David Stanley looks at a campaign that shows what everyday men would look like modeling underwear. And he likes what he sees.
—
I am going to out myself. A nearly naked David Beckham is sexy. So are a nearly naked David Landy, Freddie Ljungberg, or Cristiano Ronaldo. Posed in their skivvies, their photographs made this middle-aged straight guy, ahem, sit up and take notice. Do I want to sleep with them? No, but when I see those guys; 6% body fat, high cheekbones, and skimpy bulged out drawers, I definitely admire the packaging. I get what they’re selling. When ultra-sexy men sell underwear to men, and to the men and women who buy underwear for their men, that’s marketing excellence. It also makes us ‘regular’ men stand in our briefs in front of the mirror and say “Hmm, how do I get some of that sexy?”
Truth is, the four “John Doe” superstar doubles in this pictorial which originally appeared in The Sun and was made viral by Queerty are pretty darn sexy, as well. Why? They are strong and confident. They are cool. The essence of cool is to not give a shit about being cool. Those four guys-they are unflinching. That is cool. Cool is sexy.
Moreover, they look like real men. Real men who are husbands, boyfriends, working guys, guys who get pay their bills on time, get stuff done, and still have a pint or two on the weekends. Look at those photos. When you can snug up your Jockeys, look into a camera, and your eyes say “This is who I am. Too effing bad if you don’t like it,” that’s sexy.
You know guys like that; you’re probably one of them.
♦◊♦
Have you seen the women’s “Dove Campaign for Real Beauty?” Those women are also sexy. Skinny or thick, muscular or rubenesque – these women look at the camera with an ease and confidence that is extremely sexy.
Elite-level fitness is a full-time job. Becks, Landy, Ljungberg, Ronaldo – their job is to look marvelous. They train, they diet, they rest and recover 24/7, with one aim in mind – to be as fit as humanly possible. These men have nutritionists to plan, shop, and prepare their meals. They have trainers to direct their fitness. They have massage therapists to help with recovery. These men are paid extra-ordinary amounts of money to produce as athletes and physique models.
You don’t get World Cup level soccer-fit by squeezing in a 40 minute run between the office and the kid’s soccer game. If you aspire to world-class fitness, having a role model like Beckham to shoot for is a great thing.
On the other hand, if you end up looking like Beckham’s John Doe doppelgänger, in our real world, you could do plenty worse. Because that guy, he’s sexy, too.
I wonder why none of the ‘real’ men are short, scrawny, obese, or disproportioned in other manners. They all look pretty fit to me, probably more so than any ‘everyday man’. Their faces are also not what I would call ugly. I don’t think any women would consider them to be unattractive. If this article wants to make a point about the inner beauty of everyday man, this isn’t the way to do it. If it’s trying to say something about outer beauty, it’s not doing a good job of that either.
I’m a professional wrestler in training so being fit and in good shape is kind of a requirement. Yet I also still have my own life to lead. I’ve acquired a semi-decent body that I’m proud of in my two years since I started my fitness routine. And you know what? Looking fit is perfectly attainable even if you don’t have umpteen hours to kill in the gym. A lot of people seem to think that getting into shape is this big hurdle that’s impossible for ‘normal’ people. Look up a Personal Trainer on facebook, scroll through some dieting and… Read more »
A lot of women are surprised to learn that plenty of men find natural women’s bodies more attractive than skinny models.
A lot of men would probably be surprised to learn that plenty of women find natural men’s bodies more attractive then muscly models.
A lot of women are surprised that plenty of men find natural women’s bodies more attractive then skinny models.
A lot of men would probably be surprised to know that plenty of women find natural men’s bodies more attractive than muscly models.
His name is “David Gandy” not “Landy.”
The guy in the glasses is super hot!
The guys on the left sides are “everyday men”? Well…sort of.
Everyday men are also scrawny, obese, elderly, hairy, scarred, missing limbs, short in stature, long-haired, in wheelchairs, etc., etc., etc.
