Camel Toe!
So I've lost a whole lot of weight recently, which now requires me to go out and try to find new clothing. One thing I need is new jeans, and badly. Frustratingly, a lot of jeans these days aren't built for my shape. I'm an hourglass--but most jeans are built for girls with skinny boy hips. So that's one problem--finding jeans built for curvy women that actually look cool. But then another deal with my body is that I have a pretty long torso. This means there's a greater amount of material needed between my waist (or hips) and my crotch than the standard size jeans usually have. And since they don't make jeans for varying torso sizes, what that means is that most jeans end up giving me some semblance of what popular culture so classily calls "camel toe."
Now, in general most clothing I try on doesn't end up looking over-the-top obvious like this. It's more like it merely shows that I actually, like, (gasp!) have a vulva. I'd say, for instance, something like this.
But because people make such a big deal about how awful it looks when women wear clothes that emphasize that area, I tend to reject these jeans (and trousers, and shorts, etc.). But as I threw the tenth pair of jeans on the dressing room floor in frustration, I got to thinking. I mean, come on, does it REALLY matter if you can see the shape of a woman's pubis? What the fuck is the BIG DEAL, anyway? So WHAT?
And I began to wonder if not only that, but if perhaps this is one of those things that culturally gets made fun of but secretly most straight men and lesbians actually LIKE seeing? I mean, if really everyone likes it but is just afraid to say it, then I'm going to stop caring if my mons veneris is into showing herself off. But if I'm going to be made the subject of finger pointing and ridicule, forget it. I'm too self-conscious for that.
So, what do you think? Is the camel toe a thing to be worn with pride or avoided at all costs? If you're a woman, are you self-conscious about it when you choose clothing? If you're a man or woman who's attracted to women, do you find the CT attractive or repulsive when you catch a glimpse of one? Or just merely laughable? Or do you have no feeling about it at all?
Really, why do people care? Do you even notice if someone's got camel toe? I don't think I ever do, really.
(photo credit: my camel toe picture by Corx)
Comments (23)
First of all, I'm bookmarking that flikr stream. Mmm, tasty!
Second - dammit, I am an unabashed fan of the toe. It's a thing of delight. I do not understand the notion that it's a bad thing. There's not much in the world prettier than a woman's genital region, and it's something to be celebrated, in all it's forms, functions, and flavors.
Sure, there are really really bad toes (I was going to search for an example but I kept getting -- um -- distracted), but whatever. There are bad faces out there too and we don't hide those just because a few might not meet our standards.
Celebrate the toe, sez I.
1. Posted by Elvis on March 29, 2007
...and, you know, send me pictures.
2. Posted by Elvis on March 29, 2007
i think it looks hot. like nipples showing through a tight blouse. i just asked ♀, she says she wears hers with pride.
cheers,
sss
3. Posted by sweat shop sissy on March 29, 2007
I'm confused. That second photo you linked to -- that's camel toe? The stuff in the first photo is what I always thought was camel toe. I personally don't think that genitalia as visible as the first photo -- male or female -- is, er, appropriate for polite company. But the second photo? I don't get what's wrong with it.
4. Posted by Hiromi on March 29, 2007
Karl Elvis: ...and, you know, send me pictures.
Heh. There's only one man in my entire life who ever managed to get dirty peektures off of me, and it's quite likely he's the only one who ever will.
SSS: Thanks for the feedback. Two male votes and one female vote for the toe. Hm...if this keeps up, maybe I'll organize some kind of Toe Pride revolution.
Hiromi: Exactly my point. There's only the *slightest* labial indentation there, in that the inseam rides slightly snug. It's basically not noticeable. But apparently, the (as wikipedia calls it) "uncleft [pubic] bulge" counts as a more mild form of "camel toe"--when the material is tight enough around the pubis to make the shape of the pubic mound discernible, even if the crack between the lips isn't defined. And I almost always have that going on if I wear pants, because of how I'm built.
5. Posted by Miss Syl on March 29, 2007
To be perfectly honest here, I much prefer the slight and subtle display over the much more pronounced display, in most situations. Now if Lady L is prancing around the apartment, as she sometimes does, and her camel toe is bulging through the fabric of her panties, well that's a different thing altogether.
Out in public however, the soft definition, tightly strung fabric and hint of curve is a sight for sore eyes.
Oh baby. This wasn't necessarily the kind of "thinking" I was talking about y'know. ;)
6. Posted by ArtfulDodger on March 29, 2007
I think it just looks like your pants don't fit. Sorry lol. But I totally agree with you on the jeans thing. I had to buy new pair recently after weight loss but the cuts are just all wrong! Excuse me for having thighs!
