Equality of the sexy

I'm a big proponent of gender equality on film.

Yet, while most cinematic chicks drop top and trou at the slightest suggestion, male stars take a lot longer to get out of their skivvies. (The exception being shirtless wonder Matthew McConaughey.)

That's why I was gratified to see two sterling examples of male nudity on the silver screen recently -- with nary a female nipple or derriere in sight.

In "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," mock rocker Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) holds an entire phone conversation with an extra's ... ahem ... member in plain sight.

Wide-angle shots of star Jason Segel's nude torso -- both front and back -- bookend "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

It's done for comic effect, obviously, but the result is two-fold.

At first, we get a guilty, gross-out pleasure from the sight of Segel in his birthday suit. By the end of the movie, when Segal is embracing his fully clothed co-star (Mila Kunis), his nudity seems downright blasé.

Both of these examples come to us from producer Judd Apatow and pals. That's right -- the same guys that brought you a pale, slightly bloated Will Ferrell in his tighty-whities.

Apatow's message is clear: For men, nudity means vulnerability. It means comedy.

Amd while we might giggle at Kathy Bates in a hot tub ("About Schmidt") or Eddie Murphy in a female fat suit ("Norbit"), few women on film get laughs when they slip off their sundresses.

It sounds more like a wistful sigh.

-- Sarah L.