Should Men Dress In A Sexually Provocative Way?

A shocking new menswear design has the fashion world buzzing. But before we tsk, let's take a second look.

The men in Spain are about to let it all hang out—that is if, designer Isabel Mastache has her way.

Mastache, known for her "avant garde" creations—in other words, clothes too nutty for normal people to wear—just sent a male model down the Madrid runway wearing what queerty.com describes as penis trousers. That would be slacks with a cloth penis and scrotum stitched to the crotch. As the admirably straight-faced model  made his way down the platform, the stitched package flopped brazenly back and forth.

Not since the sixteenth century, when Tudor tigers flaunted codpieces to protect (and also advertise) their genitals, has the male crotch received such attention from fashionistas.

But while we're snickering and/or recoiling, maybe we should also find inspiration here—the same kind of inspiration offered by the anthropologist in the sixties musical Hair, who declared her conviction that "longer hair and other flamboyant affectations of appearance" were "the birthright" of the male sex.

If women can flaunt cleavage and bare their tight bellies, why can't a guy walk around like a Chippendale's champ? In fact, in a world where Jean-Paul Gaultier can be lauded for his breast-fetishizing cone bra, why not let Ms. Mastache return the favor via her penis pants? Two can play the sexual showoff game.

Even current economic news supports this development. According to a Pew Research Center study released in January, the number of men who are married to women who earn more money than they do has quintupled. So if women are getting to be the top dogs at work, maybe men should dress accordingly, showing up in the sexy-with-a-purpose attire that generations of women have mastered. Mastache seems like just the designer to give the guys a line of office-ready, pec-revealing shirts and ab-friendly crop tops (so much fun to watch them reach for the top shelves....).

Of course, if men wear crop tops, they'll have to worry about their muffin tops. Being a sexual showoff isn't so easy, is it?

Susan Toepfer blogs at The Bumpy Ride.