If female sexualization in the media demeans women, the same must be said for men. Daytime shows like “Ellen” and “Days of Our Lives” are known for their casual incorporation of shirtless men. But rarely are these programs scrutinized in their portrayals of men as sexual objects, especially in relation to the vast scrutiny applied to how women are portrayed. While it is undeniable that women are objectified more than men in the media, to dismiss the sexualization of men out of hand reduces discussions of gender roles as being purely about the experiences of one gender.

Following the #Hunks tag on Ellen’s website reveals 50 plus clips of shirtless Chippendale men whose sole purpose it seems is to send the mostly-female studio audience into conniption fits. These segments are all done in good fun and the men are never genuinely insulted. However, the sexual objectification is incontrovertible, as these men are presented to the audience without personality or humanity. They serve the same purpose that Barker’s Beauties did on “The Price Is Right” — unapologetic eye candy.

One counter argument to this idea is that the objectification of men is simply a reaction to the objectification suffered by women. In other words, women cannot be held responsible for this behavior because they are the victims of objectification, not its perpetrators. But this argument  would never hold water in any other scenario. People of color are not entitled to some amount of bigotry because of the racism many of them have suffered. Queer folks do not get a pass if they decide to marginalize or demean someone else’s sexuality. This thinking otherwise betrays the kind of ethically inconsistent logic that allows people to use victim status as a means of excusing hypocritical behavior. In the end, all it does is perpetuate cycles of bias and cognitive dissonance that benefit no one.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with shirtless men being paraded around on television. As a gay man, I had no problem doing research for this piece, and clearly Ellen is successful and beloved. Even Barker’s Beauties have had to get with the times, adding several hunky male models to their lineup in the past few years. The issue comes when what is acceptable for one gender would be unthinkable for the other, and if a show like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” or “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” had featured enough attractive commodified women for a #Babes section on their website, hell would rain down on their studio. By the same token, people who condemn the objectification of one gender cannot in good conscience forgive the objectification of the other. It is inconsistent and it is wrong. Those who truly desire gender equality have to reject double standards regardless of which gender
they benefit.

Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, November 14th print edition. Email HenryCohen at [email protected].