Kim Thon
English 110
10th September 2013

I’m sexy and I know it: Why shouldn’t I?

I feel like there has been a change since Susan Bordo’s “Beauty (re)discovers the male body” when it comes to acceptance for men to care about their appearance. Bordo is claiming that for a long time it has been okay for men to view revealing pictures of women, but that it’s new for women to view revealing pictures of men. She talks about men showing themselves naked in pictures as a taboo. Men aren’t simply comfortable watching other men without clothes. I believe it is more accepted now, than it was when Bordo wrote the essay. I believe this is because of the homosexual-community, and that it’s more accepted in today’s society, but …show more content…

The leaner, which got their name because they’re almost always reclining, leaning against, or propped up against something in the advertisement. They play more with their gaze in a seductive way, inviting the viewer to escape into their world. A leaner is more feminine, on a contrary to the rocks that are more masculine. The leaners are younger than the rocks, often between 20 and 30 years old, while the rocks usually are between 30 and 40 years old and their bodies are made for movement, in contrary to the buff rocks. “A recent Calvin Klein “Escape” ad depicts a young, sensuous-looking man leaning against a wall, arm raised, dark underarm hair exposed. His eyes seek out the imagined viewer, soberly but flirtatiously. “Take me,” the copy reads” (Bordo 205). Here we see that it’s still all about the gaze. Now it’s not about challenging through the gaze, but the sensual flirtation in the gaze.
I consider George Clooney to be a real man, loved by women everywhere, but still he cares about what he wears. So does that make him feminine? I think it only improves his masculine image. He’s a man, and he knows it. He looks good, and he knows it. It doesn’t matter if he wears “masculine-clothes” or in this case, a white suit. In this picture he is a mix of a leaner and a rock. He’s a rock because he stares into the camera, he’s older and he has a challenging look.