Blog Dis
Oh please no more... pretty please!
2025-06-10
It has begun. With the arrival of warmer temps, they are out early and here to stay for summer, I'm afraid and just knowing this fills me with a measure of disdain. I speak of the arrival of big, bulging bellies, typically found on very overweight men who are under the mistaken impression that the public very much wants to see their distended bellies rolling down the streets, barren and without covering - no T-shirt, no gold shirt, no nothing.
Know that I fully appreciate how this post will not be a popular opinion, yet it deserves to be expressed.
I call it assaulting the eyes, being accosted by bellies as they make way down the road, sometimes sweaty and sometimes very hairy, hanging over a thin edge of shorts that are clearly under too much strain, and barely able to be held up underneath the weight of these beer-bellies. I don't have an explanation as to why men do this, thinking it's a great look, or who told these men it would be OK to do so in the first place, in whatever former socialized system that existed in the past which supported bellies... but someone should tell them it's definitely not OK.
Save our beautiful summer! Oh please no more bellies. Please would someone stop them! I have to look away in summer, so disagreeable is this sight. I realize it's a terrible thought that not all persons are worthy of being looked at... but wait! The onus rests squarely on the shoulder's of the men who think this behaviour is A-OK because they don't have women's breasts, when the reality is often the opposite: the bigger the belly the bigger the body, and men with large bellies often have man-boobs.
So, when I traveled in Egypt in 1999, our tour leader, Khaled, told us of a story that took place outside Cairo where a German tourist was shot and killed because he dared to walk outside without wearing a shirt, exposing his belly and underarm hair. An Egyptian was so offended by the German's obvious lack of modesty that he felt justified in killing the man, on the street, in broad daylight. And no one tried to stop him. He pulled out a rifle and shot the German tourist dead. Then later, when authorities had to lay charges for the offence, they pointed the finger at the German and blamed him for insulting Egyptian culture. Modesty is the reason why you see Egyptians wear long-sleeves and clothing to fully covers arms and legs, to avoid exposing that most sacred of things: bare skin. Point in fact, I do not agree with drastic measures taken by the Egyptians, nor would I want to live in a society that forbids even arms being shown but a part of me fully understands their intensity in reaction. Go to Greece and visit the nude beaches and after you've witnessed an overwhelming number of overweight men parading nude on the beach, just to be able to ogle nude young women, you'll never set foot again in any environment that encourages nudity.
Truman Capote, the late great purveyor of lacerating wit, summed it up best when he said, "... women look so much better with clothes on..." Well, so do men, Mr. Capote! Nakedness is good, when the person doing the exposure is welcomed by a willing companion, understanding the intention from the outset, to get naked and enjoy each other. However, when on the street, in public, and mingling amongst the populace, perhaps a thin T-shirt covering up the bulging belly wouldn't be such a mad idea. Sexuality is a strange animal and some women actually like riding bowling balls, and I say all the more power to you. But again, I would ask that you kindly take your sport indoors and save our viewing eyes the horror. There I said it! I spoke my truth. Sorry if I offended anyone... but you know, I'm not really that sorry because it still goes on every day in summer, more so when the temps rise up past 30 Celsius. Women somehow survive with their upper torso covered to protect the parts that would cause traffic jams and accidents if they weren't covered.
One man summed it up for me. I'll let you determine if his opinion has validity. "I cannot stand the sight of naked men, nor would I bare all in public. They made the boys swim together naked when I was in public school in the mid 60s and I was horrified because it was just another way for society to break a young boy's spirit, also to see which boys were aroused by other boys, singled out for those of the same nature. And for persons who under-dress and are over-sized, get educated in fashion! When I traveled to Willow Beach, which is a great sand bar, back in the day it was filled with Indian women in saris, full dress, wading in the water, I don't think they would be harmed for not wearing a bathing suit."
His point is duly noted. We all need to be aware of our bodies, to observe fashion, to take into consideration that while we might think our bodies are a wonderful paradise, and available to the public, not all think this way when it comes to partial nudity. I'm not a teenager any longer, and haven't been for decades, yet even back then I had some sense of the kind of unwanted attention I was drawing to myself, as well as in my 20s and 30s. However, the laws support men to walk around half-naked without covering up their upper torso, while it's against the law for women to do the same. Seems a little cock-eyed to me.
