Stealth or ... ?
by Geraden
Here are the results of my long running poll on Geraden's blog.
The question asked was:
As tights (or ph) for men to wear openly with shorts, which do you think are more acceptable generally?
The results of 361 replies were:
| Option | Votes | Percentage |
| Opaque (any colour) | 128 | 35.46 |
| Sheer skintone | 206 | 57.06 |
| Sheer not skintone | 27 | 7.48 |
More than half the respondents have gone for the 'stealth' option and think that sheer skintone tights are the most acceptable form of male legwear. That is what I expected when I set the poll, and it is the option I would have voted for.
However saying this, I had quite forgotten about this article on trenddelacreme.com. It is actually a very positive article written from a female point of view. It is worth quoting from, so I do:
… I think women struggle with men in tights because we wear them to have smoother, sexier legs (so we assume that you wear them for the same reason).
If you really want to get us on board with the trend, stop hiding them. Help us get used to the idea by first wearing colored tights under shorts. Show us that it's a fashionable trend and not a fetish thing. (Remember, women equate hiding with guilt, so if you wear flesh-colored nylons under pants, you might not like the reaction you get.) [my emphasis - G]
The truth is, women can learn to accept men "crossing over" into feminine fashion. We got over the idea of men wearing eyeliner. We got used to men carrying purses. And we even got on board with the male g-string. So, I'm sure that we can jump on the 'men in tights' bandwagon too. But things take time …
My own experience is that where there is acceptance for the general idea of men wearing tights visibly, it does not matter whether the tights in question are skintone or opaque. Where there is entrenched opposition that will allow no reasoning, it does not matter either whether the tights in question are skintone or opaque.
But what about the space in between? I don't know how big that space is, but if it is of significant size, maybe many of us have been barking up the wrong tree! What do you think?
If you would like to comment on this entry, please click on the 'Comments' link below.
Hi Geraden,
Hide or not to hide....What a question...I wear sheer Skintone and black
opaque.... No one takes much notice...
Arcim – thank for your comment.
Geraden
Sorry if i was going down the wrong line....
Some people are generally against the idea from the outset and the norm
that tights are for females (a notion which is slowly changing) but I think
if you are going to come out (be it in general, to a friend, family member,
male, female etc) that you wear tights and have a legitimate reason like
people who use this site do, be it for leg support or like myself, thermal
insulation, then if you tell them in the right way and dont make a big
thing about it or make sure that it doesn't come across fetish like then
your more likely to get a desirable outcome. I've told a good majority of
my female friends, all who accept and some who REALLY accept if you know
what I mean! It really gives you confidence and makes you feel good and at
ease when you get acceptance.
Terminology: In the UK tights and pantyhose are both collectively known as
tights. Stockings refer to garments that extend from the feet to the
thighs, and are usually worn with a garterbelt.
I guess I must be one of the minority of men who much prefers to wear
opaque tights? I can't say that I'm completely open about my wearing whilst
public, but for the past few months I took the step to wear black opaque
light support tights under shorts whilst at the gym because I found they
helped me to avoid cramps and muscle tension whilst warming up and
exercising. I must have now worn them on at least 10 occasions and to date
nobody has commented. I have no choice but to agree with the comment that
you quote in the thread, in that wearing skintone tights could in some way
be seen as "hiding" them in public and would probably make people more
curious. In taking the bolder route of wearing opaques it makes your
wearing completely obvious so you need to be confident from the outset,
however once you make that first step there is no going back because it
feels great!
Avatars
These are some of the contributors to this blog:
