The camera approaches cautiously, as if to not scare away the subject. We see him from a distance. A man in a white T-shirt wailing on a punching bag, each impact sounding like an explosion. And then, the greatest reveal I have ever seen. We cut to a tight shot of the impossibly muscular man’s back. Beautifully lit, his ass cheeks fill out his grey sweatpants to perfection. And with each punch of his fist, his hips twist, highlighting his ass. It’s a shocking reveal, audacious and beautiful. The most surprising thing about it is that it’s not some niche art-house Czech film from Strand Releasing, it’s from The Avengers, the fourth highest-grossing film of all time.

We are currently living in a golden age of male objectification. It used to be that your Heather Locklears and Cameron Diazes would constitute the entirety of our national sex object conversation, but those days are over. Men are now sexy creatures – from Chris Pratt to Channing Tatum, the male form is finally being properly objectified. When I was a young man/hungry teen, getting a lingering shot of a male ass was like finding a fleshy and firm diamond in the buff (thank you Ryan Phillippe for Cruel Intentions), but now we’re living in a veritable Las Vegas buffet of man meat. 

In Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt shares the screen with Zoe Saldana, an incredibly sexy woman, but it’s Pratt who gets the shirtless prison de-lousing scene. It should also be said that when he was on Parks & Recreation, Pratt wasn’t in his current matinee idol shape, but he was still incredibly sexy and unafraid to show off his shape. That doughy body was also never the joke; his nakedness was a reflection of his character’s boyish enthusiasm. In years past, a man’s less-than-perfect body would be the joke, but no more. Guardians was Pratt’s first entry into “super-hunkdom” and he continued it with this summer’s Jurassic World. Sharing the screen with red-headed bombshell Bryce Dallas Howard, it’s Pratt who wears the form-fitting jersey shirt and thigh-hugging pants. Seriously, his pants are the best special effect in the entire movie (sorry Imperious Rex!). I would even posture that the iconic shot of the movie, where Pratt is crouching in front of his team of raptors, is iconic in part because of those pants. In years past, those pants would be baggy dad pants, but this is 2015: We want our summer blockbuster heroes to be fit and unafraid to give us the goods.

And then there’s Magic Mike. The two Magic Mike movies are filled with abs, asses, pecs, biceps and thighs that are designed to bring pleasure. Essentially, this is a series created to make straight women and gay men horny, despite the grotesque glittery underwear. (Seriously, why can’t they just wear some boxer briefs – glittery thongs are disgusting.) While the second film didn’t have quite the impact the first did (probably because the novelty had worn off), I like to think that this normalizing is a good thing. A sexualized male is now normal and not considered “outrageous” enough to be the focus of an American Pie-style set piece. And normalizing male sexuality helps normalize gay and bisexual relationships too.

Of course it’s not just the movies delivering the male goods. Check out ABC’s The Bachelorette and well – you kind of have to watch it on mute – but it serves up a smorgasbord of male physiques, often shirtless for no reason other than “the cameras are on”. For some reason, every episode is two hours long and includes a lot of insufferable conversations on couches in front of fireplaces, but there are also plenty of poolside hangouts. In fact, definitely watch The Bachelorette on mute; otherwise it’s a real boner killer. 

The CW alone provides hours of man meat. Arrow in particular never wastes an opportunity to show off star Stephen Amell’s oh-so beautifully scarred torso. While there are plenty of gorgeous women on the show, the real star of the show is Amell’s torso. Seriously, have you seen this thing? Not since J. Lo’s ass has a body part been given such star treatment. 

So is the objectification and debasement of the male form to mere eye candy a good thing? Does treating men like pieces of meat remove them of agency and their own humanity? Well, yes, obviously it does. But does looking at a beautiful sunset rob it of its agency? Objectification has definitely not been to the benefit of women in Western culture – straight dudes have a lot to learn – but if the playing field is equal, well, okay. The appreciation and sexualization of the male form isn’t in and of itself a bad thing. It’s perfectly normal to lust after a hot guy. You can appreciate a good ass without being an ass. So ogle respectfully, fellas.