Today I was cruising through the Speedo Forum (yes, I run it and it is 100% free to join), and I came across a few news articles about straight guys wearing speedos more. Over the next week I’ll share some of them and my thoughts if you’d like. And please, feel free to leave your comments/thoughts.
This first one is saying that speedos are becoming less ‘gay’.
My thoughts on this is a little mixed and probably different to my American friends. In Aussie, speedos aren’t exclusively ‘gay’ at all. At the pool, the majority of guys are speedo’ing it up, and I’d assume, the majority of those guys are str8. I definitely found that a little different when I have been in the states and gone lap swimming. Lots more jammers and even guys wearing dork shorts when swimming proper laps/training.
In public places (other than a lap swimming pool), if someone is just ‘hanging out’, at the beach or at a pool party/bbq, then yeah, it is more of a ‘gay’ thing to be wearing speedos, even down under.
That is something that I would like to see change.
What do you guys think?
Here is the guts of the article that I found interesting, and I hope it comes true!!!
If straight men embrace the Speedo, it will be the latest step in a fashion trend that has blurred the lines between straight and queer culture. “Gay men, we have a history with Speedos; in a weird way, this feels like a natural continuation of straight men becoming more gender fluid in their presentation,” Vingan’s friend Alex Smith tells her. (He wore a Speedo as a college swimmer.) “We’ve progressed past the painted nails and the pearls, and now we’re doing Hot Boy Summer with the Speedos.”
The Speedo was born nearly 70-years ago at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games; but it still hasn’t broken through to the mainstream, in part because of those wearing them can be perceived as gay. Queer comedian Jay Jurden says, pointed out that water polo players and professional wrestlers often wear Speedos for their sports. “How much material difference is there between 3-inch running shorts and a Speedo,” Jurden wonders “besides the fear that you’re going to be seen as ‘gay’? We give queer men permission to feel sexy, but we kinda strip that away from a lot of cis hetero men.”
Jurden feels so strong about the issue he challenged a cis hetero friend to come to Fire Island for a weekend, but only one condition: he wear a Speedo. His friend did and, according to Jurden, felt free. “This is the kind of freedom we could all be experiencing,” Jurden tells GQ. “It was both an exercise in equality, as well as: What kind of man you’re going to be? Are you gonna be a man who’s still tied down to all of these old-school ideas, or am I going to branch out into this fun, new modern man?”
For those – queer or not — who want to give the swim brief a try for the first time, there are several brands, shapes, and cuts to experiment with to help you wade in. According to Doug Conklyn, Speedo’s senior vice-president of global design, Speedo’s best-selling Solar Brief has a 2-inch outseam, accommodates a wide range of body types and are ideal for recreational use and to achieve minimal tan lines. The brand offers even smaller cuts, and next year will launch a slightly wider shape with a 3-inch outseam. “We’re going to continue to embrace this thing that at times can be polarizing,” he says.
And Jurden asserts that both freedom of clothing and expanding definitions of masculinity can only help all of us. “The closer we get to straight men being comfortable in their skin, maybe they’ll go outside, maybe they’ll meet someone, maybe they’ll vote the right way,” he says. Could this even help cure the alleged male loneliness epidemic? “It’s hard to be lonely in a Speedo,” he adds.
Here is the link to the full source article: https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/339531#
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