# Naked Men on Television **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653 "2000-09-26T20:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/21 "2000-09-26T23:14:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > But more than not, I do see that crease in there that is definitely a vagina. > > Get out your anatomy books and look up what part is actually the vagina. It is the sheath, within the labia minora, that the penis goes up into. You can’t see it unless you spread the lips. \*\* Ewww! Enough! There’s gay men in here! ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/22 "2000-09-27T00:24:36Z")
More, more, there’s straight men in here! –Tim ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/23 "2000-09-27T01:05:09Z")
For what it’s worth I agree with the people who think it’s a matter of preference. More specifically, it’s a question of economics. People who make TV shows are trying to get people to watch. I suspect that a lot more men are interested in seeing naked women than there are women interested in seeing naked men. Why should that difference exist? Well, sorry to sound like a sociobiologist, but, if you consider the popular theories on mixed reproductive strategy, it makes a lot of sense. I wonder if there is a similar assymetry in non-HBO watching cultures . . . ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/24 "2000-09-27T02:19:30Z")
\<\\> Heh, I’m gay, but I’m not gay. I’ve watched gay flicks and it was promptly thrown in the trash. I want something as dramatic as the movie Ghost but with lil penis showing – you know? Seems gay flicks contain nothing but mindless sex, no storyline, no substance, just sex sex sex. I like HBO becuase they attempt to mix the two. For example, they have this wonderful show called “Sex and the City” where you have a group of women who go out and have sex. I know it sounds like a trashy show, but I kid you not, it is quality programming! They have yet to show one single penis, despite the fact that the show pratically says the word a gillion times during the storyline. \<\< What shows on HBO are showing a woman’s vagina? Wouldn’t that require spreading of the legs and lips? Or do you mean to say they show the outer parts of a woman’s genitals?\>\> Actually, they have a series called “Real Sex.” Which in actuality, shows the spreading of legs quite alot. I wish there were other HBO watchers would step forward, I’m not making this up. 😉 But for the most part, they show the outer genitals, which I still consider the vagina. You show that woman prancing around on the HBO series to any man and they’ll be more than likely to tell you it is a vagina or a pussy. I doubt they’ll refer to it as a labia or the outer pubic region. 😉 \<\<“Swinging” is overstating it a bit. I’d say “jiggling.”\>\> I laughed so hard when I read this. \<\\> You got me back this statement. Elaborate? Thanks for the replies gang, this is really interesting and entertaining thread. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/25 "2000-09-27T03:15:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Honesty \* > [B\<\\> > > You got me back this statement. Elaborate? \*\* What the poster meant was that the penis at the end was not actually Mark Wahlberg’s penis–it was a prosthesis. Allegedly, the special effects guys said it was the scariest thing they had ever worked on including all their years of making props for horror movies. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/26 "2000-09-27T03:39:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Honesty \* > \*\*Ok, riddle me this. > > Why do they never, ever show a man naked in a sex scene on television? I’ve had HBO, for around three years. During sex scenes, they’d show a woman’s breasts flopping about and their vagina fully exposed. But a guy usually has something covering his penis up. When it isn’t something covering it up, then the camera suddenly shifts upwards. > > So what is the deal? Why do they show women fully in the nude all of the time, but never men? \*\* HBO just shows bush so far as I know. And no I don’t mean George W. You don’t actually end up seeing the genitals. Once in a while on their television show Oz you’ll see a penis flopping around. Marc ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/27 "2000-09-27T15:14:55Z")
There was a computer flick in the 70s, The Forbin Project ?? and the computer had this really big penis & they showed it too. Also, the Boob Tube, another 70s flick, had a talking penis. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/28 "2000-09-27T15:22:46Z")
handy: No penises, talking or otherwise, in The Forbin Project. You might be thinking of Demon Seed, in which a self-aware computer with the voice of Robert Vaughn impregnates a woman. But, to tell the truth, I don’t recall a penis in that one, either. (It’s based on a Dean Koontz novel – I think it’s the first adaptation of his work). There have been other picturs since that show science-fiction penises. I’ve seen a clay animated film set in a toy shop with cklay penises on Ken dolls an the like, and a purple forked penis on an alien. There’s alsoo an animated “Mother Goose” film with an x-rated “Jack in the Beanstalk” segment featuring a giant penis. But these instances are few and relatively recent (even the Mother Goose cartoon I cite usually covers up the penises), and I agree with the folks above who call this a double standard. Guys don’t seem to like the idea of showing penises flacci or erect. ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/29 "2000-09-27T17:19:56Z")
They show more than enough penises on tv here in the UK (if you watch at night, of course) – but never erect, and often in a relatively non-sexual context, e.g. nudist camp docudramas, naked game shows, strange European competitions, and the like. (Needless to say, these are penises most of us don’t really want to see!) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/30 "2000-09-27T17:26:12Z")
