Tom Ford says all men should try being penetrated once 'to understand women'

Tom Ford, in an interview with GQ in 2004, said that every man should be penetrated at least once in their life.

The designer and film director told the interviewer:

Every man should be f**ked at some point in his life. You shouldn't force yourself to do it. But it's really not that different than having a massage.

When the interviewer said he was too repressed, Ford replied:

That's silly. Everyone should try it. It doesn't feel that much different. It's skin. You should do it with someone you like. Do it with a friend who you think is great. It's very easy. It's normal. You've never kissed a guy?

In an interview this week with the same magazine, 12 years on, Ford clarified his position on this facet of male sexuality, saying it provides a perspective and life view that many heterosexual men never experience.

In a more mellow and thoughtful answer, Ford, 55, who has now been married to his husband Richard Buckley for two years and has a son, said he initially made the comments in jest but that it's something he stands by:

I think it would help them understand women.

It’s such a vulnerable position to be in, and it’s such a passive position to be in. And there’s such an invasion, in a way, that even if it’s consensual, it’s just very personal.

And I think there’s a psyche that happens because of it that makes you understand and appreciate what women go through their whole life, because it’s not just sexual, it’s a complete setup of the way the world works, that one sex has the ability to literally—and is expected to and is wanted to—but also there’s an invasion. And I think that that’s something most men do not understand at all.

More: Straight men were asked to kiss gay guys for the first time to make a point about sexuality

More: The straight men having sex with men