Complaining about bikinis? I wanted to have the same amount of nakedness for the men as well as the women, and that's complaining about bikinis!:)
What's wrong with that? I think that having a lot of men in thongs dancing inbetween games would be really funny, so I disagree that I am humorless. It's just that I find different things funny than you do, evidently.
who says the guys would look bad just in jock straps? you think they'd look bad because you're straight, but I guarantee lots of women and gay men would disagree. do the male players want to wear two layers in the 110 degree heat? do they want shorts that bunch up and get sand in them? c'mon, ogged, sauce for the goose and all that.
Nah, I don't even want to see the women wearing less. And a jock strap and shorts isn't really two layers. I don't know, I don't think I'm ready to concede on this one. Too much ass just doesn't look as good as nicely covered ass, and guys have that bulge problem (is that the straight guy in me?).
oh hell...let's just cut to the chase people: post us a picture of YOU in a volleyball thong, my dear Ogged, and then perhaps we'll add some levity to this discussion. Mmmm. I'm getting all bronzed just thinking about the possibilities...
Wasn't this topic covered in Seinfeld? As Elaine says: "The female body is a work of art. The male body is utilitarian. It's for gettin' around. It's like a jeep."
I don't buy the Seinfeld distinction. Some of the male swimmers and sprinters look amazing. Still, if they tried to play beach volleyball wearing any less, I think it would be comical, and not very Olympian.
Johnny Clay, that's a really good idea. I'll post that pic as soon as I find it.
It's not just that women compete in scanty clothing—the scantiness of their clothing is mandated. If it's really so convenient for them, and they wear them for the reasons you give, maybe the Olympic organizers could do away with prescribed maxima for the size of the suits?
Sure the male swimmers/sprinters look amazing. But just as we admit that male gymnist should not compete on the parallel bars, nor female gymnists on the rings, can we not also admit sexual difference in the relative frequency and interest in ogling? C'mon people!
guys have that bulge problem (is that the straight guy in me?).
Did you not notice the female bulges in women's gymnastics? And what about the wedgie problem in women's beach volleyball? How are these less important, or less overtly sexual?
I think sumo wrestling is actually a good example. If we tolerate men's thongs there, and men's speedo-thingies in professional wrestling, it seems evidence that more scantily clad men in the olympics, where the men are actually attractive, is unlikely to stir up that much controversy.
I just rethought that last part of my comment. Perhaps the problem is that the men are attractive in the olympics. No guy is worried of being accused of oggling a sumo wrestler or Triple H, but they quite possibily would feel uncomfortable watching/being seen watching mostly-naked attractive men. Especially if they caught themselves looking too hard. Is this what has your inner straight guy squirming inside of you, ogged?
Oy vey, Michael, you've been suckered by the dark forces into thinking this is about homophobia. Part of the point of the second part of the original post was that the people who know me well know I'm into ogling, and they know I'll ogle men and women alike.
There are utilitarian reasons for the differences between the men's and women's clothing in beach volleyball. That's it. The fact that the women's clothing is very sexy doesn't mean that sexiness is the point.
Actually, I thought that reference to a straight man inside you might be your coming out signal. I just wanted to help you open up a bit more by leading you to confront your obvious fasination with "the bulge."
Of course it doesn't follow in the sense of a logiacal implication, ogged. Neither, however does it follow from men being unsuited to uneven bars that women will be unsuited to the still rings. Both, however stem from the same underlying cause: the physiological difference between the sexes. Why, when our discussion occurs in the context of sports, where sex differences are so starkly outlined, must we deny that men and women also typically differ with respect to sexual desire? Men, on average, are hornier than women, and spend more time looking at scantily clad sex objects than do women. Do people deny this? [please note the phrases "typically" and "on average"]
I'd love to know what this has to do with "conservatism," sexual or otherwise. I would have thought egalitarianism and feminism (both of which I endorse) are not predicated on ignoring sex differences.
When your ex calls out to you, do you make her use your blog name? That's sort of hot.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 08-25-04 6:07 PM
Complaining about bikinis? I wanted to have the same amount of nakedness for the men as well as the women, and that's complaining about bikinis!:)
What's wrong with that? I think that having a lot of men in thongs dancing inbetween games would be really funny, so I disagree that I am humorless. It's just that I find different things funny than you do, evidently.
Posted by Echidne of the snakes | Link to this comment | 08-25-04 6:48 PM
who says the guys would look bad just in jock straps? you think they'd look bad because you're straight, but I guarantee lots of women and gay men would disagree. do the male players want to wear two layers in the 110 degree heat? do they want shorts that bunch up and get sand in them? c'mon, ogged, sauce for the goose and all that.
