No doubt that female postures are generally more sexualised than male postures. However, I don't think that the above example is a fair representation of the average difference in representation in contemporary fashion photography.

Moreover, I wonder if that seemingly unsexy posturing isn't also "what women (and men) expect of men". Hence, that *is*, in a way, what's sexy for men.

In sweatshirts, equality.

there's basically no difference in the sweatshirt ads

I think the men section is as interesting as the women section. For men, clothes have always been about fitting in with the pack and NOT standing out. The most extreme example would of course be the military uniform, but even office work wear for men is highly uniform-like and seems to allow men to fit in and discourage individualism.
When you look at the men section - 3 of 5 photos are literally about fitting in with the group - identical men wearing identical clothing differentiated only by colour.

Thanks Lisa!

For anyone wondering, I didn't buy anything from American Apparel after this....

I think what we're seeing here is not the absence of sexualization in the Menswear ads, but rather two dramatically different standards for sexiness.

The ads communicate that feminine sexiness is about exposed skin and dynamic, suggestive action, and that masculine sexiness (of the hipster variety) is a rather static and stoic endeavor. AA seems to have gone to a lot of effort to brand itself with heteronormative tropes (in contrast to the more homoerotic ads for competitors like Abercrombie), and the result looks rather retrograde.

Actually, I quite like their choices with the male models here - they're attractive in a very earthy, natural, and confident way. It would've been a more striking and effective ad if they had presented the female models the same way.

This is one thing I love about REI Coop: The women in their photo shoots are doing stuff that women would want to do in their clothes. They aren't there to look sexy in the outdoors while their boyfriends watch - as they are depicted in Eastern Mountain Sports catalogs.

When Women (the majority) stop supporting this type of advertising, it will stop...look in the mirror.

It's just human nature, or rather, the nature of the human raised in Western 1st World society. Men generally don't care much how they look; while women are all about caring about how they look. Women generally want to look GOOD; men generally are ambivalent. Walk into any clothing store: what's the first thing you see? Clothing for women. You have to really hunt to find the menswear.

Hard to believe this isn't a spoof.

While there's no question that sexism in advertising and media is a widespread problem and that men and women are often portrayed very differently, this particular ad from AA isn't one of them. The brand has been in-your-face-over-the-top-ridiculous with their sexualized imagery of women forever. We know it, they know it. More importantly as far as this ad is concerned, their agency knows it. And they're having fun with it. If you think that this is a straight-up make-the-women-sexy-but-keep-it-real-for-the-guys ad, you're not in on the joke. This is clearly a self-aware even dare I say it, subversive piece of creative that pokes fun at AA's whole contrived image. They're saying "we get it, we're ridiculous. In fact look at just how ridiculous we can be!" I mean c'mon - the swim for women is a series of sexy poses each one more over-the-top than the last (who stands like that??) then the swim for men is two shots of the same guy, in the same I-couldn't-be-more-bored-if-they-paid-me-oh-wait-they're-paying-me stance. If this isn't an intentional laugh at their own expense, I don't know what is.

http://www.businessinsider.com/american-apparels-unisex-ads-2013-5#heres-how-american-apparel-sells-a-unisex-flannel-shirt-to-a-man-1 Illuminating Slide show on AA adverts

Men just don't know how to pose ;)

American Apparel is indeed low hanging fruit. How this company ever got to be considered hip is mind boggling to me.

AA's clothes are obscenely overpriced. They make a big stink about how their clothes are "Made in America" and then they routinely get raided for hiring illegal labor. "Made in America by Foreigners" is more like it. The CEO is a sociopath who has been sued FIVE times for sexual harassment. Their ads - and especially their billboards which are inescapable for those of us driving in LA with small children - are nothing less than toxic visual pollution.

The ladies' shorts one doesn't strike me as overtly sexualized, as one might indeed carry out athletics training in garb like that. Although I suppose that could also be read as illustrating the higher expectations placed on women to keep in shape compared to men.

More choices for you here: http://www.flatsevenshop.com/

Look up "The Hawkeye Initiative". Trust me.

The anthropology of this question is interesting. When a woman looks at a man's crotch, as a man, what do I deduce? Does she desire to know what hanging in there? Is she sending signals for pairing up? I see women do this nearly every day.

Straight men won't click on images that show men being sexy.

Women not only WILL click on images of women being sexy, they will click more often on those images than non-sexy images.

The designer of an apparel website is concerned with what the potential customer will click on -- not on imposing any particular cultural idea. The portrayal of women is designed to appeal to women. The portrayal of men is designed to appeal to men (and to women buying clothes for men).

At a major site like American Apparel, the images are tracked and comparison-tested rigorously and constantly. The images of women you see are the ones that got the most clicks from customers. Those images won fair and square, and women did the voting.

yeah this brand has always been in your face so no big surprise here. Us women simply have to deal with the apparent sexism in advertising. We all just need to retire to our own 401k withdrawal island

this is annoying but i have to admit women's bodies are way sexier i dont wanna see a gross hairy manbulge across billboards women are so much more beautiful than men hence why everyone enjoys looking at them more