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| David Selheim |
I have expressed the view in the past that some items of erotic clothing such as jockstraps, look best on bigger men and David Selheim above, seems to demonstrate that the same might be true for G-strings. His well-developed thighs provide a natural valley that the pouch just seems to flow into, matching the shaping of his body in that area.
This is another example of an image where contours of the G-string are smoothed-out to present only a minimal impression of bulk or shapeliness underneath. The 'feminising' effect of this is augmented by the model's hand-behind-the-head pose which is very typical of 50's female glamour shots (although the hairy armpit and chest is obviously not!). I have already mentioned how these images 'normalised' men as glamour subjects, but I think it's fair to say that this image is not at all demeaning to this model's masculinity and yet it is able to inherit all the sexual undertones of heterosexual G-string images which were common currency in popular culture long before gay emancipation.
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| model not identified |
When a man with an undeveloped body like this wears a G-string, the effect is quite different. There's no disguise or dilution of the model's masculinity going on here and (unlike my grumble about jock-straps) the proportions of the garment look fine on his slender body. But somehow it all looks contrived and awkward. That's partly down to his pose of course but the pouch itself seems like an accessory that doesn't quite belong here and that he's not quite sure about either.
However, that actually gives the picture a certain charm.
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| Doug De Witt (WPG) |
This image conveys a similar impression. The spontaneous-looking pose shows a casual awkwardness and lack of self-awareness that is endearing. Even though the model's torso shows evidence of plenty of gym work his physique retains a youthful slenderness on which the pouch hangs loosely. It seems an almost irrelevant feature contributing little by way of erotic effect, as though the model has yet to grow into it.
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| Kenny Owens (WPG) |
The potent effect of combining an awkward pose and a posing pouch is not confined to younger models as this image shows. You might see this as a man cautiously dipping his toe in the water but there's almost a sense of gravitational pull in the direction of the bottom right corner and the plunging G-string line is well to the fore in establishing that. It's a pose that shows off the model's physique very well but the pouch's inherent unconventionality seems to emphasise his awkwardness, uncertainty and vulnerability.
This example is overtly formal in nature, but is so contrived to be casual at the same time that it is in danger of mocking the subject. His relatively baggy G-string seems to underline his slenderness and creates the impression of someone who might be old enough to smoke and hone his muscles but is not yet fully qualified to wear a pouch as though it belonged there.
The pouch seems more at home on this young man's body and it's a fairly classic pose. His is a very manly body from the neck down and the model does not have an excessively youthful face, but in some strange way the overall image somehow strips away his self evident maturity, it's as though the pouch demands a significant degree of maturity in it's wearer.
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| Dennis Lavia |
It's the same with Dennis Lavia here who was a popular physique model in his day. Although he sports tattoos and a manly body-builder pose here, it is amazing how the innocuous pouch seems to highlight his youth.
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| Phil Lambert |
This is Phil Lambert who we saw looking much more grown up in the last post. The G-strings in the last three images above don't have that sense of incongruity I mentioned earlier on and the model's poses are classic posing stuff. But the combination of youth with a garment designed for an very adult purpose seems to highlight their inexperience.
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| Jean-Pierre by Barrington |
This low slung pouch in this picture by British photographer John Barrington has a youthful precociousness all it's own although it looks too well-padded to be sexy in it's own right. The presence of a fully-dressed man in the background and apparent proximity to civilisation just behind the model lends this image an atmosphere of daring which matches the way he wears the garment.
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| Duane Knaus |
A startled-looking Duane Knaus seems as if he's just been summoned for some very serious purpose. Oiled up and ready to go, the skimpiness of his posing pouch augments the erotic atmosphere and accentuates his nudity and vulnerability. A great image.
More next time
Read this series from Part 1