Some men are reading this article and hearing THIS message:
“Okay, you don’t have to be EXACTLY like a male model to be sexy, just in the ballpark.”
Meh. I don’t really find any guy in underwear sexy. Mostly, because of the underwear. I can’t quite figure out why, but male underwear comes across as either ‘boooring’ or ‘gay.’ I wish I knew why! I love lingerie for women, but when my husband wants to wear something sexy, I have a hard time picking anything! 🙂 Maybe I’m just weird.
From a purely visual standpoint I do prefer the models, but I wouldn’t kick any of the other guys out of bed. Well, unless they kept their underwear on, LOL.
Dont your realize your view that any guy in underwear isnt sexy is sexist? Women can wear anyhthing, humm the less clothes they wear the sexier they are. Women in lingerie are sexy. But men? EWWWWWWWWWWWWW….. Men bodies arent that good looking anyway. I rather look at women bodies than men bodies. Yeah but I still straight women. I hear it all time, it make me sick, sorry. I think if we want to achieve true equality, we also need to make view like this dissapear. Men can wear underwear and sexy like women. Men bodies are also aestheticaly pleasing… Read more »
I disagree, she makes no assumptions about the sexiness of men based on appearance in underwear, but just states her observations so far. She doesn’t say it can’t happen, but that it hasn’t worked for her yet. If she’s seen a lot of men in underwear, and it’s never worked for her, she could even guess that it never will. That aspect of the post would only be an issue when if she told men to stop wearing underwear to fit her desire, or said a specific man in a specific set of underwear would look bad without seeing it… Read more »
Yeah, that is strange. There are 25 comments here about how sexy the guys are in their underwear and David Stanley wrote a whole article about the sexiness of the men. Read the title of the article.
It’s a big reach, John, and it sounds like your own personal issues and agenda as opposed to any sort of engagement in the reality that’s happening in this article.
Yeah so its okay to said things like ” men in underwear looks gay “. I still think she is sexist and homophobic.
Agenda? If I have an agenda, it is to make this world less sexist and homophobic. My personal issues? My issue is I dont like it when someone make stereotypical assumpstion about gay or straight people.
Everybody just stop for a second and take a closer look at Monica’s comment. “Meh. I don’t really find any guy in underwear sexy. Mostly, because of the underwear. I can’t quite figure out why, but male underwear comes across as either ‘boooring’ or ‘gay.’ ” So something indistinguishable about the styling of men’s underwear is what turns her off. She’s not saying the men themselves aren’t sexy or can’t be sexy, she even implied she’d happily sleep with either of these two men as long as they were naked. She’s not disgusted by the male body, she’s saying “the… Read more »
I agree – mostly – with John on this point. I do think other commenters have a point that John is responding to some things that aren’t explicitly there in Monica’s comments, however, the bald statement that men in underwear look gay is highly offensive (sexist and homophobic sounds spot on to me), and I’m surprised to see so many commenters on this site unable to recognize that. As an exercise, turn it around: imagine a man on a women’s site commenting that “Gee, is it just me, or do all women who wear flat shoes look like lesbians?” or… Read more »
At last, someone who get it :D.
