Not Sweating the Small Stuff

Magazines for the Gay Sensibility

I guess since nearly the beginnings of photography in the 1830's, there have been images for the gay sensibility, like this mid-late C19 pic:



These guys are so serious about their explorations - as though undertaking some great medical discovery. Crabs? Or it is a kind of simian grooming behaviour? Any ideas?

But for those who needed their stimulus in a somewhat disguised form ('no judgement' - Carrie, 'Sex in the City'), hot guys could be dressed up in a classical mode, even directly mimicking culturally approved works. A pair of examples would be:














This subterfuge afforded the greatest safety, in case, for example, Great Aunt Maude should happen into the library when you were appraising the 'art'. Of course, there was always the problem of explaining ya pants being round ya ankles and ya red sweaty face, to say nothing of the roaring hard-on in ya other hand. Come to think of it, can't image any kind of excuse that would work in this case, and I'm pretty inventive. Any ideas?

Photo-heavy magazines this century, ever more mindful of wresting that extra poofta buck, have offered us the images we want, and for those needed the disguise, the guys came as body-builders, weight-losers, nudists, whatever. Like that super cute bloke I posted on Saturday 'Diary Bit - 'Vintage Nanosecond' '. And this 1941Chinese example:



Did anyone actually believe that body-builders/weight-loosers/nudists bought this stuff?

The magazines I really like are those where the disguise is almost abandoned. They are one (infinitesimally small) degree away from being just a Fag Mag, particularly with names like 'Adonis' and 'Demi-Gods'. That degree is getting the trunks down and the cock up: