Goodbye, 'Jogbra'...

May 2015: First up, though I still try to put up blog content whenever I can, it has been easier to more regularly visit the the Twitterverse. Follow me at @barethomas10 and let's keep the shirtless running flag flying. Of course, the blog still attracts very interesting comments, and good discussion. Keep it up.

Second, in the years since this venture launched, and as shirtless running among women has gone increasingly mainstream, the term "jogbra" has clearly declined in use. I will thus prefer "sportsbra" henceforth - as has already been the case on Twitter, and in recent posts here.

I continue to welcome guest posts (sent to barethomas@gmail.com) on any related topic, including from those who would discourage stripping to the waist. I am myself of course a fervent convert to the joys of running bare. But let all voices be heard!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Criticism from the Net: Shirtlessness is wickedness

There is no doubt that there are many who, for reasons perhaps linked to image insecurity, childhood trauma or misplaced adherence to modesty, are bitterly opposed to shirtless running. Here's an excerpt from an article (this is the link to the original, but it has since been removed) viciously attacking those of us who dare to bare:

As students leave their last classes of the day, something inside them changes — they slip off their veils of poise, and they become entirely different people from the dedicated and caring students they were only moments before...

These students do not intimidate prostitutes and murder pedestrians... Rather, they commit a far more egregious act against the humanity on UT’s campus. I am, of course, referring to the practice of shirtless jogging.

If you are eating at this time and are prone to nausea, I advise you put away this article for continuation after full digestion. With this precursor, I will now attempt to describe, to the best of my ability, the horror and torment of male shirtless jogging: Glistening ape hair, plastered by sweat to the flab that undulates precariously up and down, then up and down again. The arms flail wildly to the side, sending spurts of sweat pelleting passers-by in their faces with a resounding “smack!” And should you happen to be downwind from the olfactory producer’s galumphing, you would choke on the stench and collapse to your knees, hands grasping your throat in desperate attempt to survive without severe brain damage. But, of course, I understate.
- from 'Objective Observations with Benjamin Miller' (updated Nov 4 2008) as published in the The Daily Texan Online


It's an amusing read, don't you think?

1 comment:

Joseph Ford said...

This dude is totally clueless.
What he's describing is a worst case scenario and trying to pass it off as the common scenario.

Although I'm not "gay" by any measns, I like to watch teen aged shirtless runners. They're generally in good shape and energetic and happy. They don't show the burdens of an overly stressed life. Theyy don't like wearing a shirt, so they take it off. Simple. Pure. Clean. The problem Isn't the shirtless running. The problem is the matted ape hair. Dude needs to shave it for the sake of consideration. And the flailing arms--that's just bad running style. And the odor---shower more. This dude sounds old and pot-bellied. Maybe he would be better off running shirtless instead of criticizing it.