[This article is my response to the above forum discussion question was taken from Tribe.net / CMNM Tribe]
For
my part, I see CMNM scenes/interactions as something far broader than
just humiliation vs power/control. As I think back over my 'development'
as boy/teen/young adult/ mature male, I have a strong reason to believe
that nudity (showing skin) is a fundamental and important form of
male-male communication.
While power/pecking order/rank/machismo are
important aspects of the CMNM lifestyle (sexual preference/fetish - I
hate to limit it to being JUST a sexual fetish) I think it is just how
and where such kinds of experiences actually occur (for what purpose do
the men are doing the CMNM 'acts/behaviors' ) that determines more
whether the 'sexual eroticism' of the CMNM involves a power exchange or
not. Oddly enough, we've been having a similar (but limited because of
text lenght) discussion on the CMNM Xtube group (that I started
recently).
I
think there are three broad categories for how and where CMNM occurs.
And you can probably take that to mean its 'purpose' - it's not always
has to do with just sex (getting off). When we start to view men's
sexual and erotic behaviors as more than just SEX, then it both
complicates and liberates the discussion/analysis.
1)
planned or commercial situations
where both parties involved, the clothed man (males) and naked ones are
participating willingly and in predetermined locations (such as a bar,
Pride event, male strip club, male lap-dancing, or private group sex
parties. Some examples are nude nights at some gay bars, or stripping
contests, or amateur strip nights, or hiring a nude escort or sex
'massage' escort (not to be confused with a real licensed masseur or
massage therapist). Some are these 'planned' CMNM events are a part of a
larger men's gathering or nude or sexual retreat - CMEN, Burning Man,
or Street Festival (Southern Decadance in New Orleans or Dore Alley Fair
in San Francisco).
2) pre-meditated, semi-random or semi-accidental, spontaneous or simply one-way CMNM (this is a very gray area - so it's not clearly definable)..
I
don' t think that BOTH the nude and clothed male have to both be
willing participants for it to count as a CMNM situation. For one of
them, it may seem completely 'natural' or accidental. In these types of
CMMN situations, only ONE of the two manipulates (or at least it appears
that one side is cognizant and the other side is ignorant (or innocent)
of 'planning' or 'willingly' participant in sexually stimulating their
counterpart.
So the exact environment or conditions are very important
but also very unique and specific to the situation (like good timing in
while visiting your Uncle's home, etc) so that one male can either be
nude or be the clothed one who enjoys seeing the nude male in a place
where nudity may or may not be expected. Perhaps 'flashing' (showing
your body/gentitals/nudity) to another male (clothed or not) may be a
subset of this category ... or not.. I'm not quite sure.
As
has been pointed out, one essential factor is whether power/control is
involved and whether the sexual arousal is experienced by both (Clothed
or Nude) participants. I think that the degree to which the CMNM event
or act may or may not be related to whether or not it is a voluntary act
or coerced or forced on the other party (by force, persuasion or
manipulation that physical or psychological or social pressure or even
some combinations of all three. is also important. Another important
point is whether the power/submission is part of the social construct
(police office / arrestee or suspect, teacher or coach / student or
athlete or officer -military 'grunt' (lower rank), priest - altar boy,
etc) or simply an interpersonal construct... kind of like role-playing
like the father -son (daddy - boy) relationships that some gay men
prefer.
3)
accidental or unintended CMNM experiences
(like when someone opens a toilet stall door and exposes a naked (or
masturbating/erect guy), or getting locked out (pushed out) of a hotel
room by college buddies, etc... ).
There
are all kinds of variables that come into play and the huge extremes in
the level of conscious and unconscious sexual turns-on with all of
these variations. the subtleties or the directness (blatantness) are
different for every purpose and every person.
Certainly,
one aspect of CMNM involves flashing. Flashing is a form of
exhibitionism - from mild to wild to extreme - exposing one's body,
specifically the genitals and/or buttocks (or breasts in women) to
another person or group of people (who may or may not be clothed). Mild
forms of it are 'accidental exposure' or peekaboo flashing -which are so
very common among some social groups and situations -- so much so that
it is absolutely NOT even regarded as any form of 'sexual' behavior at
all - especially in some circles or subcultures.
Peekaboo
flashing often takes the form of nudity at college boy dorm and social
events or frat parties, nudity at sporting events, rock concerts and
public events where young and often drunk people gather to 'have fun'.
But it also exists on a more personalized basis .. such as between
college dorm roommates or when regular handymen or deliverymen come to a
person's house (sometimes repeatedly) and some accidental exposure to
(male) nudity occurs. There are legions of stories -- many probably
urban legend -- about the voyeuristic adventures of pizza delivery boys,
UPS truck drivers, and newspaper delivery boys - some of which they
have documented (in blogs, Youtube,
porno, etc) but more they themselves
often are actually the targeted brunt of someone else's desire for
getting-naked-for-the-pizza-guy prank. I have a strong feeling that many
times such 'jokes' actually have latent homoerotic desires or
subcurrents underlying the 'urge' to strip or to have someone stripped.
You have alluded to that type in your posts above. Why then would
getting the guys naked or panstied or teabagged be the NUMBER ONE hazing
or college party pranks for seemingly millions of boyish breeder-types
(twinks and young college or NON-college men up to age 30 or so). Spend
some time searching YouTube or similar sites (or more blatantly risque
or explicit video-sharing sites) to get a better idea of what I am
talking about.
So
this is an important form of CMNM experience that I don't really
address in the above and that's because it's not easily categorized:
flashing. Perhaps it's only related or could be considered a fourth
sub-category or type of CMNM.
Showing
one's naked body and/or genitals (without or without an erect state)
seems to transcend almost all the above categories. It may be accidental
or at least spontaneous, it is definitely a conscious act (though I
guess a nude 'sleepwalker' doesn't plan his actions), and it may or may
not occur in socially accepted circumstances... can you call show your
cock (semi-erect) to another guy on a nude beach 'flashing'? Maybe it
has more to do with the reality of erotic or sensual communication (body
language, etc) than mere act of being naked in front of a clothed male.
[ The author of this article sunning his buns at a public seaside park. ]
http://jockspank.blogspot.com/
