Ebook: Buying gay how physique entrepreneurssparked a movement
Author: Johnson David K
- Tags: Bodybuilding--Periodicals--United States--History, Bodybuilding--United States--Periodicals--History, Gay business enterprises, Gay business enterprises--United States--History, Gay consumers, Gay consumers--United States--History, Gay erotica, Gay erotica--United States--History, Gay men, Gay men--United States--History, Gay rights, Gay rights--United States--History, History, 7, Electronic books, Bodybuilding -- United States -- Periodicals -- History, Gay business enterprises -- United States -- History, Gay
- Series: Columbia studies in the history of U.S. capitalism
- Year: 2019
- Publisher: Columbia University Press
- City: United States
- Language: English
- epub
In 1951, a new type of publication appeared on newsstands—the physique magazine produced by and for gay men. For many men growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, these magazines and their images and illustrations of nearly naked men, as well as articles, letters from readers, and advertisements, served as an initiation into gay culture. The publishers behind them were part of a wider world of "physique entrepreneurs": men as well as women who ran photography studios, mail-order catalogues, pen-pal services, book clubs, and niche advertising for gay audiences. While such businesses have often been seen as peripheral to the gay political movement, in Buying Gay David K. Johnson shows how gay commerce was not a byproduct of the gay-rights movement but an important catalyst for it.
Offering a vivid look into the lives of physique entrepreneurs and their customers, and presenting a wealth of illustrations, Johnson explores the connection—and tension—between...