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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

January 1, 2010 • www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

A changing view of the masculine ideal

by Anthony Glassman

Over the course of time years, decadesthe masculine ideal changes.

During the colonial period, powdered wigs were considered butch, as absurd as that might seem now. In the 1970s, a thick mustache was de rigueur, a look that fell out of fashion in the '80s and '90s and has now returned with the "ironic porn-'stache."

chests and more on display throughout this monograph, and the book itself provides a tactile mirror to the implied textures captured on film-as PowerHouse often does, their artistry continues beyond the images on the page into the very format.

The cover of the book is textured almost like wallpaper, giving it a feel as well as a look.

Using himself as a guinea pig, David L. Dowd invented several bodybuilding devices. This photo of him in American Hunks was taken in about 1880. He later operated a "School of Scientific, Physical and Vocal Culture" in New York City.

Muscular bodies have, at times in the past, indicated that one was of the lower classes, having to perform menial labor that resulted in bulging biceps and pert pectorals.

Even ideals surrounding body hair change over time, with a constant ebb and flow of fashions surrounding furry chests, manscaping and something called a "Brazilian."

Two fascinating new books explore different aspects of masculinity, although both use a decidedly visual examination.

The first, Hairy (PowerHouse, hardcover, $45) by photographer Robert Greene, is exactly what the title implies: photographs of hairy man-bits.

There are furry legs, hirsute heinies, fuzzy

Interspersed with the photographs of hairy men are pictures of dogs, also hairy, and plants in the lush bloom of summer, drawing a solid connection between man, man's best friend and the natural world in which he finds himself. While much of the gay male community

continues to be fixated with smooth-bodied

twinks, the bear subculture has become more and more visible. While the men in these photos might not fit the archetype of the "bear" in gay terms, the loving attention given to them is certainly emblematic of the embrace of a more primal, primitive and naturalistic masculine image than the hairless ephebe, and Greene's camera lens serves as his hand, caressing these bodies and bringing those soft touches to those who flip through the pages of Hairy.

Greene deals with the present, although, admittedly, not the current season.

Another book, however, takes a look back at images dating back to the early days of photography.

David L. Chapman and Brett Josef Grubisic's American Hunks (Arsenal Pulp, trade paper, $29.95) examines muscle culture in the United States from around 1860 to 1970 through old photos, pamphlets, advertisements and Motoscope cards.

There is a certain humor to this collection, beyond even that of seeing images of bygone days and their accompanying fashions.

Certainly, Otto Stroesser's moustache on page 62 will not be coming back into fashion any time in the near future, but in the case of other photographs in the volume, it is jarring to realize that the model is probably long dead.

Edmund T. Siemsen, a dancer on Broadway, shows his "terpsichorean physique" on page 123, and that photograph is now 86 years old. He is long gone, but his taut musculature lives on for untold generations.

There is also a greater variety in American Hunks than in Hairy, ranging from the lithe to the Herculean to the bearish, smoothchested to furry, young to... well, none legitimately old, but certainly some not young, like Stanislaus Zybysko, a strongman and professional wrestler.

There is a good sampling from muscle magazines, those earliest mass-market forms of gay pornography, as well as almost legitimately disconcerting ads for popular products, like one for Ivory Soap from World War I. While one soldier is hanging a towel to dry and others lounge around in uniforms, another sits naked at the side of the lake, holding a bar of Ivory. It's a painted ad, but it's still an odd image by today's standards.

Some might think it odd that a book called American Hunks is co-written by a Canadian (Grubisic), released by a Canadian company and featuring many photographic subjects who were born in Europe. However, given Arsenal Pulp Press' track record with volumes like this, collections of queer art and photographic essays on gay life throughout the decades, any possible critics would soon be far too entranced to even remember that irony.

Hairy

Photographer Robert Greene gives loving attention

to a primal masculine image in Hairy.