Fashion: Gay or Asian - Bench Models

Some time ago, a famous magazine had an article that showed asian men in different garb with the title, 'Gay or Asian?'.

That caused an uproar in Asia because it was felt that the stereotypes of Asians were being played up in the West. The insinuation of course is that Asian men are feminine. The whole argument took on another dimension when gay men voiced out concerns that gay = effeminate.

The face remains that Asian men are generally smooth and lack body hair.   It is a historical and geographical thing.  Asian men had no need for natural fur to keep them warm in the winter months.  Does this make them less manly than their Western counterparts?

Certainly, the predominant concept of masculinity has traditionally dictated than Asian men would not be used in male targeted product advertising.  Ironically, this is true even in Asia where foreign and pan Asian models do better business than their local counterparts.

In some countries however, that is changing.  

Filipino based casual wear label, Bench, is one company that not only supports Asian models, but has also made a notorious name for itself by employing some serious male eye candy.

Modeled after Abercrombie and Fitch in the US, Bench is also well known for their underwear collection, and their male dominated fashion shows can be likened to the annual all female Victoria's Secret fashion presentations.

Bench is unabashed about the portrayal of their men.  Overtly sexual, bordering on homoerotic, the shows and photography tend to be almost soft core.  It is with no exaggeration the stuff of wet dreams for both men and dare I say, women.

However it must also be said that the advertizing strategy of Bench undergear celebrates the Asian male physique.  Where the Western stereotype of an Asian male may be the thin and short statured, fair skinned person, the new Asian male is quite the opposite.

Bench has been so successful that their models often go into very successful careers in the media, be it TV or movies.  They become instant household names, not unlike supermodels in the West, and guys like Wendell Ramos and Marc Nelson (currently a contestant on The Amazing Race Asia) gain instant hunk status.  It is also interesting to note that in spite of their erotic pictures, these men have never been labelled 'gay' or 'gay-friendly'.  In fact, Filipino society seems to accept that they are a creative expression of male sexuality.  Curiously though, similar pictures in the West would have gotten the models branded immediately as 'International Male' catalog types, also known as, gay.

The globalization of economies in the past four decades or so has opened up opportunities and access to both diet and exercise.  While lean mass is the rule of thumb, musculature has grown more pronounced.  The old image of the cute submissive boy is being taken over by hunks of burnin' love!

The modern Asian male is coming into his own!

(article copyrighted shah. all rights reserved. video and pictures are properties of Bench.)