John, Kevin. That’s NOT what she said. She said”… male underwear comes across as either ‘boooring’ or ‘gay.’ ” She didn’t say the men themselves did. She made no assumptions about the men themselves. You’re deliberately misquoting her. Even your “comparison” is wrong, Kevin. She doesn’t like male UNDERWEAR because it’s not visually appealing to her. So, Kevin, to correctly compare, you would have to say that the woman’s FLATS were lesbian like. Not they made the woman LOOK like a lesbian. If you’re going to trounce a comment, make sure you’re understanding it first. Or, you could just freaking… Read more »
There are many reasons behind what attracts on person to another. We can not deny that a physically fit person is seen to be more attractive as that fitness speaks to things such as living a healthy lifestyle, takes care of themselves to ensure a long and happy, productive life and perhaps other subconscious factors being calculated in the mind. We, by our nature, make calculated judgments in the blink of an eye which lean towards our personal bias’ as to what constitutes the best match for us. There is nothing wrong in that. We formalize attributes that go along… Read more »
Yes, each person has there own selection rules, and their own qualifications for what fits each rule best. Trends can be observed, and they are useful in saving time and trouble in many cases. Personally, I think it’s OK to use them as long as you remain aware that they give a guess, and leave room for exceptions. The problem isn’t the trends existing, but forcing people to fit them. It’s also good for people who don’t match trends to recognize whether a reference to a trend actually applies any force to them, or whether it simply expresses that a… Read more »
NO WAY. Stop enabling this. I am a woman, and I work in a visual field, and I prefer the sculpted model type. Always have. I just cannot become attracted to a man who does not take care of his looks.
I feel like an oddity on this board.
Men, don’t get Too Comfortable. Some women work out and will apply the same cruel physical standards to you as you do to us.
“Stop enabling people to be happy and have a balanced lifestyle based upon non-physical attributes”
No, I’m not going to stop enabling people to stop being shallow!
Different strokes for different folks. To some guys, it’s the size of her Boobs and Butt. To some women, it’s the definition of the pecs., the abs., and the size of the ‘ well you know’.
Everyone has preferences, but the media has been enforcing a very narrow definition of that for 40+ years, to almost everyone’s detriment.
If you look like David Beckham, that’s awesome. If you don’t, we should love you and lust after you just the same. David Beckham’s body isn’t objectively any “better” than any of these guys or most guys, for that matter.
Hey, I happen to agree with you, OK! What Beckham and any other ‘Sex Symbol’ ( male or female) has going for them is a ‘Hype’ machine, you know, publicity people. spin doctors, whatever you call them, trying to convince women that “This is the man you desire” and therefore convince men “This is the man you want to be!” These gimmicks work on either gender and there purpose is simply to sell you stuff that you don’t really need and you otherwise probably wouldn’t buy (items like cosmetic procedures for women and ‘enhancement’ supplements for men)
HF, stop enabling more objectivity when it comes to the entertainment magic? Stop enabling people, no matter their body size, to feel good and sexy as they are? Stop enabling more healthy and accepting attitudes toward people of all body types? I will repeat your own words back to you: NO WAY! You prefer the sculpted model type. I do not. I think the other men are more attractive. And just because someone doesn’t have 6-pack abs or is even over-weight, doesn’t mean they do not take care of themselves. I know many over-weight people that eat poorly and I… Read more »
I think I’m a rarity, maybe not a good one, but I’ve never been attracted to muscular men. I’ve always been attracted to men who have been married about 10 years and maybe were once athletic, but now have some extra from wife’s cooking. NO I DO NOT CHEAT. I am single myself and don’t understand why when wives put up their husband’s facebook photos when they’re like “OMG, they’re losing weight!” and I find myself more attracted to the before. A guy with some extra in some boxer briefs gets me going soooooooooo much more than Vin Diesel or… Read more »
I don’t cheat either or flirt with married men but I get the married man thing. For the exact reason that they are otherwise committed, and have been, can be attractive. I think it’s attractive when a man has the hard earned skill to sustain a relationship for awhile. Plus, you can be more of yourself with a married man then a man you may be trying to impress so there is less pressure. If you can get around the pressure issue, and just be yourself with the men you are dating, that’s the real key. But it’s very difficult.
I said it before and I say it again: the grass is always greener in the neighbor’s lawn and women will always think men have it better and vice versa…
I admire men for taking only a decade or two of male objectification while women took decades -from the 1940s to the 2000s- to realize that sexyness is not a picture.
Cynthia, why do you suppose that the battle for women has been longer?
I would really love to know if CKbear would like to go on a date with me… please pass along my info!
The man to the far right with dark skin is the best looking, for me.
Because of his skin color
I like men with a Middle East look, models or not. Dark skin color wins with me.
