Male nudity in Hollywood

Take the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall; Jason Segel goes full-frontal within the first 10 minutes, dropping his towel after his girlfriend breaks up with him. What was the reason? Perhaps to ensure secondhand embarrassment from the audience, laughter no doubt, or maybe to subconsciously make the viewer think how embarrassing it is to be attracted to the man on the screen. Segel is not nude in the way we think of female nudity in film — there’s no passion or desire to be with the character in that state, especially not when he hugs his now-ex still in his birthday suit. Plot-wise, the nudity was unnecessary, especially when we account for the fact the camera was panned full-frontal for several minutes, and so, a naked and shamed ex-boyfriend is the comedic aspect of being broken up with by your cheating girlfriend. 

Another example is Borat. Why is the scene where he and his assistant run around a hotel, fighting and screaming profanities, hilarious? They’re both naked. John Cena’s skit while presenting Best Costume Design during the 2024 Oscars was necessary to prove the point of needing a good costume crew and, coincidentally, created roaring laughter. Why? You guessed it, he was naked. During a critical dance scene in Neighbors 2, Zac Efron rips his underwear off to try to keep the attention of some ladies, who are immediately disgusted and look away. Even Efron’s companion in the film recognizes it was the wrong move because he, too, is repelled. If Efron isn’t portrayed as sexy when naked, I fear there’s no hope for the rest of us.

Now, it’s not to say male nudity is always for comedic purposes. My favorite example of a purposeful nude actor is in Saltburn. When Barry Kehogan dances through the mansion naked, Emerald Fennel uses his nudity to symbolize power and triumph rather than toss it into the film for laughter’s sake.

However, the existing comedic connotations in a significant number of modern films can harm young men’s perceptions of themselves and their bodies. If their body is a joke on the screen, it becomes a joke in real life. When women are disgusted by the male nudity in media or are meant to believe the attraction to a male body is shameful, they, either consciously or subconsciously, become less likely to seek it out. This mindset can only further men’s mental health issues and perhaps prevent them from seeking help due to shame. 

Hollywood is sexism at its finest, with America encouraged to watch media such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Black Swan, and The Boys, which include various forms of female nudity in a sexual context. On the other side, films that include male nudity do so in ways that repel the audience, furthering connotations of sexism and homophobia. 

Bodies are perhaps some of the most natural things on earth, so why shame people for it? 

Jackson Sneeringer is a senior at Carlmont High School in Belmont. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.