Are Muscle Bound Gay Men Superficial Airheads and Why are Evangelicals, Catholics and Republicans Obsessed with Iconic (but Queer) Men of Steel?

Are gay muscle men superficial, or is this just an undeserved and cruel stereotype?



Gay men are often criticized for being 'obsessed with their bodies' -- there is at least a small kernal of truth in this, but has anyone wondered why?

gay muscle





In the 1980s gay men all around the world watched in horror as their best friends and lovers withered into emaciated corpses stricken with AIDS and HIV wasting-related diseases.



[Pictured above: Ex-rent boy Mike Jones is muscle bound and has a conscience and a soul, as well, and we'd love to know what he did with clients the Evangelical icon Rev. Ted Haggard and Republican Senator Larry Craig.]



Suddenly in the mid-1980s to early 1990s, to appear 'too skinny' became something to avoid, because people might attach the stigma of death and illness to you.



Cultural historians might one day assert that the effects of the AIDS wasting scare scarred the collective psyche of the gay community and the need to be muscle bound still lingers, while the original cause has been suppressed by medications and disease-prevention.





[Pictured above: Jeff Gannon was a Washington, D.C. rent boy who re-invented himself as a Republican plant-White House journalist who embarrassed Mr. Bush once it was revealed that Jeff used his muscle to lure the high and mighty as male sex clients through his Militray and Muscle websites.]

Read about Muscle Bound Washington Rent Boy / Republican Sex Icon Jeff Gannon at John Aravosis's Americablog

In the early 1990s, after the GAY HOLOCAUST OF AIDS, Anti-viral 'HAART' drugs became available and gay men stopped dying in such large numbers -- HIV became a long-term manageable disease.



But a lot of gay men and some women were still damaged or suffering physically and emotionally from the impact of the disease.





[Pictured above: Flamboyant AND Muscle-bound! Richard Simmons apearing on the David Letterman Show recently, as he took Middle America by storm in the 1980s with his work-out aerobic fitness videos]

Richard Simmons

In the mid-1990s the 'gym craze' took off in America, driven in large part by hunky gay men who made being muscular and fit a status symbol.


[Pictured above: Gay Muscle contests are regular, normal and popular events around the world -- gay men have always been trendsetters and they started a worldwide weight-training craze with their obsession to look muscular and fit.]

Eventually the rest of the world caught up and men everywhere had to join gyms and get fit.



And then society turned around and accused the gays of being 'superficial'. Even some gay men and lesbians accused fellow gays of being superficial, if they joined a gym or starting lifting weights.


[Pictured above: anal sex loving U.S. Marine Matt Sanchez takes time off from porn films to escort evil witches like Ann Coulter, a homophobic and hated Republican spokesperson.]



Please see:

Will US military kick out gay porn star and male prostitute Marine who starred in "Touched by an Anal"? at Americablog

[Pictured above: U.S. Marine Reservist, Former Porn Star Muscle-bound gay Matt Sanchez.]

Gay men have often been known to sympathize with beautiful women, who found themselves being subjectified in pornography by hetero men. But gay men might have still been surprised to find themselves subjectified by both hetero women and other gay men, once they reclaimed their bodies and became muscle bound.



Please also see:

Do Gays, Straights, Republicans And Democrats Take Porn Star Matt Sanchez Seriously?

[Pictured above: Stereotypically-Muscle bound Gay U.S. Marine Reservist and Republican Poster Boy Matt Sanchez as Rod Majors plays with the 'major rods' of his two male sex partners.]



Plastic surgery and Growth hormones and steroids were regularly prescribed for men suffering from the effects of HIv or the side-effects of life-saving HIV medications.


Pictured above: Peter Hinwood as Rocky Horror, hanging out in front of one of the statues. Check out the abs!] From the Rock Picture Horror Show archive at:

www.rockymusic.org

Conditions like facial wasting and lypoatrophy (wasting and fat re-distribution) drove gay men to mask their conditions with exercise and fashion.


[Pictured above: Author Nelson Vergel, a heroic leader of gay men who have decided to fight back with exercise and diet and positive mental health.]

For some, steroid use builds hope

Nelson Vergel, Pumped-Up Prophet

"Necessity is the mother of invention. Nelson Vergel, a former chemical engineer born in Venezuela, has been HIV-positive since 1983 and is still thriving. By necessity, he became a leading treatment advocate for wasting/lipodystrophy syndromes and wellness in HIV disease."

Nelson Vergel Homepage

The problem a lot of HIV+ gay men faced was this: "I feel fine, my health is great with medication, but I look like 'death' because of wasting and side-effects."



Many gay men found spiritual meaning in the midst of this horrible crisis, and thaking care of their bodies and mindsa became part of their routines.

Some gay men grew up weak and used to being called a 'sissy' by bullies and then survived AIDS and turned into 1990s muscle-bound hunks, much to their surprise.



Whether muscles on gay men is desirable is a point of contest in discourses among gay men and Queer Theory scholars, who considered the advent of new, hypermasculine icons and heroes/role models in the gay community as a possible sign of anti-intellectualism or insecurity/lack of self-esteem.



Indeed, gay men were the first to develop their own form of body 'self-hatred' as we see the beautiful-but-sad, muscle-bound fellow staring into the mirror and seeing himself 'waste away' as the muscle grow and the shirts rip and pop whenever he moves.



Please see:

hyper masculine leather ? bullshit -- i dont think so

Ironically, the gay muscle boy has been turning up all over America and bringing down politicians who secretly couldn't resist the power and allure of the male body -- Republicans and Evangliecals seem to be most attracted to gay muscle men.





[Picture above: Proctor & Gamble's trademarked Mr. Clean thrilled young men and housewives for several generations -- body piercings, shaved head, muscle-bound and meticulous around the house -- but was he gay? Inquiring minds would like to know!]



Of course, thinking the worst, and maybe a bit jealous, other people accused gays of being 'air-headed muscle boys', but while there will always be some dizzy boys among us, most men just wanted their lives back.



[Pictured above: iconic painting 'Gay Beach' 64,5 x 106cm by Jason (actually Jacques) Barner-Rasmussen, born 1975, lives & works in Helsinki, Finland, Europe; © J.son Barner-Rasmussen 2006.]

Please buy this painting at:

Jason Barner-Rasmussen

And the first step was to get their looks back. Of course, some had to gain enough weight and get sober or clean from drugs before they could start turning into muscle gods.



Quite a few gay men had despaired and become addicted to lifestyles of neglect toward themselves.


Pictured above: MUSCLE-BOUND GAY PORN STAR ERIC EVANS LOOKS BETTER THAN EVER IN LEATHER CHAPS, HARNESS, ARM BANDS AND LEATHER CODPIECE.]

Please See:

Bears2Twinks

Some needed therapy, physical training, and support for addictions and dietary advice.



As a result, gay men and women, recovering from the AIDS crisis used the obstacles to find strength and new solutions and new reasons to live.

Male Eating Disorders -- Overeaters Anonymous

Crystal Meth Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous

Gay Spirituality

Bernadette Peters--Being Alive





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AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

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