Sexual objectification & mystique of Black Gay Men, a brief look

Jamaican men certainly are some of the most attractive beings to look at in their natural aesthetic sans gym activity or any needed enhancement products or surgery to gain that enviable position. Added to that are the worldwide perceptions (outside of sexual orientation) that we are well endowed and are able to perform sexually far better than our African descented counterparts elsewhere thus the rent-a-dread concept in tourist haunts a thriving under ground business, the orgy parties hosted by Caucasian and African Americans alike with other nationalities following suit is and has been a constant here on the island as well once one knows where to look and who to talk to to get such types of masculine alternative entertainment.

They usually ask for masculine men who are "gifted" and are mostly toppers in sexual relations with men taking up the offers quickly to prove their worth while earning dollars, almost a gay for pay issues as well when ones examines it closely as many of the guys seen in video footage released elsewhere are masked and are not featured on the local underground circuit as they avoid effeminate same gender loving men out of fear of being exposed. (the usual fear or hatred of the effeminate or effemophoba from within the community) but it is these same hypermasculine types that are objectified and are the subject of strip shows and the occassional soliloquised expressions of many same sex attracted brothers whose criteria for a good man are:

1) Well defined body with excellent torso features

2) Usually should have a six pack well defined

3) Muscular with well outlined features

4) Added beautification such as tattoes

5) Well endowed or have large "gift stick" for maximum pleasure

6) Must have the latest swagger and that well groomed look

7) Latest clothing and accessories are a must (metrosexual rub off)

8) Must have the hottest car or mode of wheels to suit the occassion

Plus others that vary according to individual taste, certainly if we are to look from an average perspective the obsession with masculinity and the 'heaviot" index for sexual encounters are things that aren't taken lightly for some Jamaican same gender lovers.

According to PAUL CHADWICK NEAL in preparing for his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1998 he wrote:

"Michelangelo’s David has represented the ideal male figure for centuries. It is the personification of male beauty in western culture. When you look at his face, you notice that he is more youthful than his muscled body would suggest. Closer inspection shows hands that are not young at all; they are massive and aged like the hands of a labourer. Indeed David is considered perfect for many reasons; he embodies youth, power and strength. He is carved of stone and etched into our collective western mind. In the same way that Michelangelo, a gay man, created David to represent perfection, our society has fashioned the male body, not out of marble but out of flesh. The gay community has placed extra pressure on its citizens to become the living physical embodiment of perfection."

Internalized homophobia has been cited (Williamson, 1999) as one of the contributing factors. It is hypothesized that this self discomfort with being gay generalizes to a greater sense of dissatisfaction with the self. Involvement in the gay community seems to be a second factor leading to body dissatisfaction (Beren, Hayden, Wilfley & Grilo 1996). The AIDS epidemic served as another recent factor since one of the by products of advanced HIV disease is a loss of body fat, creating a sickly and overly lean image. This overly thin look, being associated with illness, is not considered attractive (Grogan, 1999). Social approval may be a fourth factor- gay men are still trying to overcome the perception that they are “sissies” (Harris, 1997). The gay community places a premium on image, and gay men often compare themselves with this unattainable standard of body image (Williamson, 1999).

Little attention has been made to understand the heightened emphasis on physical appearance in the gay male subculture (Seiver, 1996). Research needs to uncover what contributes to body dissatisfaction in gay men. To date no research on the process of internalization of sociocultural ideals about the body (Lakkis, Ricciardelli, & Williams, 1999) has been conducted. Given these gaps in our body of knowledge, the following questions come to mind:

1. What values, customs and beliefs does the gay community have about the

body?

2. How do gay men perceive those messages?

3. How do gay men integrate those beliefs into their self-concept?

4. What relationship does involvement in the gay community have with body

dissatisfaction?

See the FULL STUDY HERE

There are possibly other reasons behind our still growing and changing obsession with body image and masculinity to include former vilified and tabooed practices of skin bleaching now accepted by men as normative despite the continued belief in the background it's has been and still is a "gay thing" which suggests general society already used and associate certain aesthetics to identify "gays" Leading dancehall figure VYBZ KARTEL who has been riding a wave of popularity on the formerly offensive skin bleaching is also toning up with gym work outs and new body tattoes, many persons in the LGBTQI community belief he is coming out in a sense while others like myself believe he is using the new look as a marketing tool to stay popular as whie Jamaicans quarrel about his ever changing styles and the Michael Jackson effect his songs are more popular than ever.

Masturbation tool:

Many persons also say they use images or videos of buffed and hung men to act as stimulation for masturbation, this strong attraction towards perfectly fit looking bodies for sex usually is not matched by real sexual partners who may not even come close to the airbrushed images on pages. Have we somehow internalized so deeply the want to be like the figures presented to us in glossy magazines and by extension the deliberate selection of "good looking buffed men" for the growing black gay sex video market?

All the porn stars these days are muscular or have a gym workout plan, tattoed and use makeup on set to hide imperfections with some also resorting to skin lightening yet these are the objects of our erotic fantasies, fantasies that only go to rest the minute one ejaculates only to return in the future.

More to come on this

Peace and tolerance

H