The Nude Male Model of the Future

My last blog posting left a question of increasing relevance: Will our conceptualization of what constitutes a beautiful, desirable, and “hot” male change as the United States transforms into a nation without a dominant racial or ethnic group, particularly as darker skins begin to predominate? Or will white skin remain the ideal?

Renowned researcher on beauty Nancy Etcoff of the Harvard Medical School and of Harvard University’s Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative believes that the supremacy of white skin as the ideal of beauty is already in slow decline. Still, I wanted another opinion. I thus tracked down Donald Symons, recognized as a preeminent researcher on the evolution of human sexual activity. His 1979 book continues to be mandatory reading for those who study sex and sexuality. Though now retired, Symons, an anthropologist by training, graciously offered his opinion on the impact of demographic change on our understanding of beauty. His estimation accords with that of Etcoff above: Our ideal of beauty is already experiencing a shift to a darker skin tone.

Moving from the realm of academia, I sought out Nicole Caldwell, editor-in-chief of Playgirl, a magazine started 35 years ago as a feminist response to Playboy and Penthouse. Each edition introduces readers to a variety of men, almost always nude. Since one of Nicole’s primary responsibilities is to locate the most beautiful men in the United States, I asked her how the changing diversity of the country impacts her work:

“Playgirl readers regularly weighed in on which models from previous issues were hot, and which were duds. In this mix were some striking commentaries from women who hadn’t grown up in ethnically or ideologically mixed parts of the country or world. Their letters expounded on how they had never found a black man attractive until now; or how piercings always turned them off before. But by Playgirl showing a mix of different men—stature, body hair, tattoos, piercings, Chinese, African-American, you-name-it—women the world over grew a newfound appreciation for this sense of “the other.”

The editors and art staff at Playgirl worked tirelessly to strike a balance between the “classic, all-American man” (most of our models) and men our readers might not be used to feeling attracted to. For the woman writing to us from urban Iraq; to a middle-aged housewife in Indiana; to a grandmother in Georgia, every issue of Playgirl challenged women to open their eyes to new ideas of what constitutes male beauty. We peppered this variety into the mix so as not to overwhelm. Women overall seemed to really enjoy exploring new reaches of their own sexuality and attraction.”

When I asked Nicole about her prediction regarding the impact of demographic change on the “classic all-American male” ideal, she replied:

“I’d posit that as demographics change so too will our notions of what is desirable or beautiful. Normalizing what might otherwise seem strange and unwelcome involves expanding and learning about the other. A changing demographic will do that. Where once there was a series of standards—for example, in Western culture you have the upturned nose, symmetrical features, pale skin—we will essentially be heading into uncharted territory where differences are celebrated. Similar to the Dove commercials showing women of all shapes and sizes, concepts of beauty will be under a wider net.”

Nicole concludes with an extremely important opinion, one that is strikingly similar to that of the aforementioned Donald Symons. He wrote that not all demographic groups will learn to find darker skin desirable. Nicole agrees: “As demographic change happens on a large scale, I also think you will find small pockets of people clinging harder than ever to narrow views of what 'beautiful' is.”

Ominous consequences might arise if their predictions are ultimately correct.