Consistency?

Feminism Men and Tampons

I am absolutely fed up, ashamed, and angry that men are now relegated to the compost heap, by there own means. Grown men acting like spoiled brats, he took my toy away blah blah .

Look around you now, what you see is man made, man invented, man designed. There is not one women in history that has forwarded mankind, not one iota. Its been men since we crawled out the sea. Even today men are exploring space, by man made stuff.

Test are being carried out in the UK which is looking at which is the best for men, sanitary pads or tampons. The purpose of this research is so men can empathise with women. New man, no new species.

Are there any real men left in this world? sure there are in Russia, China, Korea, Vietnam and such countries not forgetting of course Iraq.

Until men find their back bone, stop crying. Either fight for your natural rights or shut up.

I remember when women stated that “men should find their feline side” and boy, men were falling over themselves to comply. Now women want real men.

James

I am not sure whether you are serious or not, but on the assumption that you are, I respect your opinions, even though I think some of your remarks are way over the top.

I have had to edit your post for bad language - which does not help you make your point, and has no place on this site.

Geraden

Hi Geraden.

His comment does seem way over the top. I had to read a couple of phrases more than once, because I was so surprised.

Regarding your blog entry, I agree with you. Even before I finished reading your entry, I tried to come up with an answer to the dilema, and my response matched yours perfectly. Her defenses won't come up when she looks at another guy in hosiery. Therefore, I am going to ask people the following questions.

* What would your friends say if they saw me? * What would your relatives say if they saw me? * Will they think that I am gay? * Do you think that I am gay? * Will anybody think that I'm crossdressing?

I don't think that these questions will solve our problems, but I think that they will help to break down some defenses of strangers that we meet, before the defenses even come up.

I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this.

-- Sincerely, and with thanks, Eugene T.S. Wong

Hi Eugene

Your questions can be answered two ways: (a) the response your wife or SO would give to the question if you asked it, and (b) what the real answer from a third party would be.

Here's what I think, but I could be wrong.

What would your friends/relatives say if they saw me? Example of answer (a): "They would feel sorry for me that I have such a weird husband" Example of answer (b): "Is he wearing tights? I didn’t notice. Well, whatever floats your boat!"

Will they think that I am gay? Answer (a): "I have always thought that there was something a bit queer about him." Answer (b): "What other evidence do you have that he is gay? Does he look at men rather than women? Do you still make love?"

Do you think I am gay? Answer (a and b): "Well you are effeminate, a wuss, and that is the next thing to being gay. I want a manly man, not a man who wears tights"

Will anybody think I am cross-dressing? Answer (a): Well you are, aren't you? (b): "What's your problem? He isn’t hurting anyone, and you can hardly tell unless you look hard. Let him wear what he likes!"

Regards

Geraden

Geraden, you have a good point. I suspect that its slightly unrelated to my main point, though. I'll have to get back to you, because I'm kind of busy now.

The only thing I hold against women is their assumption that they can wear anything they like, no matter how masculine and/or inapporpriate it may be, and we men are expected to still think they look good or sexy.

A woman doesn't want me in tights? OK, fine. I think they look horrendous in trousers. Women should not hide their legs like that. They just don't seem to realize that fashion disapproval works both damn ways.

Men really are scrutinized relentlessly. If we have just one thing out of place, one thing that doesn't seem manly enough, then we're "obviously" gay. It isn't right and, where fashion and clothing rights are concerned, women definitely have the advantage.

There may be hope someday though. I don't wear earrings, but that is commonplace on men now. I do, however, have quite long hair (nearly shoulder-length) and no-one has ever said a bad word about it. And just a few short decades ago, hair like I have would have caused me no end of trouble ... so we men have made some advances, but not nearly enough. I just ache for the day when skirts and tights tailored to our physiques become accepted and de rigueur. Only then do I think we can talk about equality between the sexes.

Oh yes, forgot to mention, I am forever citing that portrait of Henry VIII whenever the subject of "men in tights are girly" comes up.

No-one in their right mind would want to tangle with Henry in that painting. The hose really emphasizes what a strong man he was. So much for the "tights are girly or gay" argument.

