How body ials shape the health of gay men

Contents:

• THE GAY FIGURE ARTISTS ARE REIMAGG THE MALE GAZE
• ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER
• SPEAKG OUT: MCLE DYSMORPHIA THE GAY COMMUNY
• THE GAY MEN RISKG THEIR HEALTH FOR THE PERFECT BODY
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN'S HEALTH ISSU
• HOW BODY IALS SHAPE THE HEALTH OF GAY MEN
• A HANDY GUI TO ALL GAY MEN
• IS TROYE SIVAN’S ‘RH’ SEXY FUN OR GAY DETR?
• GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN

THE GAY FIGURE ARTISTS ARE REIMAGG THE MALE GAZE

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTWorkg largely outsi the gallery system, a group of illtrators is revivg the disciple and refg how queer bodi are reprented MacConnell, “Ernie” 2014, waterlor and pen on paperLAST FALL, IN a ty apartment downtown New York, a 30-year-old gay physique mol named Matthew Williams stood naked agast a whe backdrop ont of the gay artist John MacConnell.

ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER

Over the next 2, 000 years, pturg the naked male form beme an sential artistic skill, one that reached s apotheosis Wtern culture durg the Italian Renaissance, when homosexual sire was subtly exprsed Donatello’s bronze “David” (cir 1440) and Caravagg’s patg “The Micians” (1597), where the tradnal female me is replaced wh a band of boys, partially robed togas, referencg a Greek and Roman perd which homoeroti was a part of society. Classics profsor Andrew Lear, 59, who now ns Osr Wil Tours, a pany that offers excursns foced on implicly gay art and history major while some old masters fetishized the male body barely d ways, the ia of an openly queer artist exprsg his sir om a queer perspective was only born the last century. Ined, cricism of works like Cadm’s durg an era which homosexualy was still forbidn phed many of the artists to the unrground, om where they’re still beg unearthed today.

(It’s perhaps not cintal that Alan Hollghurst’s latt novel, “The Sparsholt Affair, ” a gay retellg of Bra the 20th century, clus a 1940s-era artist tryg to pursue a classmate at Oxford by drawg his figure. ) Frato, “Tangere” 2016, lored pencil on paper, urty of the artist and Antoe Levi, Paris; Jordan Mejias, “Dare Me, ” 2017, monochromatic waterlor on paper, om the book “Of Art and Men” (Photograph: Hans-Ge Pospischil) © Jordan MejiasIN THE YEARS after Cadm, other gay perspectiv on the male body found their way to visual culture, though they’ve typilly been nsired taboo or hypersexual.

And spe the “queer enlightenment” of the 1970s and ’80s, when Robert Mapplethorpe, the photographer Rotimi Fani-Kayo and others brought man-on-man sex to the mm, there rema few celebratory imag of openly gay men Wtern visual art.

SPEAKG OUT: MCLE DYSMORPHIA THE GAY COMMUNY

Williams’s afternoon ssn wh MacConnell, fact, is part of a recent revival of male figure drawg among ntemporary gay artists — cludg Kou Shou, Mart Bedolla and Stephen McDermott — who all specialize stripped-down reprentatns of largely young whe men. Outled his signature blue pen, ’s a tribute to the sorts of mundane gay moments that are rarely celebrated art or popular culture. Gay figure artists are followg the homoerotic tradn tablished by Mizer, Fland and the artist Tom Bianchi, whose photographic nus have seen a renaissance after he published “Fire Island P, Polaroids 1975-1983” 2013.

” In “On Send Thought” (2016), the ster’s mcular curv suggt early Roman statuary while ializg gayns the tradn of Cadm’s fabulist etchg “Y. In this, Frato and the other ntemporary gay figure artists share a philosophy, spe their different athetics: They’re all mted to reflectg the mostly unseen terr liv of the men they admire, and to celebratg a diverse set of subjects who, taken together, stand opposn to a nonil history of art that has long ignored an openly gay view of the male body. Edors Raldo Hopf and Fedya Ili, ver photo (c)Slava MogutSuper sexual, body posive, and body shamg, gay sex tim of PrEP, Covid 19, tantra, health, bondage, non-bary genr intifitn, porn, SM, young and old, memori of the unplited, direct cisg parks, tattoos, hair, piercg, gym, plastic surgeri, sex via the ter and apps, sex parti, whe trash, selfi, and self-love...

To help unrstand the lk between gay culture and negative body image, eatg disorrs and body dysmorphia, we spoke to Carl Hovey, a psychologist and rearcher at the Soho and Fidi lotns of the Gay Therapy Center New York.

THE GAY MEN RISKG THEIR HEALTH FOR THE PERFECT BODY

He terviewed a llectn of gay men New York Cy, askg open end qutns like, “Can you talk to me a ltle about how you experience your body, both now and the past?”. But what Carl found, was that the level of acceptance gay men found wh their muny was sentially lked to the acceptance they felt wh their own body. “One of the more surprisg elements that me out of the rearch is how often experienc of the body–more specifilly, whether or not an dividual felt his body was acceptable or unacceptable the marketplace of gay culture—was related to a feelg of cln or excln wh that culture,” Carl said.

And wh so much of gay culture revolvg around sire, rather than some sort of cultural herage, gay men have found themselv a posn where they feel like they have to embody that sire–or else they won’t have a place wh the culture and muny. There is an unspoken expectatn wh gay culture: you mt be sirable at all tim, or else you won’t f to the cultural spac rerved for gay men. People even talked about feelg alienated om themselv, as though if their body didn’t f a certa script, they weren’t even sure who they were as gay men.

