, certainly fewer here in the U.S. than in Europe, who know one of the great joys in life.  They know the joy of the human body, how to cherish it, celebrate it, enjoy and share it, feel the  sensation  of sun, surf and particles of sand on their skin, unencumbered by clothes and swimsuits that hide those parts that are as much a part of us as our hands and feet and faces.  They know the freedom, the sensuality, the pure luxury of getting naked with friends and strangers.

It’s the way we’re brought up, the indoctrination that slants our perspectives.  For some reason, we have decided God would not want us to do such things.  Many of us neglect and abuse our bodies, only to find ourselves ashamed of them.  Others focus on their physical flaws, ignoring the fact all of us have them.  Fortunately many of us, like those in these pictures and countless others around the world, have gotten past these misguided notions.

But what about kids?  They would see all those penises sticking out!  They don’t know about such things.  Wouldn’t they be traumatized?  Wouldn’t they be damaged for life?  Well, since society has done such an excellent job of hiding penises from the children, they wouldn’t be traumatized, but they may very well be fascinated.  Children that have seen them since the day they were born know penises are just another normal part of the human body; half of them have one, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt the other half to grow up being familiar with them.

For those of you who have gotten past the anxieties, the modesty, and the mental block, I hope we  see each other one day at the beach.

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What’s Going on in France?

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From Digital Journal.com

The beaches of St Tropez and other French resorts are witnessing the decline of what was once a common sight – ladies in topless swimsuits.

Topless swimsuits and bathing made their first appearance on French beaches in 1964 near St Tropez on the Riviera, and they have been there ever since, as well as on all the other beaches in France, on which topless attire is permitted. But the halcyon days of topless culture may well be threatened.

In a sure sign that the winds of change are beginning to blow, Eres, a top French name in chic and trendy swimsuits, has announced that they are selling more one-piece full swimsuits than topless versions for the first time.

A survey asked women why they now prefer to cover up.

Psychologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann carried out a study on the reasons why women liked going topless back in the mid-90’s, a time when the practice was extremely popular.

He looks back today on that period and comments the changes in attitudes that have been revealed by an updated survey carried out by independent French online news site RUE89. He sums up those changes by saying that “Cultural reference points have completely changed in the last fifteen years. What was once fashionable has now become old-fashioned, and young women in particular no longer think twice about stigmatizing in a very emphatic manner the “old women of 50” who dare to take off their bikini tops.”

So, in a country where seventies cliché styles such as bell-bottomed trousers and mustaches are making a comeback, why are women saying no to nipples on beaches?

Here are the 10 most quoted reasons that the survey found.

One. “Because I don’t see any benefit to be gained from having suntanned breasts.”

Among the reasons given for that opinion were an amusing “Because I don’t want my breasts to look like crumpled brown toilet gloves” as well as a more down-to-earth “I need to look after them if I want them to remain firm as long as possible.”

Kaufmann found in 1995 however that white breasts on a suntanned body were not even considered to be a fashionable, never mind desirable, asset.

Two. “In order not to show everything at once. I prefer to be coaxed into that.”

One 29-year-old who prefers not to go topless explained why. “Understatement is much better. I prefer to sharpen appetites rather than deliver everything on a plate. It may seem ridiculous, but I prefer to respect myself and my body. That’s who I am.”

For Sandrine Renault-Pannetier, who works for a well-known French fashion consulting firm, “We are now living in a game of peek-a-boo. The seduction game has become more subtle, more elaborate.”

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Does Circumcision Make It Safer

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In male human anatomy, the foreskin (1) is a generally retractable double-layered fold of skin and mucous membrane that covers the glans penis (3) and protects the urinary meatus (2) when the penis is not erect.

The outside of the foreskin is a continuation of the skin on the shaft of the penis, but the inner foreskin is a mucous membrane (5) like the inside of the eyelid or the mouth. The mucocutaneous zone occurs where the outer and inner foreskin meet. Like the eyelid, the foreskin is free to move after it separates from the glans, usually by puberty. Smooth muscle fibers keep it close to the glans but make it highly elastic.  The foreskin is attached to the glans with a frenulum (4), which helps return the foreskin over the glans. At the end of the foreskin, there is a band of tissue called the ridged band, (6) which, according to some researchers, contains nerve endings called Meissner’s corpuscles. According to a study by Sorrells et al. (2007), the five most sensitive areas of the penis are on the foreskin.

Like the penis itself, foreskins come in all shapes and sizes.

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Some doctors and researchers believe there are medical and practical reasons to circumcise men.

From MedicalDude.com

Gay Men Undergoing Circumcision Would Have Limited

Impact On Preventing HIV

Adult circumcision has been proposed as a possible HIV prevention strategy for gay men, but a new study by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health presented at the XVIII International AIDS Conference suggests it would have a very small effect on reducing HIV incidence in the United States.

Circumcision is thought to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by removing cells in the foreskin that are most susceptible to infection by the virus. Clinical trials conducted in Africa have found it reduces the risk of HIV in heterosexual men, yet there is little evidence that it can reduce transmission among American gay men.

The study was based on surveys of 521 gay and bisexual men in San Francisco. Findings indicated that 115 men (21 percent) were HIV-positive and 327 (63 percent) had been circumcised. Of the remaining 69 men (13 percent), only three (0.5 percent) said they would be willing to participate in a clinical trial of circumcision and HIV prevention, and only four (0.7 percent) were willing to get circumcised if it was proven safe and effective in preventing HIV.

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The Cerne Abbas Giant

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The Cerne Abbas giant, also referred to as the Rude Man or the Rude Giant, is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas, to the north of Dorchester, in Dorset, England. The 180 ft (55 m) high, 167 ft (51 m) wide figure is carved into the side of a steep hill, and is best viewed from the opposite side of the valley or from the air. The carving is formed by a trench 12 in (30 cm) wide,and about the same depth, which has been cut through grass and earth into the underlying chalk. In his right hand the giant holds a knobbled club 120 ft (37 m) in length. A 1996 study found that some features of the image have changed over time; notably, the study concluded that the figure originally held a cloak in its left arm and stood over a disembodied head.

The figure’s origin and age is unknown. Early antiquarians associated it with a Saxon deity, though there is little evidence for such a connection. Other scholars sought to identify it with a Celtic British figure or the Roman Heracles, or some syncretization of the two. The 1996 discoveries strengthened the identification with Heracles, who was often depicted wielding a club and carrying a cloak made from the Nemean Lion. However, since the first descriptions of the figure do not appear until the mid-18th century, many scholars conclude that it is not significantly older than that. Regardless of its age, the Cerne Abbas giant has become an important part of local culture and folklore, which often associates it with fertility.

Like several other chalk figures carved into the English countryside, the Cerne Abbas giant is often thought of as an ancient creation. However, like many of the other figures, its history cannot be traced back further than the late 17th century, making an origin during the Celtic, Roman or even Early Medieval periods difficult to demonstrate. Above and to the right of the giant’s head is an earthwork known as the “Trendle”, or “Frying Pan”. Medieval writings refer to this location as “Trendle Hill”, but make no mention of the giant, leading to the conclusion that it was probably only carved about 400 years ago. In contrast, the Uffington White Horse — an unquestionably prehistoric hill figure on the Berkshire Downs — was noticed and recorded by medieval authors.

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