Mainstreaming Men's Hosiery - II

by Geraden

Some people believe that tights for men will become mainstream when shelves in shops and supermarkets visibly carry tights for men; and that therefore the companies that market men's tights should be patronised at the expense of companies that market only to women. This is the position I called (a). Then there are others who think that tights for men will become mainstream if men wear them openly, visibly and confidently. Those who hold this view will not necessarily buy tights made specially for men; they will buy what they like to wear, and if the packet has a picture of a pretty nylon-clad woman on the front, that is not a problem(!) - what is all the fuss about? Men and women have the same number of legs, don't they? I called this position (b).

Now both positions (a) and (b) have been argued quite forcefully in the Legwear As Unisex Fashion forum. The (a) position in particular seems to have brought out some crusading zeal, and for other position, where argument or zeal has run out, the (b)'s have not held back from using ridicule. This is unfortunate, because several good people with sincere views were alienated in the process. Although there was no official explanation, I assume that was the reason why the whole thread on the topic was deleted by the moderators of LAUF.

It seems to be a common assumption that all the men who wear tights want these to be a mainstream fashion option for men. But do all of us really thinks so? There must be a sizeable number who do not share this point of view. For some of us the thrill of tights comes not from the soft, silky fabric itself; not from the figure-hugging embrace of the nylon and lycra; not from the warmth, support and comfort that legwear brings, but from the very fact that this is a garment that we see worn by women and not by men.

Personally I love the sight of woman's legs in alluring and sexy nylon: I have a somewhat negative attitude to men's legs in nylon, because I do not, and have no wish to find men's legs either alluring or sexy. It is different with me, of course: I have a very positive attitude to my legs being covered in nylon, not that they fit even remotely into the descriptions of being alluring or sexy!

I actually suspect that may of us, like me, tried on tights as an experiment in the first place simply because they were something that we were not normally allowed to do. School drama productions have a lot to answer for! I will admit that I would probably not have continued to wear if it had not been for the illicit thrill of wearing something that girls wore. That is not to say that these are my reasons for wearing now, but such reasons are nonetheless relevant to any discussion of this topic.

So there are some male wearers who may not want male hosiery wearing to become mainstream, because it would spoil their fun. Maybe I should call this the (c) position. I think there is a much more fundamental divide between the (c)'s on the one hand and the (a)'s and (b)'s on the other, than there is between the (a)'s and the (b)'s on their own.

Maybe some even amongst the (c)'s would like male hosiery wearing to be a bit more acceptable, especially where our significant others are involved (!) but they would feel that they had lost something if it became totally mainstream – in the way that women wearing trousers has become mainstream.

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tags: mainstream  thrill  

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