Topless women

[bobbobley]

Saw a workmen's hut today in the street and on the inside door were loads of pictures of topless women. Which got me thinking. Why is it that these kind of guys (builders, mechanics, etc) generally have these pictures on display at their place of work? I'm sure its not just a guy thing as I work in an office which is predominantly filled with men, but there are no such pictures on display here. What do you reckon it is?

[coggles]

Hello Bobbobley. I worked in an all-male environment for over 15 years. We were all qualified people and had our own work areas and light tables. Most of my colleagues had pictures of women (either dressed or semi-naked) around them. It didn't bother me one bit - why should it? If women want to earn money by taking their clothes off, that's up to them. The same as it was the mens' choice what they put on their walls. Our managers didn't have posters up in the office - they kept theirs in the desk drawers! Me, well I just covered my walls with Mel Gibson posters. Unfortunately, I could never find a picture of Mel topless!

[Janetex]

It's partly because they can, not because of class or intelligence, and also that people in associated industries produce such calendars.. I work in a transport company and it doesn't bother me much, although they now know better than to put up one in areas that I share. Interestingly, over ten years or so, these types of calendars are becoming rarer.

[KEJ2000]

Believe it or not, when I was in university, one of the graduate-student teaching assistants had a picture of a topless woman hanging up on the wall behind his desk, in his office! Any student attending open-office hours, including female students, had to see it there on the wall, behind his head. I thought that was going a bit too far. It's like he was trying to make the statement, "OK, so maybe women can attend universities and take the same classes as men these days, but we males still have more power!" The women had the last laugh, though, because I know that this guy couldn't get any dates with women for years. Everyone thought he was a complete loser. All right, so he has "the power", but what good does it do him? He's still sleeping alone every night, while the more decent and enlightened men have great relationships with women!

[woofgang]

I think its become a tradition, like christmas decorations...

[incitatus]

KE thats a very female viewpoint of it. i always think it is very arguable where the power lies in the porn industry, or the calendar industry for that matter. I dont believe we poor xy's think anything like what you are suggesting. the thought process (such as it is) runs..."i like looking at women. here are some women. i will look at them." You seem to think that these more enlightened guys have never purchased or perused such items. You are deluded. The driving force behind the internet's massive spread is mens desire to peruse the female form divine. There may be some isolated men on a remote island somewhere who dont have the odd risque picture stashed somewhere but i bet they draw them on the walls instead.

[sft42]

Men tend to be more stimulated by visual aspects in life....women tend to prefer written word and allow their imagination to work....a huge generilisation but what the heck!

Maybe I am old fashioned but a women nicely dreesed is much more alluring than some old slapper with her t!ts out on page three or the like....perhaps it is a class thing?

[bobbobley]

Cheers for the various views expressed. I thought it might be a class thing too, but then really what man has never possessed/owned/viewed pornography or seen pictures of semi-naked women? Not many women out there who haven't either I'd have thought. Seems to be more socially acceptable for men in manual jobs to display such pictures for some reason. I think I will try a wee test this afternoon and put a page 3 picture on my cubicle wall and see what the reactions are from both sexes in the office.

[DuzyEverwork]

Just be thankful their mothers didn't buy them a copy of the 2003 WI calendar!!

[coggles]

Good luck with your experiment Bobbobley. I bet you that the people who complain the most will be the women who would think nothing of getting their t*ts out in the middle of a restaurant to breast feed. Before anyone jumps down my throat, I breastfed both our children until they were 12 months old. I was just very discreet.

[coggles]

Do you know what would be a really good experiment? When you put up the pic of semi-naked girl, you could ask someone else to put up a pic of a semi-naked bloke. It would be interesting to see how the reactions differ........

[bobbobley]

right, further to all below I thought coggles had a good idea. so today, i've had a picture up of a lovely wee lass from yesterday's sunday sport, slap bang next to one of brad pitt in jeans and no shirt. reaction? well without fail, everyone who saw it from both sexes couldn't believe that I had a picture of a topless woman on my cubicle wall and were all worried what the MD would say if he saw it (although the men appreciated it more than the women). None of them seemed to notice, nor care, about the Brad Pitt one until I pointed it out which disturbs me on more than one level really!!

The guys went away mostly saying fair play for doing it, the women were all quite shocked and disgusted!! Explained to them all just now that it was just a wee experiment but most of them are still in the huff about it! In the word of David Brent, "Mental".