[sebbie]

You raise some interesting and important issues. Let me address them point by point.

1. Body size and body image. Over the last 20-25 years, in the US at least, people on average are 20-25 lbs heavier than they were in, say, 1990. If you buy a Small Polo shirt today, it will be about the same size as a Medium would have been purchased in 1990. Clothes got bigger as more and more guys found it easier toi just cover up rather than reveal that they had added weight.

2. Men have body image issues too. They might commonly be more hung
up on this than women, even.

3. Women by and large do not seem to have the same issues should an overweight woman show up at the beach or pool that men do with respect to an overweight man showing up in a skimpy swimsuit. Go figure. Some men seem to get downright angry over this, especially in the US. So most guys quickly learn that they need to err on the side of caution when it comes to swimsuit and in particular tummy coverage.

4. Many, perhaps most men think it is fun if their wife or other significant female partner shows up in a skimpy bikini and the other guys to a degree ogle her. This is alpha male stuff, demonstrating to the other guys around the pool how fortunate you are to be able to breed with such a desirable mate. Many women play along with this and are fine with it. They like the attention, and so long as the other males do not make obvious passes that would be difficult to pass off, the skimpier the bikini the better!

5. Women see men dressed in skimpy swimwear very differently from men in mixed company around the pool. A Woman does NOT want to see her man ogled by other potentially available women. He is hers, and hers alone. In particular she doesn’t want other women to see even the covered outline of his genitalia. So far as she is concerned, that is hers, and hers alone. That’s where wearing a swim brief gets a guy into trouble.

6. Swim briefs, for better or worse, have gotten associated with being something gay guys wear. Deep down the woman worries in part that the other women in the group will conclude that her guy might be gay, or at least bisexual. Why otherwise is he showing off his body parts like this for all to see? So it’s fine if a swim team wears briefs at practice, and the guys are all ok with that. Its fine even if the swim teams includes men and women. But on a social or party occasion? Probably not!

7. Then there are all the issues guys secretly worry about if the wear a swim brief (worries they have had about snug-fitting clothing since age 11 or 12) , in particular getting an erection at an inopportune moment and everyone will see that. Better to wear clothing that will make any inopportune erections less noticeable.

8. Having said that, part of the reason I engage in such a strenuous and consistent exercise program is that I find the idea of looking good in a skimpy swim brief motivates me. Plus, I have always found them fun to wear in all sorts of different ways. Since I don’t have a wife or girlfriend I don’t spend time worrying about the other issues, but I understand why the guys who do tend to worry.