“The best actress this year is Mikey Madison at the Oscars,” said Isaacs on CBS Mornings. “And I don’t see anyone discussing her vulva (…) It’s interesting that there’s a double standard for men. But when women are naked, Margaret Qualley as well in The Substance, nobody would dream of talking to her about her genitalia or her nipples (…) What is this obsession with penises?”
Isaacs was asked about his full-frontal scene in The White Lotus, season 3. Was he mystified by the question, or genuinely surprised by the double standard (women’s bodies are displayed/men’s bodies are hidden)? By comparison, Kevin Bacon made fun of it all in 2017: “There’s a big problem in Hollywood today,” he said in his sketch. “In so many films and TV shows we see gratuitous female nudity, and that’s not okay (…) Well, it’s okay, but it’s not fair to actresses and it’s not fair to actors because we want to be naked too (…) Gentleman, it’s time to free your bacon. This is an issue of gender equality.”
The White Lotus, Season 3 • Photo: HBO.
Let’s unpack Isaacs’ question: “what is this obsession with penises?” Commenting on the double standard of nudity in 1991, Barbara de Genevieve explained: “to unveil the penis is to unveil the phallus (…) the social construction of masculinity. And that is the real taboo.” And Pether Lehman in his seminal book, Running Scared: “To show, write or talk about the penis creates the potential to demystify it (…) Indeed the awe surrounding the penis in a patriarchal culture depends on either keeping it hidden from sight (…) or carefully regulating its representation.”
Since 1973, Playgirl has dared to undress men –to boldly “show, write or talk about the penis.” But not much has changed in fifty years: If a Hollywood actor is naked, he’s likely wearing a prosthesis and yes, he’ll be asked about it on CBS Mornings. Which, far from challenging the age-old cultural taboo, reinforces it.
