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Male Gayze, The
Michael Williams
Color photocopies, laserprinter paer, marbled paper cover, handsewn and bound.
color photocopy printing
handsewn binding
11 x 8 1/2 x 1/2 in
number 1
edition of 1
Growing up gay in the Midwest, before the mainstream release of films like "Philadelphia" and "To Wong Foo…," meant growing up with virtually no accessible images of homosexuality. The "love that dare not speak its name" was not allowed to show its face either, and the ideal heterosexual romance was thrust upon me from every venue, be it television, film or magazines. I was forced to take it upon myself to reconstruct the images I was given, to insert myself and my dreams into this fantasy world created by Madsion Avenue and Hollywood, and to subvert its myth of masculinity by injecting my own narrative between the narrow lines I was supposed to follow. The commercial gay bar scene and its publications also enforce standards of behavior and appearance that can be just as repressive as the mainstream conformist influence. The gay male culture's obsession with perfectly chiseled smooth-skinned Adonis physiques is epitomized in the look and costume of models in the thinly-veiled, soft-core homoerotic porn, otherwise know as the "International Male" clothing catalog. I believe a healthy degree of self-criticism is in order for many gay men regarding the objectification of men.
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