When I was in college studying theater one sad last senior semester (when you take classes like “Feminist Theater”), I bumped up against the “male gaze,” which was a theory proffered by Laura Mulvey (quite a while ago) that the audience for films is always put in the perspective of men, specifically straight men. That is, when we see a movie, we always see it through a straight man’s eyes. A scene will linger on the beauty of a woman and will do so as if a straight man were looking at her as opposed to another woman, for example. (I would argue that one of the reasons men in SL don’t have a lot of hair choices is because the male gaze insists on the decoration and objectification of women first. Look at it this way—the hegemony of the male gaze makes those boobs come out so darn big and insists on cleavage skin, k?)
What do you do, though, when the gaze is not straight? It could be argued that gay men have a certain power in our society, much more so than ever before. What about the gay male gaze? Of course, I am stereotyping the gay’s gaze (I couldn’t resist that pun) with this ensemble. (After all there is a whole spectrum of desire and taste within the gay community.) This particular version of desire shows an uber-masculine man displaying his masculinity in a very overt manner with bright colors, tight, revealing clothes, and rich details.
Shea Paule, a gay man made this outfit, so presumably it is what he would like to see on other men. I *really* love the Carnaby Street pants (thanks, T, for the reference), the low slung belt, the um.. prim package included with the pants, the open shirt and its rich pumpkin color. Check out how these pants fit on our guy—they are just tight and just right. It could be argued your average straight guy just could not pull this off but a strong and confident gay man make this look hot.
I wear one of Hart Larsson’s deliciously masculine skins. I like Hart’s work because it is hand drawn and not overdone. Our guy is clean cut, but still strong, not stubbled but still masculine. Tousled tresses from Truth top our tantalizing tiger. A great necklace from Jon Ree provides the perfect amount of decoration and aviator glasses from Guu Nishi hide where our male chooses to gaze.
You know what they say: You can’t teach a gay dog straight tricks. ~ from South Park
Hair: >TRUTH< Jason – cocoa by Truth Hawks for >TRUTH< *
Skin: [ PXL] Daniel NAT Face00 Dark by Hart Larsson for [ PXL ] *
Shirt: HardWear “Bewildered” Shirt (pumpkin) by Shea Paule for HardWear *
Pants: HardWear “Nightshade” Pants/Waistcoat (amber) by Shea Paule for HardWear *
Glasses: HOC – Aviator style glasses #003 Male by Guu Nishi for HOC
Necklace: MTP Sly Fox necklace by Jon Ree for Mustang Trading Post
Shoes: Colbert – Brown (Copy OK, No Transfer) by Eponymous Trenchmouth for Jeepers Creepers *
A Passion for Virtual Fashion 
I like that you do both male and female posts Harper and both done so well. Great look.
Wait a sec, a straight guy could pull off this look; dial down the pumpkin on the shirt and replace it with black, and go for gray scale for the pants (keep the package though), and you’ve got a a typical straight guy influenced by gay fashion..lol.
Oh, and I’d lose the “flaming” necklace and wear an undershirt.
Interesting take on it, Harper.. I hadn’t thought of it like that. I would say that yes, this is something I like to see on other men, but perhaps more *cough* pointedly, something I would like to take off other men.
I agree with Garrett that a straight guy can pull off the look– if he has the balls to do it.
The pants are available in 11 colours, including grey and black, Garrett. :) No black shirt, though. LOL. That would have been… just wrong.
“After all there is a whole spectrum of desire and taste within the gay community.”
There is a whole spectrum of desire and taste withing the heterosexual male community as well, which is why the theory of the “male gaze” falls flat on its face.
Just sayin… ;)
Yeah but this was about gay males. And that was my way of wiggling out of stereotyping gay men’s aesthetic choices :P
You’re such a wiggler… lol ;)
100% of sales of this shirt and anything else pumpkin coloured that I make will be donated to Sunset Jazz to help keep this SL institution going.
A very nice look… I’d wear a higher heel…