Trying to universalize sex appeal is like telling every surfer in the world to ride the exact same board. It just doesn’t make sense.
Most everyone familiar with Western society has heard the phrase “sex sells.” The statement definitely seems to be true when you consider the way companies advertise their products. Everything from cashews to cologne, chewing gum to blue jeans has been marketed using sex as the means of delivery in the product’s advertisements. But despite corporate America’s best effort at defining for us what “sexy” should be, the reality is that each individual decides what is appealing to them. It’s sort of like telling every surfer in the world that they should ride the exact same board. It just doesn’t make sense. Determining what’s “sexy” is as relative as determining if a board is “magic” or not; beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Popular opinion doesn’t dictate reality. One of the best boards I’ve ever owned happened to be a little wider than what the status quo was at the time. I remember when I picked it up from the shaper I thought it looked like it would be a great board. It wasn’t until I took it home that I began to doubt its width. Using my other boards as a reference, I realized it was a bit wider than the rest, and suddenly I worried that maybe it wouldn’t be a great board after all. But I tried to reserve judgment until after I rode it.
After my first session, I knew it was a magic board. It seemed to know exactly what I wanted to do on a wave, and it was significantly faster than any other board I’d ever owned. Then one day a friend of mine mentioned that he thought it looked a little wide. Suddenly, I was questioning whether the board was really as good as I thought. Maybe it was a little too wide. Maybe I’d surf better if I had a narrower board. I tried to shrug off my friend’s observation, but no matter how many good sessions I had on that board, a little doubt about its extra width lingered in the back of my mind. Then, after only a few months, it broke. Snapped in half, no hope for repair. I was bummed, but figured it was just as well; after all, it was a little wide.
You might be wondering what I’m getting at, so here goes: After going through a lot of boards since that one, I’ve yet to find one that matches it. I guess my point is that wide boards are sexy…errh…I mean, you can’t judge a board (or much of anything) until you surf (try) it. That was the best board I ever had, and it was considered a little too wide by conventional standards. Don’t always believe the hype that’s thrown at you. If sexy is simply defined as appealing, then thinking for oneself, now that’s sexy. And I guess that’s my point.
