Who's Getting Naked on 'GOT'? Hopefully the Men

"Do you watch Game of Thrones?" "Yeah... there's a lot of boobs." Who hasn't had that conversation about the HBO series adapted from fantasy writer extraordinaire/ NFL superfan George R.R. Martin's runaway hit book series? Apparently the show's actresses, including Sibel Kekilli, who plays the prostitute Shae, have had that talk too, and they want to see more male nudity on the show. Kekilli, who returns in the upcoming fourth season, has made it clear that she wouldn't mind a little more on-screen male nudity on Game of Thrones : "Yes, of course. Why are all the women naked? “I mean good-looking guys. I want to see Conleth Hill and [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau] and Peter Dinklage," she said in a press conference in London to promote the show.

And why, indeed? Game of Thrones has come under fire (and ice) for what many deem "gratuitous" female nudity; it's the bane of prude parents everywhere. The issues lies not, though, in the telltale titties that grace our screens, but rather, as Kekilli makes known, in the lack of male equivalent. We're no strangers to nudity in HBO shows; have you heard of one young lady named Lena Dunham? It's not new, but in Game of Thrones the nudity is part and parcel of the medieval setpiece that the show's world has so carefully crafted. It's the pointed obvious lack of male nudity that is the problem.

And why are male parts so much more explicit and shocking to the viewer? Perhaps we have become desensitized to ladybits, and there's nothing wrong with that. But treating women's bodies as spectacle that we both want to gawk at and criticize while protecting the so-called sanctity of the male form is grossly mishandling and misrepresenting what is to be valued; if we never get a chance to ogle naked dudes on screen, but there are naked women romping around constantly, what does that say about whose bodies are objects to be looked at and whose are to be respected?

Kikelli is not the only Game of Thrones star that has beef with the lack of male nudity on the series. Carice van Houten, who plays the terrifying, beautiful nightmare Melisandre, has too expressed the sentiment: Asked whether there should be more male nudity, she said: "Hell yeah! Of course it has to be functional and it mostly is. But in general that's what I like about the show, not the sex per se but the nudity is part of life."

We've decided once and for all that the series objectifies women in a straightforward way, but its female characters are some of the most powerful and most evil (good luck to you if you find yourself in an argument with Cersei Lannister), It's the pointed focus on female nudity in such a show where male nudity would be expected, as well, is where the truth is slant.

The girls on Game of Thrones aren't afraid to get naked, and the men who wage fierce battles for everlasting winters shouldn't be, either. As the saying goes: when you play the game of thrones, you get naked, or else.