Posted by belle waring | Link to this comment | 08-25-04 9:24 PM
Nah, I don't even want to see the women wearing less. And a jock strap and shorts isn't really two layers. I don't know, I don't think I'm ready to concede on this one. Too much ass just doesn't look as good as nicely covered ass, and guys have that bulge problem (is that the straight guy in me?).
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-25-04 9:33 PM
oh hell...let's just cut to the chase people: post us a picture of YOU in a volleyball thong, my dear Ogged, and then perhaps we'll add some levity to this discussion. Mmmm. I'm getting all bronzed just thinking about the possibilities...
Posted by johnny clay | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 12:42 AM
Wasn't this topic covered in Seinfeld? As Elaine says: "The female body is a work of art. The male body is utilitarian. It's for gettin' around. It's like a jeep."
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 5:27 AM
I must say, the girl on girl (or woman on woman) mounting action at the end of the match certainly raised my interest in the sport: http://functionalambivalent.typepad.com/blog/2004/08/for_me_the_olym.html
Is that a required ritual? I am all for it.
Posted by Tripp | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 9:00 AM
I don't buy the Seinfeld distinction. Some of the male swimmers and sprinters look amazing. Still, if they tried to play beach volleyball wearing any less, I think it would be comical, and not very Olympian.
Johnny Clay, that's a really good idea. I'll post that pic as soon as I find it.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 9:06 AM
Note: not Ogged.
Comical.
Still comical.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 9:17 AM
Ogged, I sent you those photos in confidence. Thanks a lot, jerk.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 10:29 AM
It's not just that women compete in scanty clothing—the scantiness of their clothing is mandated. If it's really so convenient for them, and they wear them for the reasons you give, maybe the Olympic organizers could do away with prescribed maxima for the size of the suits?
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 10:31 AM
Echidne is likely a good person and all, but her work is indeed the exact opposite of funny.
Posted by fasteddie | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 10:31 AM
Labs, I thought the clothed pics were ok to post. My bad.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 10:35 AM
Sure the male swimmers/sprinters look amazing. But just as we admit that male gymnist should not compete on the parallel bars, nor female gymnists on the rings, can we not also admit sexual difference in the relative frequency and interest in ogling? C'mon people!
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 12:22 PM
Surely that doesn't follow.
But while I normally find your sexual conservatism exasperating, this time, I'm happy to have you around.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 2:02 PM
guys have that bulge problem (is that the straight guy in me?).
Did you not notice the female bulges in women's gymnastics? And what about the wedgie problem in women's beach volleyball? How are these less important, or less overtly sexual?
I think sumo wrestling is actually a good example. If we tolerate men's thongs there, and men's speedo-thingies in professional wrestling, it seems evidence that more scantily clad men in the olympics, where the men are actually attractive, is unlikely to stir up that much controversy.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 2:44 PM
I just rethought that last part of my comment. Perhaps the problem is that the men are attractive in the olympics. No guy is worried of being accused of oggling a sumo wrestler or Triple H, but they quite possibily would feel uncomfortable watching/being seen watching mostly-naked attractive men. Especially if they caught themselves looking too hard. Is this what has your inner straight guy squirming inside of you, ogged?
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 2:48 PM
Oy vey, Michael, you've been suckered by the dark forces into thinking this is about homophobia. Part of the point of the second part of the original post was that the people who know me well know I'm into ogling, and they know I'll ogle men and women alike.
There are utilitarian reasons for the differences between the men's and women's clothing in beach volleyball. That's it. The fact that the women's clothing is very sexy doesn't mean that sexiness is the point.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 2:55 PM
Actually, I thought that reference to a straight man inside you might be your coming out signal. I just wanted to help you open up a bit more by leading you to confront your obvious fasination with "the bulge."
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 08-26-04 3:30 PM
Of course it doesn't follow in the sense of a logiacal implication, ogged. Neither, however does it follow from men being unsuited to uneven bars that women will be unsuited to the still rings. Both, however stem from the same underlying cause: the physiological difference between the sexes. Why, when our discussion occurs in the context of sports, where sex differences are so starkly outlined, must we deny that men and women also typically differ with respect to sexual desire? Men, on average, are hornier than women, and spend more time looking at scantily clad sex objects than do women. Do people deny this? [please note the phrases "typically" and "on average"]
I'd love to know what this has to do with "conservatism," sexual or otherwise. I would have thought egalitarianism and feminism (both of which I endorse) are not predicated on ignoring sex differences.
Posted by Anonymous | Link to this comment | 08-27-04 12:31 AM