Tim Bergling - Chasing Adonis: Gay Men and the Pursuit of Perfection
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Chasing Adonis: Gay Men and the Pursuit of Perfection: summary, description and annotation
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What is it about some men that makes them an object of our deepest desires? And how far are we willing to go in pursuit of those desires?
Chasing Adonis: Gay Men & the Pursuit of Perfection delves into one of the most central mysteries of gay life: What is it gay men find attractive in other men, and why? How much is nature, how much is nurture . . . or maybe just clever marketing? This unique book examines steroid use, body image disorders, gym culture, Internet hook-ups, obsession, stalking, porn, erotic Web sites, strip clubs and everything else that makes gay men act a little bit nutty when they meet someone who drives them crazy! Frank, sexy, and controversial, it uses a light touch to examine a serious subject: how gay society objectifies the male body.
Tim Bergling, author of Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior and Reeling in the Years: Gay Mens Perspectives on Age and Ageism, surveys gay men about their individual concepts of beauty and desire and about the almost unattainable Adonis standard many of them set for themselves. Teenagers, senior citizens, and the guys stuck in the middle discuss the idea of perfection, how much it changes or evolves over time, and whether the exterior package outweighs whats inside.
From the author:
It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful the d-word(desire) can be, how it can take control of our lives and shut everything out, sometimes for just a few moments, sometimes for days or weeks at a time, depending on how badly were smitten. Ask just about anybody, and they can likely pull up a story from their pastor their presentwhen theyve done something incredibly stupid or ill-advised, or maybe just something completely out of character, in pursuit of their hearts desire.
Chasing Adonis examines:
Chasing Adonis: Gay Men & the Pursuit of Perfection delves into one of the most central mysteries of gay life: What is it gay men find attractive in other men, and why? How much is nature, how much is nurture . . . or maybe just clever marketing? This unique book examines steroid use, body image disorders, gym culture, Internet hook-ups, obsession, stalking, porn, erotic Web sites, strip clubs and everything else that makes gay men act a little bit nutty when they meet someone who drives them crazy! Frank, sexy, and controversial, it uses a light touch to examine a serious subject: how gay society objectifies the male body.
Tim Bergling, author of Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior and Reeling in the Years: Gay Mens Perspectives on Age and Ageism, surveys gay men about their individual concepts of beauty and desire and about the almost unattainable Adonis standard many of them set for themselves. Teenagers, senior citizens, and the guys stuck in the middle discuss the idea of perfection, how much it changes or evolves over time, and whether the exterior package outweighs whats inside.
From the author:
It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful the d-word(desire) can be, how it can take control of our lives and shut everything out, sometimes for just a few moments, sometimes for days or weeks at a time, depending on how badly were smitten. Ask just about anybody, and they can likely pull up a story from their pastor their presentwhen theyve done something incredibly stupid or ill-advised, or maybe just something completely out of character, in pursuit of their hearts desire.
Chasing Adonis examines:
- obsession and rejection
- self-esteem issues
- the allure of youth
- preferences in body shapes, types, and sizes
- designer genes vs. first impressions
- assessing body parts
- narcissism or comfort level-why men chase after guys who look like them
- AIDS and HIV
- gay porn
- adult book stores and the Internet
- the Calvin Klein ad campaign featuring Marky Mark Wahlberg
- the Abercrombie & Fitch ads
- Tom of Finland
- gay icons
- weight training and fitness clubs
- steroids and plastic surgery
- circuit parties
- body dysmorphia
- and much more!
Tim Bergling: author's other books
Who wrote Chasing Adonis: Gay Men and the Pursuit of Perfection? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Carol Bishop-Gwyn
Jarrid Wilson
Geno Auriemma
J M Bergling
Antonio Baldovinos
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Chasing Adonis
Gay Men and the Pursuit
of Perfection
of Perfection
THE HAWORTH PRESS
Titles of Related Interest
Gay and Gray: The Older Homosexual Man, Second Edition by Raymond M. Berger
Against My Better Judgment: An Intimate Memoir of an Eminent Gay Psychologist by Roger Brown
Gay Men at Midlife: Age Before Beauty edited by Alan L. Ellis
Gay Mens Sexual Stories: Getting It! edited by Robert Reynolds and Gerard Sullivan
Gay Midlife and Maturity: Crises, Opportunities, and Fulfillment edited by John Alan Lee
Midlife and Aging in Gay America: Proceedings of the SAGE Conference 2000 edited by Douglas C. Kimmel and Dawn Lundy Martin
Social Services for Senior Gay Men and Lesbians edited by Jean K. Quam
Sociological Analysis of Aging: The Gay Male Perspective by J. Michael Cruz
When Its Time to Leave Your Lover: A Guide for Gay Men by Neil Kaminsky
The Mentor: A Memoir of Friendship and Gay Identity by Jay Quinn
Reeling in the Years: Gay Mens Perspectives on Age and Ageism by Tim Bergling
Chasing Adonis
Gay Men and the Pursuit
of Perfection
of Perfection
Tim Bergling
First published by
The Haworth Press, Inc.
