Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Speedophobia


Why Are Guys Afraid to Wear Speedos?
By Simon Doonan for Slate

American men need to get over their Freudian fear of showing off their junk.
 

Summer is here, and again I am seething with frustration. Why? Every year I scan the beaches for men in Speedos and every year I am disappointed. The ridiculous board-shorts trend shows no sign of waning. I had high hopes for change after last year’s Olympics, when the entire nation was gripped by the spectacle of those jackknifing water sprites in their micro-briefs. (Those preposterously teensy swim skivvies worn by Tom Daley et al could only be explained by some kind of harsh polyester-rationing scheme: “Sorry, boys, but only 1 square inch of fabric per customer. Don’t worry. It is quite stretchy.”) I just assumed that, come this summer, one might see an increased willingness on the part of the U.S. male to embrace a little European savoir-faire. But, yet again, all I see are men in billowing shorts.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Only about 1% of the U.S. male population will look good in a speedo. I'm glad we haven't gone speedo crazy like Europe. I've seen some truly awful looking men in speedos in Europe.

-Chris

JiEL said...

I agree with Chris, NOT everyone should wear a «speedo»...

But when it suits you, just do....

I used to swim with a nice speedo in the 1970 BUT I was tin and part of a swimming team and a waterpolo team too...

Today, I would dare wear a speedo because I'm old and not as fit as I used to be...
Not that I'm «fat» I'm not obese but TOO OLD for that...

Cheers and have a nice $th of July.

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy to live in Europe, there is nothing like a good-looking man in speedos ;) This US board-shorts trend is beyond me ...