File under: why? I’ve always appreciated the way women compliment each other’s physical attributes without fear that their sexuality will be challenged, and if it is, they don’t care. It’s just built into the way women interact and it’s socially acceptable.
Men? Not so much. We’ve been socialized into these ridiculous man rules that force us to suppress our emotions and feelings that ultimately contribute to our gender dying 5 years earlier than our better halves.
So much for the stronger sex.
One of the many foolish things we buy into is the supposed man’s inability to compliment other men – that guys appreciate other guys. To an extent guys find other guys attractive – that’s just a fact.
Still we play the game because society hasn’t provided a spectrum between gay and straight behavior when it comes to most men. If you have anything good to say about another guy, and you say it in a way that isn’t codeified in the acceptable vernacular, then you. have. to. be. gay.
That’s why this video has an extra layer to it when I watch. The reactions are funny because they immediately call into question that unspoken truth. It’s categorized as a prank video, but it’s just as much a social experiment on attraction:
So a guy sees an nice looking ass. He appreciates it, but when he finds out that it’s a guy they react as guys do. Forget the reactions, throw out gender, and the fact remains that the guys found another guy’s ass appealing.
What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong is that’s not how we’ve been brought up to think.
“Masculine gender socialization is hazardous for men’s health, posing a double whammy of poorer health behaviors and lower use of health care.” -Ronald Levant, EdD, a former president of APA
Yes, I found a way to be a bummer in a post featuring that video.