10 Alice Street
Binghamton, N Y 13904-1580
This edition published 2011 by Routledge
| Routledge | Routledge |
| Taylor & Francis Group | Taylor & Francis Group |
| 711 Third Avenue | 2 Park Square, Milton Park |
| New York, NY 10017 | Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN |
2007 Tim Bergling. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
PUBLISHERS NOTE
The development, preparation, and publication of this work has been undertaken with great care. However, the Publisher, employees, editors, and agents of The Haworth Press are not responsible for any errors contained herein or for consequences that may ensue from use of materials or information contained in this work. The Haworth Press is committed to the dissemination of ideas and information according to the highest standards of intellectual freedom and the free exchange of ideas. Statements made and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publisher, Directors, management, or staff of The Haworth Press, Inc., or an endorsement by them.
The development, preparation, and publication of this work has been undertaken with great care. However, the Publisher, employees, editors, and agents of The Haworth Press are not responsible for any errors contained herein or for consequences that may ensue from use of materials or information contained in this work. The Haworth Press is committed to the dissemination of ideas and information according to the highest standards of intellectual freedom and the free exchange of ideas. Statements made and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publisher, Directors, management, or staff of The Haworth Press, Inc., or an endorsement by them.
Cover and interior illustrations by Joe Phillips.
Cover design by Karen Lowe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Bergling, Tim.
Chasing Adonis: gay men and the pursuit of perfection / Tim Bergling.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-56023-508-8 (case 13 : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-56023-508-X (case 10 : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56023-509-5 (soft 13 : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-56023-509-8 (soft 10 : alk. paper)
1. Gay men. 2. Sexual attraction. I. Title.
HQ76.B493 2007
306.7662dc22
Chasing Adonis: gay men and the pursuit of perfection / Tim Bergling.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-56023-508-8 (case 13 : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-56023-508-X (case 10 : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56023-509-5 (soft 13 : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-56023-509-8 (soft 10 : alk. paper)
1. Gay men. 2. Sexual attraction. I. Title.
HQ76.B493 2007
306.7662dc22
2006022965
For Dave Reynolds
1972-1995
1972-1995
I only wish I could have thanked you, Dave, for making all this possible, but youre with the angels now
In between the moon and you, angels get a better view
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Bergling is the author of Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior (Harrington Park Press) and Reeling in the Years: Gay Mens Perspectives on Age and Ageism (Harrington Park Press). His work has appeared in The Advocate, Genre, Out, Instinct, and HERO magazines. A DC-area native, Bergling is a former U.S. Marine (1982-1990); he can be reached via his Web site: www.timbergling.com.
CONTENTS
| Greg Herren |
| Chapter 1. |
| Chapter 2. |
| Chapter 3. |
| Chapter 4. |
| Chapter 5. |
| Chapter 6. |
| Chapter 7. |
NOTES FOR PROFESSIONAL LIBRARIANS AND LIBRARY USERS
This is an original book title published by Harrington Park Press, the trade division of The Haworth Press, Inc. Unless otherwise noted in specific chapters with attribution, materials in this book have not been previously published elsewhere in any format or language.
CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION NOTES
All books published by The Haworth Press, Inc., and its imprints are printed on certified pH neutral, acid-free book grade paper. This paper meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Material, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI) LINKING
The Haworth Press is participating in reference linking for elements of our original books. (For more information on reference linking initiatives, please consult the CrossRef Web site at www.crossref.org.) When citing an element of this book such as a chapter, include the elements Digital Object Identifier (DOI) as the last item of the reference. A Digital Object Identifier is a persistent, authoritative, and unique identifier that a publisher assigns to each element of a book. Because of its persistence, DOIs will enable The Haworth Press and other publishers to link to the element referenced, and the link will not break over time. This will be a great resource in scholarly research.
Foreword
Ah, the male body.
The past thirty years or so have seen a complete revolution in the way we as a society look at the masculine form. In 1965, the very notion of underwear ads showing models with rippling muscles and a rather prominent bulge beneath the fly would have been laughed off Madison Avenue. Yet little more than twenty years later, there was that massive billboard over Times Square advertising Calvin Klein Underwear. That billboard signaled a massive shift in what was then the dominant paradigm in American culture regarding the male body: the billboard was stating something that gay men had been aware of for yearsthat the masculine form could be a thing of beautyand the definition of masculinity had been forever changed. Previously, the heavily muscled male body was out of vogue with the mainstream. It wasnt, after all, masculine for a man to be concerned with his appearanceparticularly his physicality. If you were an athleteOlympic, collegiate, or professionalyour vigorous training resulted in a muscled physique that could be admired; otherwise, you were simply self-absorbed and vain.
As the 1980s played out, the objectification of the male body continued. Other clothing designers followed Calvin Kleins lead and began featuring homoerotic imagery of smooth, muscled young men in their advertising. As advertisers became more aware of gay men as consumers, the sexualization of the male form in their commercials and print ads continued, and their sales increased. Some gorgeous men even earned fifteen minutes of fame based solely on their appearanceremember the Diet Pepsi commercial with Lucky Vanous? Television and films soon picked up on this, and soon a muscled body was de rigeur for actors. And it was only a matter of time before the backlash began.
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