Why Is The Image Of A Man In Tights Funny?
January 14, 2009
BY KATE HARDING (reposted in Chicago Sun-Times)
MSNBC's Web site last week helpfully alerted us to a new trend: "Mantyhose." It seems a growing number of American men are discovering the joy of wearing pantyhose for warmth, comfort and support -- as long as they come with testosteroney names like Comfilon's "ActivSkin legwear for men." Thus, women all over America are asking, "Wait, since when are pantyhose warm, comfortable or supportive?"
The answer in the article came from Mack, a consumer of hosiery marketed to men. "They are tougher, less delicate than women's pantyhose, but not as bulky as long underwear," he said.
Oh, so they're tights! (At least in American parlance.) That just isn't as funny a word to slap "man" on the front of. Got it. (Also, according to the illustration featuring the aforementioned ActivSkin legwear, they feature such perks as a "male comfort panel," which is so my new band name.)
The point of the article, as far as I can tell, was not actually to document an emerging trend -- Steven Katz, co-owner of Comfilon, admitted the market remains "tiny" -- but to chuckle at the very notion of "mantyhose."
"It is important to note that the trend has no connection to men who wear hose to cross-dress, since they prefer to wear pairs that are more feminine," wrote Vidya Rao.
Yes, it's terribly important to draw that distinction, because the other image isn't nearly as funny as that of a visibly macho dude in control-top stockings.
As Vanessa at Feministing said, "Even the companies use humor in their marketing techniques; the tagline for Comfilon is, 'This is NOT your mother's pantyhose.' This seems indicative of the general male hetero response to anything they do or wear that's 'feminine' -- if you mock it while you're doing it, you can get away with it."
And that's the problem: It's the feminine being mocked.
While I admit to finding phrases like "male comfort panel" intrinsically funny, the real joke here is ultimately nothing more than, "Ha! Men are doing something that mostly only chicks do!" Your average tights (though not so much pantyhose) are, in fact, warm, comfortable and supportive -- that's why so many athletes, male and female, wear a thicker version of them for their sports -- so if you remove the context of gender norms, it's absolutely no surprise that they'd appeal to men (at least once somebody thought to put a fly in 'em).
There is exactly one reason why the market for men's tights is "tiny": because in recent American history, tights have been associated fairly strictly with women. And no man in his right mind wants to be womanly! Who would choose such a terrible fate?
This is such a perfect example of why vocal feminists get cranky about seemingly trivial things like jokes and/or hosiery: because the underlying premise here, the thing that makes it "funny," is that being like a woman is humiliating.
Which makes it that much sadder that, according to the article, women are even more weirded out by seeing their husbands and boyfriends in tights than the men themselves are.
I'll leave you readers to pick apart what that means.
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Kate Harding is founder of the Web publication Shapely Prose, and a regular contributor to Fatshionista and Salon, where this blog entry was originally posted.
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Comments: 6
This is a twist on the men's pantyhose phenom that has not been very much in evidence up til now. I'm a guy who's been wearing pantyhose ('mantyhose' if you insist) for about 10 years or so--helps with leg circulation issues. Although I've long ago become accustomed enough to them that I hardly care at all what anyone might think when they realize what I'm wearing, it’s always been ironic to note the disparity in how men and women are perceived when wearing something normally associated with the opposite gender. I've virtually never personally received any negative reactions when someone realizes I'm wearing hose. However, I read a lot of derogatory comments/blogs that go with the dozens and dozens of articles that have been written on this topic.
As you've hinted at in this article, when men wear 'womens' clothing items they're questioned as to whether something's wrong with them. On the other hand, if a woman wears masculine clothing, she's seen as hip and cool, and confident. The guy, on the other hand, is described in much more negative terms. Why is that?
Are women considered to be inferior, and by wearing something of theirs, are men considered to be 'lowering themselves' to the level of the woman? Are women who wear men's things seen as striving to advance their stature by doing so? That would also explain why women of 40 or 50 years ago took so much flack for donning pants. They were clearly stepping out of their assigned place in society--kind of like blacks of the time who acted 'uppity' and had to be put in their place. And, I’m sure radical feminist types would be quick to indict my gender for adhering to that old male dominance mentality—regardless of how many of us guys these days truly value women for their intrinsic dignity as women.
Nowadays, women are ostensibly on a more or less equal footing with us men. However, this disparity in reactions to dressing in the other’s clothes may reveal a subtle, hidden vestige of inferior/superior mentality--even though it's not overtly enforced like it was many years ago.
Now, the really interesting thing is what you hinted at with your final question. That is, why is it that the women seem (in some cases) to be more likely to be weirded out by a male wearing pantyhose than the guys are. Does that imply an inferiority complex that is ingrained in women themselves? Are there other explanations?
It's possible that it's nothing more than women being afraid that their guy is going to lose his social position--and by extension her position, too--by exposing himself to (perceived) ridicule. I know that my wife seems to fall into this category. Even though I know from a lot of experience that I’m not going to encounter ridicule if someone realizes I’m wearing hose, she doesn’t have the firsthand experience of ‘non-eventfulness’ time after time that I go somewhere while wearing hose and shorts—so she’s not as comfortable with it as I am.
Of course, guys can get ridiculed if they act like there’s something wrong with what they’re wearing. Me, I’m confident enough in myself and my masculinity that it projects to people I meet, and those that already know me, know that I’m just a regular guy—despite what I may be wearing on my legs. The rest of what I wear is pretty typical ‘guy clothes’, too. So at first glance, I look like most everyone else.
I guess the bottom line for me is that I DO make a point of not allowing the fact I’m wearing hose make me appear feminine—but it’s not because I consider the feminine to be inferior. (God made men and women with equal dignity, but some differences in gifts and abilities). And, I don’t consider the wearing of nylon hosiery to be automatically feminine, speaking purely objectively. It’s thought of as feminine at this point in history because men abandoned the wearing of tights several hundred years ago, and women picked it up in the past century. Therefore, there’s nothing about wearing sheer or opaque stretch legwear that isn’t equally well suited to men. It’s not like that recent story about bras for men, for instance. I mean, both men AND women have legs that you can put tights on. But men lack some important ingredients to put a bra over (haha). Now, THAT’s a funny image—just like that of a woman wearing a jock strap.
As for the TED hose, no, I don't think that qualifies you as weird. But, if you start wearing ActivSkin we'll have to call you a cross-dresser because those are pantyhose made for MEN!
www.activskin.com
www.comfilon.com
Hmmm, they look the same as a regular woman's pantyhose at least as far as the leg is showing. I feel sorry for the cheap quality type pantyhose that women have to put up with. Since men usually take quality and durability seriously, I strongly suggest that men and women team up to demand better quality.
I haven't been keeping close tabs on the discussion here on my Gather page so much lately (I do get e-mail notices of new comments), because most of the discussion is now taking place over at The Nylon Gene (www.nylongene.com), where I've been hosting discussion on all things legwear for the past two months. I would encourage you to visit, and also have your new bride take a look, too. It's geared mostly toward those who either don't wear legwear and are curious, or are maybe new to it, as well as loved ones of those men who are/have been wearing hose for some time now.