When summer arrives in full force, let us drink it in!
Know that I fully appreciate how this post will not be a popular opinion, yet it deserves to be expressed.
I call it assaulting the eyes, being accosted by bellies as they make way down the road, sometimes sweaty and sometimes very hairy, hanging over a thin edge of shorts that are clearly under too much strain, and barely able to be held up underneath the weight of these beer-bellies. I don't have an explanation as to why men do this, thinking it's a great look, or who told these men it would be OK to do so in the first place, in whatever former socialized system that existed in the past which supported bellies... but someone should tell them it's definitely not OK.
Save our beautiful summer! Oh please no more bellies. Please would someone stop them! I have to look away in summer, so disagreeable is this sight. I realize it's a terrible thought that not all persons are worthy of being looked at... but wait! The onus rests squarely on the shoulder's of the men who think this behaviour is A-OK because they don't have women's breasts, when the reality is often the opposite: the bigger the belly the bigger the body, and men with large bellies often have man-boobs.
So, when I traveled in Egypt in 1999, our tour leader, Khaled, told us of a story that took place outside Cairo where a German tourist was shot and killed because he dared to walk outside without wearing a shirt, exposing his belly and underarm hair. An Egyptian was so offended by the German's obvious lack of modesty that he felt justified in killing the man, on the street, in broad daylight. And no one tried to stop him. He pulled out a rifle and shot the German tourist dead. Then later, when authorities had to lay charges for the offence, they pointed the finger at the German and blamed him for insulting Egyptian culture. Modesty is the reason why you see Egyptians wear long-sleeves and clothing to fully covers arms and legs, to avoid exposing that most sacred of things: bare skin. Point in fact, I do not agree with drastic measures taken by the Egyptians, nor would I want to live in a society that forbids even arms being shown but a part of me fully understands their intensity in reaction. Go to Greece and visit the nude beaches and after you've witnessed an overwhelming number of overweight men parading nude on the beach, just to be able to ogle nude young women, you'll never set foot again in any environment that encourages nudity.
Truman Capote, the late great purveyor of lacerating wit, summed it up best when he said, "... women look so much better with clothes on..." Well, so do men, Mr. Capote! Nakedness is good, when the person doing the exposure is welcomed by a willing companion, understanding the intention from the outset, to get naked and enjoy each other. However, when on the street, in public, and mingling amongst the populace, perhaps a thin T-shirt covering up the bulging belly wouldn't be such a mad idea. Sexuality is a strange animal and some women actually like riding bowling balls, and I say all the more power to you. But again, I would ask that you kindly take your sport indoors and save our viewing eyes the horror. There I said it! I spoke my truth. Sorry if I offended anyone... but you know, I'm not really that sorry because it still goes on every day in summer, more so when the temps rise up past 30 Celsius. Women somehow survive with their upper torso covered to protect the parts that would cause traffic jams and accidents if they weren't covered.
One man summed it up for me. I'll let you determine if his opinion has validity. "I cannot stand the sight of naked men, nor would I bare all in public. They made the boys swim together naked when I was in public school in the mid 60s and I was horrified because it was just another way for society to break a young boy's spirit, also to see which boys were aroused by other boys, singled out for those of the same nature. And for persons who under-dress and are over-sized, get educated in fashion! When I traveled to Willow Beach, which is a great sand bar, back in the day it was filled with Indian women in saris, full dress, wading in the water, I don't think they would be harmed for not wearing a bathing suit."
His point is duly noted. We all need to be aware of our bodies, to observe fashion, to take into consideration that while we might think our bodies are a wonderful paradise, and available to the public, not all think this way when it comes to partial nudity. I'm not a teenager any longer, and haven't been for decades, yet even back then I had some sense of the kind of unwanted attention I was drawing to myself, as well as in my 20s and 30s. However, the laws support men to walk around half-naked without covering up their upper torso, while it's against the law for women to do the same. Seems a little cock-eyed to me.
When summer arrives in full force, let us drink it in!
