[quote] How Andrew Christian has used low self-image and body shaming within the gay community to create an underwear empire.
[quote] Andrew Christian is notably known for his very popular line of designer underwear for men. His catalogue extends from swim suits to T-shirts, as well as jock straps to briefs. His underwear line has reached mega fame by being worn by gay men, literally, all over the world. His booth is most frequented at Gay prides, and his models are the most favored stars at Pride and other LGBT events. The muscled hunks, present and past porn stars, are more celebrated than organizations that lead to progressivism within the community.
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[quote] Body shaming has been a very sure fire way to sell clothing items to people who have a low self-image. The idea is to create an ideal beauty. In Andrew Christian’s case, it is making the ideal gay man’s body. Which he would believe he has in the models he selects to be ambassadors for the Andrew Christian name. Body shaming is creating an ideal persona or body that all others must now compare themselves to. Andrew Christian and his marketing campaign for muscled and tanned men strictly limit those that could ever be Andrew Christian models, or models of any kind. It is nice to look at a man with muscles, but the overall perception of beauty being only as superficial as muscle and looks sends the message that the gay community is one solely based on our visual perception of others.
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[quote] Sexualization is to make something sexual in character or quality. Andrew Christian does just this to the gay man. When something is sexualized it becomes the norm for what should be seen as sexy, same as Victoria secret models, or beauty pageants. What happens when you create sexy? Not only are you exposing the world to a certain culture, we are also isolating, and we out cast, a majority of people who do not fit this mold. Andrew Christian’s models and advertisements do just that. The gay community is filled with insecurity of not being good enough. From our coming out we are either faced with learning that our families either say “We don’t want a gay son,” or even learning that they just want us out the house. We become immediately insecure with not being what they want, not being a good enough son, and feeling alone.
[quote] The psychology of coming out is one based on validation of others, and a denial of that validation can lead to many other mental stability issues. We seek comfort from those that are similar to us. Still, we can be told we aren’t good enough. We can be told, we are too masculine and trying to fit into a straight world, all the while trying to find love in the world, we are then faced with am I good looking enough to be with someone, will anyone find me attractive? At the end what is our go to, but images in the media to tell us where we stand in the world. . . .
[quote] Andrew Christian once said in an interview that he makes his underwear to make people feel sexy, that his underwear, are in fact, to make everyone feel good about themselves, good; however, there remains the lack of understanding of what happens with gay men when we see these images of “beauty”, posted for us all to measure up to, on the internet. The argument can be made to say that there is always that one special person out there for us, but what happens when that one person has become clouded with images of the gay man he is supposed to be, and the gay man he is supposed to be with. When does the everyday gay man become the poster for gay pride? He does not. He remains silent because the images of the ideal gay man is plastered up on the internet, and he is left to feel insignificant; his voice is quieted by dance music, as well as, the partying that comes with the celebration of Andrew Christian models and porn stars in our community.