> [@](#): > > the outer genitals, which I still consider the vagina. You > show that woman prancing around on the HBO series to any man and they’ll be more than > likely to tell you it is a vagina or a pussy. I doubt they’ll refer to it as a labia or the outer > pubic region. The word you’re all looking for is _vulva._ Vulva is a great word, an excellent word. It’s fun to say. I want to get everyone to say “vulva.” I love vulva! **vulva! _vulva!! VULVA!!!_** ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/31 "2000-09-27T17:26:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\*handy: > > No penises, talking or otherwise, in The Forbin Project. You might be thinking of Demon Seed, in which a self-aware computer with the voice of Robert Vaughn impregnates a woman. \*\* The movie Saturn 3 or Saturn 5 (i forget) has a robot penis that has sex with Farra Faucet (sp). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/32 "2000-09-27T17:29:45Z")
Talking about robot penises or cartoon penises just proves the OP’s point. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/33 "2000-09-27T18:24:22Z")
Yow! How could I forget the cult classic Flesh Gordo, with the infamous rotating robot penises? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/34 "2000-09-27T18:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > \*\*All the above posts distinguishing between a fully naked woman and a fully nake man, genitalia-wise, are the standard justification for the double standard; that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a double standard. > > The real reasons are all about power. To expose the woman entirely but allow the man some cover is perfect metaphor for the power imbalance between the sexes in our society. Trust me, if women had more power, they’d be the one to retain some dignity and the men would be the ones laid out like a formaldehyded frog. > > The other power-related issue has been mentioned again: the dick you don’t see is much bigger than the one you don’t. When leading men finally have to show it all, it’ll be like the advent of talkies: many careers will crash and burn, not to mention Tom Cruise specifically . . . > > And BTW, they did _not_ show no dick in _Boogie Nights_, except in the sense that they showed aliens in _Close Encounters_. \*\* Your analysis undoubtedly applies also to the way men and women dress, generally. When’s the last time you saw a man wearing a sleeveless bare-midriff top, and what did you think of him when you did? Women’s casual fashion, with all its skin-baring approaches to near-nakedness, bespeaks vulnerability and perhaps childlikeness. This is usually thought of as a negative, but in a way it’s positive too, as women have the freedom to dress that way if they wish, or more conservatively if that is their preference. Don’t get me wrong. As a man, I think women look teriffic in that type of clothing. It’s more the sexual dichotomy which I criticize. Men’s casual shorts/shirts just keep getting baggier and longer to the point where they’re hardly shorts at all; our other clothes are equally body-concealing: we might as well be Moorish women. ---
**Author:** ![warinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@warinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warinner)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/35 "2000-09-27T19:18:06Z")
Max Torque wrote: > [@](#): > > Still, if you just gotta see a tallywhacker, go rent Wild Things and take a gander at Kevin’s Bacon. You’ll also get a glimpse in Hollow Man. Kevin’s trouser snake is becoming so exposed, soon it’ll need its own agent. And bring a whole new dimension to the Kevin Bacon game. Andrew “bignum” Warinner ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/36 "2000-09-27T22:43:48Z")
You mean the new “Kevin’s Bacon” game? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/37 "2000-09-27T23:56:22Z")
Actually, I think the reference is to the exciting new game “6 inches of separation.” ---
**Author:** ![kethle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/13edae/32.png) [@kethle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kethle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/38 "2000-09-28T02:19:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > > **The dick you don’t see is much bigger than the one you [do.** > > \*\* How big is the one you do? ---
**Author:** ![don\_willard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@don\_willard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_willard)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/39 "2000-09-28T16:47:29Z")
There seem to be many theories here, some about power, and some say women are more exposed and some say men! And there are these power reasons. Another explanation for the customs of bodily presentation (exposed, unexposed, which parts are shown, and all adornments including tattoos) is the one apparently ordained by at least some structuralist philosophers: namely there is no rational reason and no power reason, ON THE WHOLE. There is no REASON at all. There is no meaning to this phenomenon anymore than there is any meaning to anything else we do: we are just all practising variations of baboon hind end display and monkey head-with-banana-draped-on-it behavior. Such things occurWHEN THE PRIMATES INCLUDING US HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO (IE., HAVE TOO EASY A LIFE), much like even a bored dog eating its excrement or the draperies. It all starts the way this one ape tribe was observed starting a behavior: primatologists peering at a tribe noticed that one day a female took her banana down to the local seashore and swished it around in the waves and then ate it. A few other monkeys followed suit and eventually most of them were doing this, and PASSING IT DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS. As you can see, there is no point to it at all. See also my entry on the horsemeat thread. Somebody wore his cap backward one day and now look what we have on our hands! Recently I observed a person sitting in a group and he had A WASHRAG ADORNING THE TOP OF HIS HEAD. This may or may not become the next big fashion, but remember you read it here first. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653/40 "2000-09-28T16:59:52Z")
Well first off let me say, don willard, that I want some of whatever _you’re_ on. Second, thanks for clearing it up for us: if you put a million monkeys in a room, they’ll end up naked, with the males shielding their penises from view, and the females “taking their bananas down to the local seashore and swishing it around in the waves,” if that’s what the kids are calling it these days. And what a relief to know there’s no reason for anything we do. I can stop wasting so much of my time on SDMB. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-men-on-television/34653.md?page=3)