Clemencedane, drifting OT (and strictly from a US perspective), but I couldn't agree with you more! You are not imagining this trend, and your hypothesis seems reasonable. In the ensuing years since the 70s/mid-80s, the pendulum regarding "body revealing" clothes on men has swung so ridiculously far to the other extreme it borders on laughably Victorian.
For 3 decades, it's pretty much been taboo for any male who values his perception as heterosexual and/or masculine to show any more than the top of a knee when wearing shorts--and this even includes "athletic wear". Year after year, fashion designers (largely female or gay men) attempt to break this rule but always fail. Any renegade man attempting to challenge the status quo will be instantly slapped with the dreaded "gay" label.
To expand on your hypothesis, there is a large contingent of heterosexual men who feel that there is a diabolical conspiratorial plot by gay men and women to "feminize" them. They consider the desire for sexual objectification as an exclusively "feminine" trait--so they want to steer clear of any such suggestion, and dress accordingly. This is not only a highly misogynist presumption & attitude, but, interestingly enough, most women buy into this mindset as well--which is why it's so socially resilient .
IMO, much of this effort wasted on paranoia should instead be directed toward adapting to the new global economy. With the advance of technology, many of the traditionally male trades (which involved brute physical labor) have been eliminated in favor of problem-solving & innovation ("brain work vs. brawn work"). There are still many men who view "brain work" as inherently "feminine" as evidenced by the fact that more women are entering college than men.
Ironically, this reactionary resistance to economic reality is at their own peril--they are essentially yielding all of the future economic earning power to women. Plain & simple fact: the role of a heterosexual man seeking a position as the primary breadwinner for his family is changing. He has to decide if he wants to "man up" to that responsibility and acquire the necessary skills to compete or drop out of the race and instead whine about women & gays plotting their failure from the sidelines.
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Clemencedane
11 years ago
Wow, Glenn! What a lucid and thorough analysis of the phenomenon. I am glad to hear that I have not just been imagining it. It really puts the 'phobia' in homophobia. I've often wondered whether 'homophobia' was the right word for prejudice against gay people. It seems more like hatred. But in this case, as you put so well, it is the fear of being feminized that drives it. I have trouble seeing a man in outsized clothing as a full grown adult because it gives the impression of a boy comically trying on his father's clothes. But as you said, there is a generation of young women who seem to be all in favor of it. If this trend had lost young straight men the attention of women it probably would have ground to a screeching halt.
Interesting hypothesis as well that young men consider "brain work" feminine. How ironic! It wasn't that long ago that men were the Big Thinkers and women were not considered capable academically. How did we end up with the idea that science and other knowledge isn't masculine? Has our idea of the masculine role become constricted to, say, Popeye and Brutus (though whose clothes would probably be have to be looser)? Of course, there are other theories on why fewer young men are going to college and graduating. The most frequent one I have heard is that teaching is done in a way that is better suited to girls, i.e., sitting still in chairs and taking turns speaking, etc. I don't think this theory can explain the decline in boys' school performance over the last 20 years, because this method of teaching has been around for over 100 years. In 1899 schoolteachers were not letting kids run around every half hour or structure their day creatively and flexibly. Kids had to sit still in class all day except during recess and learn by rote. Back then boys were outperforming girls and girls were not expected to go to college at all.
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billwenham
10 years ago
Wow, this conversation is a fascinating hypothesis that I never really gave much thought to but definitely makes tons of sense.
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Survivor147
10 years ago
For 3 decades, it's pretty much been taboo for any male who values his perception as heterosexual and/or masculine to show any more than the top of a knee when wearing shorts--and this even includes "athletic wear".
That is so true! I haven't worn shorts past the knee in ages and I doubt they still make those kinds anymore!
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Clemencedane
10 years ago
I just watched Roller Boogie the other day and I remembered how the heterosexual male leads in films used to be these young, fit guys in form-fitting clothing. Women had just as much eye candy to look at back then as men. Then the clothes got baggier and baggier to the point where you can hardly tell how good a guy's body looks. It's a shame.
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rockethulsey
8 years ago
However cut to 2015 - this has changed
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