Body image issu aren’t unique to bi or gay men, but toxic thoughts pertag to self-worth and physil re have bee dangeroly prevalent wh the MSM (men seekg men) muny.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN'S HEALTH ISSU

“No fats, no femm.” “Gym-f only.” “I work out and you should too.” Over the years, we’ve all heard that tre le: “You n be straight th, but gay fat.”When I asked if any of my gay male followers had battled body image issu, someone rpond: “That’s lerally all of , surely.” A zger, sure, but at the same time, he probably wasn’t dulgg what Natasha Bedgfield famoly mispronounced as “hyper-bowl.” When agenda-settg gay men’s magaze Attu nducted a body survey 2017, 84% of people said they felt unr “tense prsure” to have a so-lled “good body.”This csant need to achieve a “good body” be—jt look around you, hontly—credibly heightened at the top of every year—pecially bee of the ia that a new year somehow also necsat a "new you." When we scroll through our feeds, everyone seems to be discsg their 2020 fns regimens; men wh shredd abs post photos of themselv filtered through that unmistakable Barry’s Bootmp crimson glow; don't even get me started on men wh superhero-level bodi postg thirsty shots of themselv wh ptns claimg they “let themselv go” durg the gluttony of holiday season. Rearch published last year by Philip Joy and Matthew Numer om Dalhoie Universy found that “social mands placed upon gay men to eat healthily and achieve a perfect body are lked to anxiety and prsn and have ser mental health nsequenc.” The Natnal Eatg Disorr Associatn (NEDA) siarly says that “LGBTQ+-intified folks experience unique strsors that may ntribute to the velopment of an eatg disorr.” One such strsor?

The “abily to meet body image ials wh some LGBTQ+ cultural ntexts.”Borris Visokoborskis, a 33-year-old gay fns stctor, says some of his personal traer lleagu are now fully booked until the end of Febary. “Workg this dtry, I n tell you that lookg good is not enough any more for some gay guys who value their athetics and appearance,” he says.

“And I gus he’s right: there are so many f guys out there that some guys feel the need to step up their game orr to feel visible, accepted, and appreciated.”Of urse, the social media era, our phon make easier than ever before to fall to the toxic trap of parg ourselv to other, more “fuckable” gay men.

HOW BODY IALS SHAPE THE HEALTH OF GAY MEN

Instagram tends to get the most blame, but Lewis, a 29-year-old gay man who says his body “jt don’t feel good enough,” argu that Twter n be even more triggerg. “You need to be bigger, lift weights, and have abs, which is a lot harr to achieve.”Alex, a 28-year-old gay man of lor, says there’s a fetishistic element to the body image prsure he fac.

“But when I’m out, I still get ments om other gay guys about my body, so sometim I feel like I have to keep workg on .” Alex says he’s affected by the ments bee he’s a “natural people pleaser,” even though he knows some of them are totally appropriate. Keir, a 33-year-old gay man, says he unrtook 18 months of unselg, partly to tackle body image issu, and reports that ’s been reasonably effective.

Acrdg to Derek (not his real name), an extremely f-lookg 30-year-old rporate manager whose terview follows below, Mcle Dysmorphia (MD) is “perhaps the most ser problem facg gay men asi om HIV/AIDS.

A HANDY GUI TO ALL GAY MEN

I realize that some gay people don’t re about how their bodi look, but I thk then ’s somethg else they get ught up , like their cloth. Although I thk thgs are changg, for a long time beg gay was associated wh beg a sissy, weak, and feme, buildg your body was a way of provg you were strong and mascule.

D: When I me of age and started to read gay magaz, all the pictur were of very good-lookg, very f people, I figured I’d better get gog and get to shape too. D: The ma thg is to te people, when to gay people they might not realize they have , and should be remembered that they might have a different nnotatn of the word disease, as often somethg sexually transmted. D: A lot of gay people are pecially nervo about agg, I thk as I get olr, jt turng 30, I’m tryg to thk a different way, as my goals are changg, I have ls time to work out, more rponsibili, have to e to grips I n go to the gym, I want to stay healthy, but need to balance out my life more.

IS TROYE SIVAN’S ‘RH’ SEXY FUN OR GAY DETR?

Media ptn, Gay body shamg prsure 'led to severe heart failure'"You're too ugly to be gay, " a man a Hudrsfield gay bar told Jakeb Artur was the latt a seri of ments om men that Jakeb says ma him feel worthls.

GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN

A number of gay men have told the BBC they are gog to extreme lengths to change their bodi - cludg g steroids and havg plastic surgery - jt to bee "accepted" by others the LGBT muny.

"It jt hasn't been worth at all, " he Jakeb is not alone takg drastic measur to try to appeal to Bmpton - a software engeer om Lln - found himself "tapulted to this world of self-nscns", after he hooked up wh a man at a lol gay Jam went back to the man's hoe and took off his T-shirt, his date looked at him and ma a disgted noise.

Acrdg to the most recent figur released by the Brish Associatn of Athetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps), 179 abdomoplasti were performed on men 2018 - up 18% on the prev Afsh Mosahebi, of Baaps, says gay men are currently havg more smetic procr done than straight men, although he not that women have more procr than men overall. "People havg their profil 'no fats', or that they're only to mascule and mcular guys, so they don't want anyone that's super skny, " he on social media and leadg gay magaz have also led Jam to feel he is an "var the space".