In the 1990s, premium cable television channels like HBO became more popular, while streaming platforms like Amazon and Netflix took off in the 21st century. There are a number of factors fueling the current wave of frontal male nudity. In a way, the use of prosthetic penises maintains a certain mystique about masculinity, preserving the power of the phallus. To me, this says something about the unusual significance we continue to grant the penis, along with our cultural need to carefully regulate its representation. Prosthetic penises – once used for exaggerated effect – have become the norm. Directors and audiences are becoming more and more comfortable showing male nudity.īut nowadays, while we’re much more likely to see penises in mainstream film and television, they’re seldom real.
Yet female nudity remained far more common in movies, and there was no frontal male nudity on mainstream television as of 1993.
