This week:
BEARS --- Oh, my!
One comment that I got about the pre-launch posting was how young and hairless the muscle-men were, so this week's posting of “Images of Masculinity” is a tribute to bears from four artists and photographers from the US, Mexico and Argentina.
The new banner for this column is the artwork of http://unfils.deviantart.com/
- Please visit all of the featured artist and let them know how you appreciate their contributions to the Blog.
I won't go deeply into the endless debates that gay men have about what constitutes a “bear”, but it's worth a mention. In the interests of disclosure, I should mention that at 60, I am a “daddy-bear”, so I've been involved in this debate for a good thirty years.
Some men say that a bear is any man who is hairy. Richard Simmons has a hairy chest, and I refuse to call him a bear.
News photo from the Internet
Some just say any burly man is a bear – fat or muscle is their criteria. I am of the school that insists that a bear is defined by masculine attitude.
Ralph's Mexican leather-bears featured here are only lightly hairy, reflecting their Native American heritage, but macho as hell by the same birthright. ORSOS GRANDE – Big Bears Ralph – or Rafael – has three websites for you to visit:
http://ralph-mx.deviantart.com/
http://yaoi.y-gallery.net/gallery/ralph/ &
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ralph-mx/
At the last one you can see photos of Rafael and his "reason to smile everyday." His lover is a real BEAR! And so is Rafael.
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| Bear Proud |
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| Leather 2010 |
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| Halloween Devil (Ralph 2) |
By contrast, let me introduce the work of Argentinian photographer Diego Lema http://quemas.deviantart.com/ , first with this self portrait, Venus As A Boy.
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| Venus As A Boy |
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| Julio 18 |
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| Marzo 2 |
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| and this one... Illusion |
Next comes some paintings from an old friend, James Michael McCracken of St. Petersburg, Florida. I start with his self portrait, being a bit bearish himself. He was kind enough to allow me to use one of his painting as the cover for my first self-published book (see my regular blog http://www.ikerose.com for details on getting discounted or free copies).
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St. Pete Artisan 2007 |
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“2 AM" |
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OUT – Nation Coming Out Day 2010 |
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Born brave – 2008 This self portrait by South African photographer Neil, http://v3n0mous.deviantart.com/ , gives a new view of a bearish, masculine man. |
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Venom – self-portrait |
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Alone |
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Blue |
He creates some very interesting images of men in isolation....
Last, but by no means least, I present the work of American photographer Dan Skinner, http://cerberuseros.deviantart.com/ , who I find a bit playful.
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He's Got the Touch Full |
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Pool Rules |
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Send up to Tom Of Finland |
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nine twenty two |
I hope you enjoyed my tribute to BEARS and male-fur.
Ike
WEEKLY NOTE:
THE ARCHIVES FOR "IMAGES OF MASCULINITY" ARE NOW KEPT ON : http://masculineimages.blogspot.com/
Visit to find past postings...
YOU CAN LEAVE POST SPECIFIC COMMENTS THERE, TOO.
THE ARCHIVES FOR "IMAGES OF MASCULINITY" ARE NOW KEPT ON : http://masculineimages.blogspot.com/
Visit to find past postings...
YOU CAN LEAVE POST SPECIFIC COMMENTS THERE, TOO.
I never thought in a million years I'd use a picture of Richard Simmons in a Posting about BEARS!
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