Take earlier this year, for instance, when Elliot Page posted a photo of himself in swimming trunks. When buff, heterosexual movie stars like Chris Hemsworth and The Rock show off the gains they've made in the gym, those photos are as much about projecting conventionally masculine ideas of power and strength as they are about looking sexy.īut anybody who falls outside the categories of cisgender and heterosexual may be expressing something completely different when they share photos of their bodies with the world. Mostly because very few women I've known-even women I've slept with-have ever given a shit about gym selfies.' I don't know if many men would admit this, but I think gym-based thirst traps for guys are as much 'look what I can do' as they are about getting laid. Showing off that work was affirmation of work that I put in. The gym allowed me to take ownership of my body in a healthy way. Growing up, I struggled with disordered eating. Other times I think it has to do with controlling your image. 'I think for both men and women it comes down to seeking validation and attention,' says writer Graham Isador. They're about us.'įor men, the motivation and intended audience behind thirst traps tell an equally complex story, albeit one with an inherently different dynamic, since men haven't been told what to do with their appearance since time immemorial. It's me saying, 'I am here, I physically take up space.' It's funny how men think our thirst traps are all about them-the men. 'When I post a photo in workout clothes or a bathing suit, it's me pushing back against a world that's told me to hate my body and be ashamed of my sexuality. 'I've recently started posting more thirst traps than ever before, and it's not because I'm desperate for horny strangers to slide into my DMs,' Katie continues. For many women, sharing pictures of their bodies isn't about getting male attention at all, but reclaiming ownership of their body image in the wake of years of warped diet culture, beauty standards, and convoluted ideas around exactly how sexy they are allowed to be. 'People seem to assume that women's thirst traps are a cry for attention, but that's not how it is for me,' says Katie, 28. A lot of guys seem to take the moniker 'thirst trap' literally, and due to the parasocial nature of platforms like Instagram, will mistake any kind of photo showing skin for an invitation to slide into someone's DMs. It's easy to call out a sexy selfie as shallow and attention-seeking, especially if the person taking it is a woman. Other times, they're snapped on the beach, or by a pool, or while still in bed and overtaken by hangover horn, or literally any time you might be feeling yourself. Sometimes these photos are taken in gym mirrors after an especially sweat-inducing workout.

Similarly to how the less artfully curated 'photo dump' has become increasingly popular on Instagram due to a 'screw it' mentality, some of us have decided to throw caution to the wind and wild out when it comes to just how much body-ody-ody we show, whether that be on our IG grid or in the relative safe space of the Close Friends green circle.

With frustrations mounting in quarantine and no immediate outlet for that energy, a lot more people have been getting thirsty on main. But because I'm proud of the progress I've made (and also because, let's face it, I enjoy attention), I have left that kind of self-doubt behind, even if I still don't look like most of the other guys I know posting gym updates.Īnd I'm not the only one. While I've always loved a selfie, in the past my pictures would be pretty tame, mainly because I didn't consider myself 'fit' enough to warrant showing off my body. As I began to work out more, lose weight, and develop something resembling abs during lockdown, the number of shirtless pictures on my Instagram feed went up. My relationship with my body has changed a lot over the last year.

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