Just for your information ladies, as a guy who have been in this kind of fitness modelling photoshoot, I gotta tell you, in real life we dont look as scary as that. Sculpted abs, rippling muscles? Yeah, we do “pumping exercise” to make our muscles look fuller before shoots. Dont forget to deplet water intake ( and make your mouth really really dry ) , dont drink for hours before photoshoot to make your body looks more ripped. And the most imprtant thing, flex your muscle hard when the shoots happened. WIthout flexing, your abs wont look like that. Add… Read more »
John, I was thinking the same thing. What’s attractive about the guy on the left is that I can imagine him in real life, what his skin and hair feel like. The guy on the right (while “pretty”) looks slimy. If he was scrubbed down, let his hair fall naturally and put in natural light, it might be a more difficult decision.
Thanks for sharing that John. I honestly never knew you had to do all that. I assumed there is photoshop going on but didn’t really understand the extent of it and the other “tricks” used. That’s why magazine photos are so freaking dangerous! Logically we know it’s not “real” but visually we have no way to truly disconcern that. I just saw that in myself once you explained the behind the scenes. And unfortunetly, that disclaimer is not something we often encounter in either male of female shots. I don’t think we really grasp the reality as we are looking… Read more »
Yeah, and they also ‘load up’ with a lot of sugar.Some ‘fitness’ models have described it as almost on the verge of passing out. Actually, it wasn’t too long ago that one model wen’t into a diabetic coma and died!
Actually what I wrote is just a simplified explanation, the actual preparation before photoshoot is longer and more complicated. Few models (genetically gifted) do fast preparation just a day before, but many others do preparation a week before. For competing bodybuilders, the preparation is far longer and tiring. The actual detail of before shoot prep can you see here : http://www.muscleandfitness.com/how-prepare-properly-rock-hard-challenge-after-shot . And then there must be a few photoshopp tweaks there and there, more if the models are actors or celebrities. Outside of the preparation ( without shaving and oiling ) actually we look like a normal person :… Read more »
Thanks John,
I think there’s a similarity between the “everyday men” that they actually seem to be in pretty good shape, although not ridiculously so as world elite athletes.
Even the first guy, who is rather “bulky”, but he sure looks like he’s capable of some real heavy lifting.
John – I just emailed you!
I also wondered a little bit about the very things you mention here, John. The bodybuilding life style is a very intense one, built out of incredible dedication to detail, and when one sees a bodybuilder (or male or female fitness model) on stage or in a photo one is seeing a “finished product” as much as when one sees me pull an absolute max deadlift. It’s not something that happens every day! Thank goodness… I did a three rep max tonight and thought my pelvis was going to come apart. The guy on the left looks a lot like… Read more »
Nice post (and lovely pictures). 🙂
So, if basically every woman agree on this.
Then, will you (women) believe us (men) when we say that the models we see every day in the ads have nothing on you as an actual, live human?
I am not so certain it’s the same for men as it is for women. I honestly don’t think most women are as sawyed by images of male physical perfection as men seem to be regarding female physical perfection. There was quite a lot of “oos” and “ahhs” when Kate Upton made her debute from a lot of men. I don’t remember the last male model that encouraged such a response from women.
David Beckham
Hi Bobbt
No no no, not David Beckham!
Iben, perhaps not you personally, but Women in general. I mean, not EVERY man is drooling over Kate Upton either!
I believe you!!
I know you’re right because every man I know in real life feels the same way!
Yes! My man is sexy too even if and because he is not some kind of media driven, perfect man who has a sole purpose to look like a model for underwear. I love that he has a life that is broader, at age 59, than how his abs look. Yet he pays tennis, does yoga and is healthy. And yep sexy even without a six pack.
Aw cumon’, we all know your really looking at the size of the ‘Bulge’ L.O.L.!!!
