World renowned gay underwear designer Andrew Christian has unleashed a line of underwear for thick men called...wait for it...Thick, and I felt compelled to write this article due to some of the backlash I was seeing online.
The line, which was launched to promote body positivity and inclusivity features IG models @ben_there_dun_dat, @deanmichaelz, @mscakemoss, @gogozaddy and @renerosales_7.
While we should be celebrating the fact that a mainstream gay underwear brand is creating a line of underwear for bigger men (instead of launching a larger sized AC underwear line), some feel that Andrew missed the mark.
I saw a few complaints not just about the fact that they felt the models weren't thick enough to be considered thick, but they also felt there was a bit of colorism with the shoot as well.
One person I know who modeled for the brand years ago stated on his social media that the top AC featured models are always white, light skin latinos, asians and biracial men. There's no one of a darker hue featured in the shoot.
Here's a few of the tweets I've gathered.
All the tweets weren't negative though. I did see a few that were excited that thick men were being included, and said they would support the brand. My friend adult film star Ray Diesel said he was asked to be part of the shoot, but couldn't because of scheduling conflicts. He also stated that other darker-skinned models were in fact asked, but weren't able to do the shoot.
Queerty reached out to Andrew for a statement, and his spokesman Jeff White sent the following statement: “Ben Reznik, one of the models in the THICK photo is African American. I am sure he loves hearing that he isn’t ‘black enough.’ AndrewChristian.com has always had a huge range of all types of models.”
“We tried to introduce 2XL around ten years ago but the launch wasn’t successful. We made the decision to re-introduce 2XL in 2021 and the launch was so overwhelmingly successful that we decided to launch the THICK Collection which is designed and proportioned specifically for thicker body types.”
White says the ‘THICK’ 2XL size is for waistlines 40-42 inches (101-106cm), which is a couple of inches bigger than 2XL size for other Andrew Christian underwear.
What I'll say on the matter is this. These days the term "thick" has so many definitions depending who you ask, and depending on the gay mecca. Because what people consider thick in LA (see photo above) is completely different from what we consider thick in New York City, DC, Philly and Atlanta.
As a creator, you're never going to please everybody. So if you don't feel yourself represented via the brand, there are plenty of underwear lines for the big gays that you can proudly support.
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