Ok, I give up: What is with men posing barechested (not at the beach) on the internet?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

The news just hit that a congressman got nabbed after sending a shirtless pic of himself to a woman on Craigslist, trying to start an adulterous affair.

Ignoring the problems: adultery for him, revealing private email correspondence to the gossip media for her, what is with the barechested thing? They appear to have these on match.com as well.

I’m guessing the dudes work out and want to show off, but why not a tight tshirt? Don’t most women not want to see the shirtless pic before the first meeting?

Do other countries men (besides the USA) do this shirtless look-at-my-pecs-i-have-a-gym-membership thing too?

#2

Heterosexual male here…

Since I got my Kindle last year, I’ve been keeping an eye on the “free & cheap” book offerings, and I’ve seen an awful lot of books with bare male chests on their covers. When I see that, I figure I’m not the target audience for the book in question and just move on, but I figure they must be a turn-on for someone. Either that, or “bare male chest on the cover” is shorthand for “this book is a lusty romance novel” the same way “spaceship on the cover” is shorthand for “this book is science fiction.”

#3

I see this a lot on internet dating sites. (I’m not a member of any right now, but have been in the past, and sometimes even now browse profiles for entertainment.) Doing this is even worse than men putting pictures of their toys (boats, motorcycles) on their profiles or having only photos of themselves wearing sunglasses (I need to see your eyes, man!). Ickorama.

I think it’s because men are primarily visually attracted/stimulated, so they think women are, too.

#4

Plus, they are attracted by bare-chested women, so they think women are attracted by their hairy nipples.

#5

Because everyone loves titties.

#6

We used to have this library patron who seemed like a really nice guy - very quiet, very polite. He was always asking for help with these dating websites for black people, and once he asked for my opinion on which picture he should use. There were three, all shirtless (dude was shockingly ripped - you couldn’t tell with his shirt on) and I hemmed and hawed about it being his own decision and he begged me, please, you’re a woman, which is the best one? My coworkers were just dying in the background because I told him, dude, maybe one with your clothes on?

He acted like that was the dumbest thing he ever heard and said, and this is very nearly a direct quote, “I’m looking for a lady - somebody God-believing and sweet and smart!” So I guess them God-believing ladies like the six pack? I don’t know, he must have found her because I haven’t seen him in here in ages.

#7

According to okcupid’s blog, men with shirtless pictures (displaying a fit body of course) get the most responses by far.

#8

I think they do it for the same reason a lot of women take pictures of themselves from the most flattering angle which also emphasizes their cleavage. They are wanting to show off something they think is one of their better attributes.

If you got it, flaunt it and all of that

#9

:smack: Somehow I’m not surprised, but I wish that people wouldn’t encourage this nonsense. I think that those pictures make the guys look ridiculous. I always found it a strong turn-off. I only wrote to guys who were dressed normally in their photos.

#10

Positive responses?

#11

Ah, there’s the rub: if you read the article, at first the OKCupid guy tells you “everyone says not to do this, but our data says it gets you a lot of responses!”. But then at the end of the article, he admits that pictures which follow what “everyone says” are better at getting responses from people you actually want to write back to.

#12

It’s probably very much like what would happen if a woman put up a sultry picture of herself in a tiny bikini on a dating site; I imagine you’d get tons of messages compared to women pictured fully clothed, and more responses to messages you sent out, but I can’t imagine it would improve the quality of the people messaging you (assuming you are looking for a relationship based on more than mutual great abs and sex).

I see a ton of shirtless muscular men, and scantily clad muscular women, on the internet because I frequent a lot of health and fitness websites/blogs. Most of them are trying to either sell their product or services, or simply demonstrate that what they recommend results in a good body, so it’s almost necessary to see what they look like almost naked.

#13

When will men ever learn that the last thing a woman wants to have to worry about on a date is dexterous prehensile nipple hair?

#14

Why are you assuming that?

#15

Those men are looking for women who like men posing barechested. It’s a strong turn-off to you because of your tastes and personality but it’s apparently a turn-on for many women who are significantly different from you.

You know you’re not what he’s looking for and he’s made it clear he’s not who you’re looking for. All the better that you can see at a glance he’s a Jersey Shore character looking for his equivalent half.

#16

I don’t see where in the article it says that. The section on shirtless men seems to mention solely positive results. Later, in the section on women showing cleavage they mention that pictures involving doing something interesting get better responses than average, but even if we assume this also applies to men, this still does not amount to “doing what everyone says”. Moreover, doing something interesting and having your shirt off are in no way incompatible.
I really don’t see anything in that article that suggests bare-chested profile photos have any kind of negative effect on those in the sample set who had them.

#17

Shirtless is a bit much. A sleeveless shirt is a classy alternative that still allows you to show off your biceps.

#18

Yip. Plus I’ve seen it work in real life. Guy takes off his shirt, is both shaved and well muscled, and the girls swoon. My sister, who almost never talks about guys, would even talk about how hot a certain guy looked.

#19

Classy alternative? “Classy” and “sleeveless shirt” should never be used in a sentence unless it’s describing how you should never use them in the same sentence. A picture of a guy posing in a sleeveless shirt sends off more douche vibes than a picture of that same guy not wearing a shirt at all. Whenever I see a guy wearing a muscleshirt I think of Mac from Always Sunny.

#20

Exactly.