7. Posted by Sex Newbie on March 30, 2007
Art: Oh baby. This wasn't necessarily the kind of "thinking" I was talking about y'know. ;)
But that's the best *kind* of thinking!
I'm having trouble doing your meme--I don't want to offend anyone, you know? I'm thinking about how to best do it, but I probably still will.
Sex Newbie: I think it just looks like your pants don't fit.
Heh. Those pictures aren't of ME. But what do you mean, it just looks like the jeans are too tight on that girl? They don't look all that tight to me, just snug.
8. Posted by Miss Syl on March 30, 2007
It sounds as if you and I have similar body types. I confess that I hate The Toe. I don't like the way it looks, never have. That said, I don't think the second picture you posted, the jeans picture, is the classic CT. I'd avoid anything that resembles the first picture, but the second one...?
That's my take on it. Good luck with your pants quest. I've been there. It's a rough road we curvy girls must travel in the fashion land.
9. Posted by Mu Ling on March 30, 2007
Mu Ling: Curvy twin powers, activate!
Yeah...that's not a very extreme photo. And yet, that's the photo Wikipedia is using by way of an explanation...
I guess the question is, does it matter if the pubic mound is evident at *all*, or is that gauche? Seems like the guys here all kind of *like* seeing a little hint of it, at least. But then again, everyone who visits my site is probably a perv. :) And I mean that in a good way.
10. Posted by Miss Syl on March 30, 2007
I see nothing wrong with the second photo. Tastefully presented as a woman, and I meant tastefully in both senses of the word. Now Agreeing with Art, the first does has an effect, but it is one I prefer to inexperience in private.
11. Posted by Ryder on March 30, 2007
Camel toes aside, sounds like you've got the same body type as me. I highly recommend the GAP Curvy jeans and I've also had some luck with brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Guess and Calvin Klein (bought at an outlet store because I have an aversion to spending more than $40 on a pair of jeans). Good luck!
12. Posted by savia on March 30, 2007
YAY! on getting off the excess. Makes a huge difference, but then, yeah... You gotta find new clothes. Slight camel toe... I never have seen a problem with it because I'm built to have camel toe no matter what. I put on my biggest pair of jeans and I have camel toe even though the jeans may fall off my hips. Go figure.
What grosses me out more than any camel toe is something that I've seen way too much of out here: Big women who wear hiphugger jeans that show off their bellies. Like, seriously BIG women who tuck in their shirts around their bellies into the jeans riding just above the mons. EWW! But if it's not that, there's no biggie. Wear it IF IT'S COMFORTABLE... Especially for jeans :)
13. Posted by darkneuro on March 30, 2007
I'm with karl on this one too, except I won't ask for the pictures!
14. Posted by Fusion on March 30, 2007
The jeans pic is perfectly acceptible for the general public in my opinion. The second pic would be fine by me (though I can imagine some objecting o it) :) at an all adult venue.
15. Posted by Grant on March 31, 2007
Agreed. The second photo is just how jeans fold -- it's not revealing at all.
figleaf
16. Posted by figleaf on March 31, 2007
I didn't mean they were. It was a general "you" as in it looks like one's pants don't fit if they have that. I think it's ok to be tight in crotch but if you're soo tight that there's THAT level of definition I think it's tacky. And looks painful.
17. Posted by Sex Newbie on March 31, 2007
and i agree with figleaf and others about the jeans picture.
18. Posted by Sex Newbie on March 31, 2007
Don't worry about offending anyone, it is all in how you say it, y'know? Heck, I could easily name everyone on my blogroll, but blame the meme! :)
19. Posted by ArtfulDodger on April 1, 2007
Viva le toe.
***
I foresee a future in which this will become a fashion trend and, a la Shakespearean codpieces, there will be undergarments with built-in faux camel toe. (The Faux Toe.)
(You heard it here first.)
20. Posted by Circe on April 1, 2007
I like to see camel-toe. I think it's sexy, and will turn my head every time.
-MAXX-
21. Posted by -MAXX- on April 2, 2007
Juno made you one of her top 5 thinking bloggers, so I couldn't not come over.
22. Posted by tom paine on April 4, 2007
I think the jeans in the second photo fit that woman well and are very flattering.
Jeans are a challenge for me, too, but it is so satisfying when I find a pair that fits well. I seem to have my best luck at middle-market stores like Kohl's. Places like Nordstrom seem to buy sizes that only fit miy daughters . . .
23. Posted by Cherrie on April 5, 2007