You showed no hesitation in signing up to my life drawing class when I told you that you would be the only man. The charge for the course was so low, I explained, because we didn't hire models. Instead, each week a student would take a turn to pose naked for the rest of the class.
If this intimidated you, perhaps the price of taking off your clothes before half a dozen women seemed reasonable compared to the opportunity to watch them do the same for you. Besides, the course only lasted four weeks so there was a chance you might not have to disrobe at all.
I explained that I would pull the students' names out of a hat, both to determine who would be the model that week and what theme they would be required to represent.
In the first week, I drew my own name and the theme was "glamour".
I brought out the dressing-up box so the class could choose items that fitted the theme. There was a selection of silky garments that you were keen for me to use. I ended up lying on a couch in a pair of pink knickers suggestively drawn down on one side, a pair of hold-up black stockings and a scarf tied around my neck in a large bow. The other students agreed and I posed before the class.
So much for week one.
You look nervous now as we begin our second week. I reach into the hat and pull out a name. It is your name.
"And the theme is..." I say, pulling out another slip of paper and unfolding it. "Humiliation."
This prompts a flurry of discussion among the women. One suggests that you simply pose naked, to which you agree, but I have barely gathered up your clothes and the sat at my easel when some of the students express reservations.
"He doesn't look humiliated," a Chinese undergraduate named Ling complains. "He just looks awkward."
There is a general muttering of agreement.