Pavel Durov, the social networking entrepreneur who fled Russia, posted a photo on Instagram of himself stripped to the waist – in response to yet another topless shot of Vladimir Putin from a Siberian fishing trip. On the president’s photo, his mortuary-pale torso is proudly exposed (that reminds me – I must get around to watching that boxset of Silent Witness), with Putin tantalisingly close to looking sexier than the small dead fish he’s holding up.
Durov’s Putin-themed challenge went viral, prompting widespread male toplessness, encouraged perhaps by confused Russian media – the same ones prone to praising Putin’s “rippling muscles” and “powerful torso”.
Confession: I’ve long been aroused by Putin’s slutty he-man hunting/fishing/riding shots. It’s the erotic equivalent of finding an old, rain-damaged Stretch Armstrong figure on the tip, only with added crazed despotism to keep things interesting. Still, I can’t help but wonder how all this meshes with Putin’s notorious persecution of LGBTQ people. How could Putin expect anyone, whatever their sex or orientation, not to fancy him rotten from these inspirational photos? It’s inhumane on a global level.