Recently a straight man on this forum asked me, a gay man what I 'felt' when I saw a pretty young nude woman. I replied "nothing". It does nothing to me or for me. He said he was "slightly repulsed' seeing nude men. I had assumed that while there was a modern cultural male taboo not to obviously look or stare at other nude men when in locker rooms etc, it was more a cultural and etiquette thing taught, rather than something innate in heterosexuality. I know that 30 years ago in the States, casual same sex nudity was treated very differently. Communal showers in middle school, high school and colleges were commonplace and even required after PE and it is still true in the military. Skinny dipping was not uncommon in rural areas. That suggests a feeling of nothing to me. Now everyone works harder to keep covered up and there is a prohibition in schools on those same showers. Surely if there was a sense of repulsion as a common post puberty experience all along, this would a universal practice in every cultural and time frame. Feeling a little embarrassed or uncomfortable because an experience is uncommon, is not the same as repulsion. Do you straights really feel 'slightly repulsed' at the sight of same sex genitals as opposed to just embarrassment ? Is this the same reaction to nude photography or cinema, and is this just a response to a social perception that one ought to feel repulsed and react accordingly? Have we produced this repulsion effect in a younger generation of American men by changing the cultural rules, or has it always been so and nudists and naturalists just ignore that repulsion as did men and boys in the past.
I a straight male like to look at muscular and ripped men. It motivates me in the gym and while i practice swimming. Obviously i don't get a boner looking at them but i do appreaciate and value the aesthetics of the male body. Seeing two men kissing on the other hand does make me feel slightly repulsed, same with feminine men.
LOL, I sure don't get repulsed by hetero kissing or I could barely watch TV or a movie. That's as routine in a anyone's life as seeing a car drive by. Straight porn is repulsive though. Female nudity itself is not, but once the pose gets graphic or outright lurid, it does ick me out! Just seeing a beautiful woman, say, taking a shower on the screen, is like watching her fixing a cheese sandwich. I don't feel any need to glance away from the screen. Is it the same for straight men and male nudity? As long as it is not sexualized nudity, it is neutral, or is it something a little repellant? Does it make a difference if it is in person as opposed to s screen image of male nudity? More to the point, has the reaction of straights to same sex straight nudity changed in post baby boomer generation? It would help if straight responders identify their age, gender,and some idea of country or region, because that is what gets to the cultural aspects of my question. It is also possible that women respond differently than men do.
Asa straight man I do not actively look for nude men(duh, I feel "slightly repulsed" is slightly exaggerated. It is just that I do not feel aroused nor fascinated, so it is more of a "whatever" kind of feeling than anything else. Tbf I do not consider the female genitalia in itself to be "beautiful". Infact both the female and male genitalia is really, really ugly imo. The reason for your straight friends categorization of nude men as "slightly repulsive" might indeed be culturally rooted. As you mentioned, we are socialized into not staring when in the locker room and we are also taught that nudity in general is a bad thing. Furthermore, as your friend is part of the "hetereosexual community" he shares the norms and ideas of "nude men=gay=bad". And being afraid of being labelled as a "(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)" he's "obliged" to say he is repulsed....Maybe... To give a contrasting example: Sauna is a common part of "Finnish life". Family and friends go in there completely nude. In that context it is not at all considered "gay" to sit naked in a hot room together with your naked friend.
I feel no embarrassment. I just find naked men kind of gross. But still kind of fascinating. Like a wound.
In other words, you think that these young Americans claim to be repulsed secondary to modern perceived cultural pressures, but are probably actually just as ho hum indifferent as you are. In which case there really is not a change in gut reaction from yesteryear just a change in how they talk about same sex nudity.
That is probably just because you see so few naked men. It would inevitably lose the fascination very quickly with more exposure. I guess the next question is does any of this matter if there is not a substantive change beyond how we talk about same sex nudity? Is there a cultural detriment to a world in which girls and women do not see each other nude, and boys and men not seeing any same sex nudity beyond a movie screen?