Cedric

Apologies for hijacking your question for my blog, and thanks for your comments!

My point about Henry VIII exactly! And Louis XIV, for all he appears more effeminate (product of a later and more polished age) was certainly not someone to tangle with either. He did after all hold his throne for over 70 years and conducted many wars during that time, in some of which he personally led his army, as of course Henry VIII did in his time. Both kings were active in the bedroom and had enough mistresses to belie any suggestion that they were gay. Both of them wore their tights fairly provocatively, as a means of enhancing their attractiveness and sex appeal.

As for the attitude of women, it is born of insecurity. "What will people think?" is prominent in their minds. And that insecurity seeks out the comforting stereotypes and misconceptions, which are no more than prejudices: for example the 'gay myth'.

On that subject, studies seem to be divided as to whether the incidence of cross dressing is more or less the same in straight and gay men, or whether it is less common among gays. I have not yet seen a report of any research that suggests that gay men are more likely to cross-dress. Among my tights wearing friends and contacts I know of only one who is gay. Most are either married or in a relationship with a woman, or else are hoping to find the right female partner.

Regards

Geraden

Earrings....I have had earrings in both ears for years and years...With not one problem at all... The first few days after having them done...It felt that people where looking at you for having earrings... The truth is that no one is..

Just to add to this...I go to Spain quite a lot....For many years you would not see Spanish men with earrings...But over the last couple of years i have seen quite a few...

Talking about Spain...The wearing of tights has not died off...In Barcelona...Tights tights every where...Shops and wearing

I could not resist showing this one!

Details about this painting, Isabella by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Millais, can be found here.

Thanks to Ldudno on LAUF for drawing attention to this.

pleased you all liked it

Hi again, Geraden.

I'm going to copy those questions and paste them here, so that we won't have to scroll up and down, plus, it will give me a second chance to see if I can figure out this wiki format.

• What would your friends say if they saw me?

• What would your relatives say if they saw me?

• Will they think that I am gay?

• Do you think that I am gay?

• Will anybody think that I'm crossdressing?

The questions that I suggested were more directed at women that I am not related to, that have boyfriends, or husbands, or common law husbands. The idea is that I would gauge how they feel about hosiery by the way that they answer. Also, I would be able to get them thinking about it, so that their men can wear hosiery.

I assume that the women would want to give the most polite and sympathetic answer. I'm hoping that their answers will actually change their views on the issue.

What do you think about that?

-- Sincerely, and with thanks, Eugene T.S. Wong

Take a look at Comfilon/Activskins new OAQ (Support pages) - they suggest an answer all your question

That's a shame. I was hoping the guy in the painting was saying 'What do you think of my tights Isabella? - only £2.50 in the House of Fraser Sale!' but it turns out he's kicking her dog!

the 'guy' in the tights is called Lorenzo

Hi Ldudno

I don't think the guy in the tights is Isabella's lover, Lorenzo. Lorenzo is the one sitting next to Isabella offering her an orange - we can't see whether he is wearing tights, but given the fashions depicted, it is a good bet that he is.

The guy in the tights is probably Isabella's brother, who later murders Lorenzo.

Shame the tights guy is the baddie! But Isabella's servant, standing behind her, is also wearing tights. Maybe he is one of the good guys. He has a look of serenity and devotion to Isabella.

Geraden

Swedish Kings in tights

With a short delay the renaissance fashion was adopted also by the Scandinavian nobles. According to the portraits, the Swedish kings were keen tights wearers. Here are three images depicting King Gustav Vasa and his two sons, Erik af Vasa (Erik XIV who had serious plans to marry Elizabeth I of England) and Johan III (John III of Sweden), all kings of Sweden during the 16th century. Just to quote Mel Brooks: 'It's good to be king'. I am jealous.

Hi Kaj

Thanks very much for these. It may once have been good to be a king, but I seriously doubt whether today's King Carl XVI Gustaf is wearing tights; the same goes for Charles Prince of Wales and his sons in the British Royal Family!

However in this more democratic age any man can wear tights as nice as those worn by the Renaissance kings, and probably nicer!

Geraden