I went yesterday to buy some shorts since the temperature is getting into the 90’s lately. Looking through the men’s section, all the shorts were bermuda style. As I went to make my purchase, I looked at the women’s section and notice they were all high cut. So, why have men’s shorts lengthened and women’s seemed stuck in the 70’s?
Women have sexy legs, and in general like to show them off. Men’s legs aren’t considered sexy by nearly as large a percentage of women, and furthermore, men have parts that hang down, potentially below the hem of the shortest shorts.
Not that this isn’t an explanation I just made up on the spot. I think “fashion” is just a word that means “fickle human whimsy with no rational basis or recognizable pattern whatsoever”. In other words, if you can find a reason, it probably isn’t “fashion”.
That’s your rebuttal??!?!?!?!?!? Dude’s disgustingly hairy!
Well, I was looking for a picture of him emerging from the waves in his little bitty bathing suit, but I couldn’t find one. What’s wrong with a little hair? Do you want a guy to shave? Those are lovely legs.
Women’s shorts aren’t stuck in the '70s, they’re BACK in the 70’s, along with long lean t-shirts and orange and green as predominant colors. This is a new thing this year. Last year was all clamdiggers, renamed “capris”, which are below the knee shorts. This year, old lady stores like Coldwater Creek have capris, and Target has short shorts. I hope that men’s shorts follow suit, but seeing how slowly men’s fashion changes, I don’t expect we’ll see male kneecaps until 2011 at the soonest. Sad.
I’d settle for seeing male calves! I haven’t seen a pair of shorts on a man under 30 that didn’t hit near the ankle in years…
Well men didn’t wear shorts in the 70s. I grew up in the 70s and if you were a man, unless you were at the beach or gym class you didn’t wear shorts. It was odd, 'cause we had quite a bit of tan torsos with white legs in gym class.
Look at the NBA for guidelines. Most people forget what a nothing basketball was until the mid 80s it was NO big deal. Then suddenly as a professional sport it took off.
I believe men’s shorts get longer because boys and men are MUCH fatter now than in my generation and want to wear shorts but not show off their fat.
Notice how as the length of shorts got longer the socks got shorter the other way. Now that shorts are past your knee and sometimes ankle length, sock are barely visable above the top of shoes.
Most men, even fat men don’t have grossly fat legs south of their kneecaps. That is the REAL reason why men’s shorts are so long.
I suspect it has a lot to do with underwear choices. Briefs stopped being acceptable for young men in the locker room years ago. And once you’ve got some freedom down there, it would be an unsightly shame to be wearing 70s-style short shorts.
I’m with Zsofia. Who said men’s legs aren’t sexy? I can tell you, Mr. Athena has been biking a lot lately, and wearing shorts, and beautifying the house just by walking around.
Men are supposed to be hairy. If I wanted shaved legs, I’d become a lesbian.
I went to a women’s college. I can assure you, you’d be soundly disappointed if you hopped over the fence for shaved legs. 
What in God’s name do they wear, then, and what’s “years ago”? Seriously. I was always the only freak in boxers, all through high school and in the military through '96 (after that, I’ve not been in enough public nekkid places to be sure).
I don’t get the long shorts. I just saw a kid yesterday and his shorts were nothing but flood water pants. What’s the point?
I assume it is to make my live miserable. I’m a leg woman. It has been a sad, sad decade or two for me. Thank god I married a beautiful pair of legs that loves walking around in boxer briefs.
Except that one or two years when it was fashionable to wear boxers under shorts and have the boxer bottoms show.
Horrible fashion.
Bob
My favorite was the year when it was fashionable to wear skimpy nylon shorts without underwear. Really a cock watchers dream.
I don’t know any guys who admit to wearing tighty whities these days, except one, and he can go either way. (We call them his man-panties.) And of course one can always go the free ballin’ route.
Yeah, I have a fine pair of legs wandering around here, too. Shucks off his pants the minute he walks in the door, he does. God knows what the neighbors think - we don’t have any shades on the dining room windows, and the living room shades are the kind that just kind of give the illusion of privacy.
Shorts were extremely popular among men in Rhodesia all the way up to '79. Even the military wore them proudly.
This just shows that the male youth of today don’t have anything heavy enough down there to require support.