I like the real men shots so much more. There is a range of mystery hidden among the real man shots that’s lost in the perfect pout and perfectly sculpted body of the models. I want to see men be real and be encouraged to be real. Not that 6 pack abs aren’t real for some men, and obviously they take a lot of hard work, but there is just something more interesting about the other men.
I like the ‘real men’ more than the models. The models are nice eye candy but there’s something sexy about ‘down-to-earthness’ of the real man. I like the little belly and the manly pose.
For the record, the guy on the left in the lead photo is astoundingly more attractive than the model in my eyes. Over on our FB page, basically every woman (so far) agrees.
https://www.facebook.com/thegoodmenproject/posts/10151912957498919
I would agree too. He is far better looking then the models. Most of the guys are actually.
Completely agree! That’s exactly what I was thinking!
Yes. SO HOT.
SO hot!!
I wonder if that guy in real life has any idea how many people are drooling over him. I actually had to stop looking last night. Who says women aren’t visual?!
Definitely a step in the right direction, and I’m glad this campaign is out there.
I’m still a little disappointed, because there’s still a somewhat limited range. A few of the men have the suggestion of chest hair and stomach hair, but there still seems to be a definition of male sexiness associated with hairlessness.
I’ll believe we’ve made some real progress when we see men with thick back hair posed beside the professional male models.
Still no big stomachs or jowls or pubic hair sticking out of the briefs.
[Perhaps I’m being to autobiographical…. : – ) ]
Yeah, I wouldn’t hold my breath on the whole “hairy-backed sex symbol” taking off any time soon. Not outside of the “bear” community, anyway.
Personally, I prefer chest hair, the “bunny trail”, hair on legs and forearms, even some on the back. I’ve dated men with more or less body hair, and there is a wide range of what is sexy to me in men’s bodies. The only thing that can actually turn me off is complete hairlessness, and man-scaping is not attractive to me at all. I don’t want that to come off as a judgement on those women that are attracted to a hairless man or men who like their bodies that way. But body hair, to me, feels essentially manly and… Read more »
I associate hairiness with manliness too. Particularly chest hair.
This is a dangerous thought, though. Men can be manly without being hairy, and many of us cannot control our lack of chest hair, for example. We shouldn’t have to worry that this means we are less “manly”.
Any man’s body is “manly”, in my estimation. Hair is great, no hair is great. The problem is when there is some requirement, stated or unstated, that a man must be hairless to be sexy.
Me too. My boyfriend is um, amazingly fit (and dare I say, has a better physique than David Beckham), but he is a few years younger than me and maybe it’s a gen Y thing, but he is perplexed by my desire to not have a hairless man. Personally, I think hairless is equivalent to pre – pubescent & creeps me out. Thankfully he indulges me and if he shaves, it’s usually only the chest or he keeps it lightly trimmed so it doesn’t irritate him when he runs and works out..
I don’t
“Moreover, they look like real men. Real men who are husbands, boyfriends, working guys, guys who get pay their bills on time, get stuff done, and still have a pint or two on the weekends.” Interesting assumption of the narrative of the gentlemen on the left. So if they acquired significant others of some sort, jobs, paid bills on time, got a few things done, and drank a few…. but still actually worked to maintain their bodies… would they get to be “real men” or is the dividing line for being a “real man” not having that level of fitness?… Read more »
Thank you.
Where, exactly, does the article suggest that these men aren’t fit? Or do you think a man needs to be fashion-model proportioned in order to be considered “fit?”
I second you Michael!
I’m in Walmart the other day with the wife(I don’t dare try to go there without taking her along). Anyway, as I go over to the under ware section to replenish the supply at home, I’m suddenly amazed by the variety. Now I realize there’s boxers, briefs, and my favorite boxer-briefs, but apparently there’s now other styles, Bikinis and next thing I know , I’m holding a 3-pack of ‘Thong’ style in my hand. I turn to the wife and say”I wonder if when they state small, medium, large and extra large, are they still referring to waist size?”
Odd thing is: when I see six-pac abs, I just think of Reichian body-armoring, the anti-eros.
Ha!