I also think ballet slippers are sensual looking--with or without socks--sometimes as much as barefoot. But I think men can also dance in nothing but a jockstrap, and that is a great look and feel too!
It's too bad ballet is not mandatory in school for all boys, in the same way that gym or phys. ed. is, or perhaps offered as part of a phys. ed course? I think this would help to take the stigma out of dance being a feminine pursuit--that it really involves as much, if not more, athleticism as competitive sports, gymnastics, swimming, etc. And boys should be required to wear tights and slippers to such a class, to help eliminate the teasing of boy dancers who may choose to take dance classes after school.
I would like to see the day when there is more male-male partnering in ballet, that the interaction would be good in the same way that wrestling is good for men--men need an outlet to touch and hold other men, even if not outwardly gay, it satisfies basic male urges--an outlet for horseplay so natural to boys. And the added strength it takes to partner and lift and support other boys and men would surely develop more muscle, might help to convince the ignorant that dance is a form of athleticism if men were not only lifting women in tutus.
Keep on dancing, guys, and keep on sliding your packages into skin-tight coverings, like a beautiful muscular sausage! [/i]