A website of all naked ladies launches, but what about the men?

Herself.com explores women's lives and bodies while giving them room to fully be themselves,

Caitlin Stasey photographed by Jennifer Toole via Herself.com

This month, Australian actress Caitlin Stasey launched Herself.com, a photography and interview site centered around naked women. The poses are artful, featuring women basking in the sun, with a snake curled around a breast, flaunting tan lines and tattoos. What I especially appreciate is that the Q&As aren't focused solely on their birthday suits, but also on their lives and thoughts. They're asked for their views on topics such as reproductive rights, monogamy and sex education.

Stasey has received lots of praise, but also the critique that she will never be able to reclaim female nudity because it's already been co-opted by the male gaze. As Rebecca Sullivan wrote at news.com.au, "If you put naked shots of yourself on the Internet and expect any other reaction apart from people ogling your body, you're naive." I disagree; the goal isn't to put a stop to ogling, but to present a broader idea of what nudity can convey. It doesn't have to only be about sex appeal.

Herself.com launched at the same time British tabloid The Sun decided after 44 years to stop showing topless women (though they've apparently changed their minds and their infamous Page 3 girls are back). The difference, to my mind, is one of intent. Stasey's goal is to educate; The Sun's, to titillate.

There's nothing wrong with titillation in the right venue — I'd be a hypocrite if I said there was after working for seven years at adult magazine Penthouse Variations — but randomly adding breasts to your daily news only objectifies women. What Stasey and her models, and any woman posing nude outside of a commercial context, are saying is that they want to be seen as more than simply the owners of their genitals, and that they don't want to have to cover up their bodies to get respect.

Herself.com is a wonderful way of exploring women's lives and bodies while giving them agency to fully be themselves, rather than a carefully crafted image to promote a given product. Of course, with any image, viewers can, and should, project their own interpretations. A photo never means simply one thing, no matter what the subject or photographer seeks to convey. Viewers may get turned on by the photos, and that's perfectly fine.

What I'd love to see is a similar site for male nudes, one that's also welcoming of various sexual orientations and body types. The motivations may be different; Stasey says on the site's call for participants, "Let us reclaim our bodies. Let us take them back from those who seek to profit from our insecurity."

Men's bodies, on the whole, are not objectified in the same way as women's, but our culture still needs a broader vision of male eroticism.

I'm not suggesting Stasey take this on; it would make more sense coming from a male perspective. What I'm arguing is that men need to rethink how they present their naked bodies as well. Why? Because otherwise men get the message that it's only the female form that should be ogled, or that their cocks are the only male body parts worth seeing, something echoed by fashion designer Rick Owens, who sent models down a Paris catwalk with flaccid penises peeking out of their clothing.

What if there were a similar site where men with, say, smaller than average penises, and short men, fat men and bald men were encouraged to expose every inch of their bodies, not for dating or hookup purposes, but simply for the sake of being seen?

A 2014 Today/AOL body image survey found that 53 percent of men don't like having their photo taken and 63 percent "always feel like [they] could lose weight." Of course that's going to affect how they approach sex and dating. How can you feel confident if you don't want to be seen naked? Maybe we'd see less unsolicited dick pics if men felt valued for more than what's between their legs.

Some of the issues Herself.com is addressing go beyond gender. Many of us are tired of rigid beauty standards that prioritize thinness, whiteness and youth. More diversity in nude art can only lead to more of us embracing our bodies as they are rather than wanting to change them.

✚ Rachel Kramer Bussel is the author of the essay collection Sex & Cupcakes and editor of over 50 erotica anthologies, most recently Hungry for More and The Big Book of Submission. She tweets @raquelita.