I think we need to sub-divide the ‘beefcake’ into a couple of different categories. Firstly, there’s the traditional beefcake (above), of the muscular male involved in some sort of sporting prowess, sometimes nude, sometimes in a posing pouch, always shirtless.

Then there’s a category I suppose I’d describe as ‘social history’. The likelihood is that the three photographs above workers, miners perhaps, washing down at the end of their shift.

The next five are of what are described as CFNM situations. (Clothed female, nude male). The quality of the photographs is sometimes so poor as to make me wonder as if they haven’t been photoshopped in some way. While CFNM situations arise in naturism, they’re more of an ‘accidental’ situation where one gender has been clothed while in the process of getting, or having been, naked. I know I’ve often been in those situations, as a clothed female in the company of naked men, or conversely as a naked female in the company of clothed males (a CMNF scenario). In naturism these aren’t the ‘fetish/humiliation’ as portrayed in that type of photography.

There’s also the situation where naked males are posed ‘classically’, like Greek gods, perfect specimens of manhood, and that was a familiar type of photograph a hundred years ago, presumably servicing two markets, the art photograph market and a gay scene.

I’m going to guess that the photo above is of an army unit exercising or washing horses. Often there appear to be photographs of nude soldiers for the simple reason that bathing costumes would have been regarded as superfluous kit and thus communal nudity amongst male servicemen was commonplace.

 

Many other nude male photographs exist(ed) to satisfy a gay scene.

Cecil weightlifts and poses in a gay, beefcake scenario (photos taken in the gym at French Lovers Resort-Naturist Gay Zone)

Many skins are available to give that honed, toned, six-packed look. A certain ‘ruggedness’ is also added with designer stubble (all part of the skin effect: this skin from 7 Deadly Skins: Group Gift)

There’s no reason why men can’t look this good in Second Life and be beefcake/eye candy for the ladies. So why do so many men imagine looking like a refrigerator in terms of shoulder, or thigh, size is a good look?

Beefcake, boys, I think we ladies (and most men?) prefer a beefcake look.

Abigail