Next Magazine recently ran a great feature on gay men’s ambivalent relationship with facial hair—pencil mustaches, bushy beards and everything in between.
Basing his findings on “anecdotal evidence and unscientific observations” compiled at the Boiler Room in New York, writer Brian O’Brien concedes bush is back in a big way. Even if gay-porn studios prefer baby-smooth performers.
“Strangely enough, the one aspect of gay culture that hasn’t been so quick to adapt to the facial hair trend is porn. Colby Keller, the gay porn star and blogger (who has a section on his site for “Boys with Beards”), has worked everywhere from the smooth Sean Cody to the scruffy Raging Stallion but says more often than not, porn studios want him clean-shaven or a bit stubbly. ‘They don’t want something that’s too trendy or that’s obvious so you can point to it and say ‘that’s 1995,’ he says. In trying to capitalize on their market they’re trying to find something timeless.”
Yes, because gay porn remakes of Harry Potter are sure to stand the test of time.
Queerty reached out to Jack Shamama, producer at the porn studio NakedSword (NSFW) and editor of GayPornBlog (NSFW), to get his take on the hairy situation.
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“Some studios are very specific with how porn stars are to look when they show up for a shoot, and at times it’s a source of tension—and the occasional Twitter war. As a producer, it’s my belief that the more comfortable everyone involved is, the better the performance. I’d much rather, and often have had to, re-write a script so that the scenario fits the actor than force an actor to try to fit a part.”
Shamama didn’t elaborate which scenes he tooled with but he did mention that when NakedSword cast Colby Keller (above) in Golden Gate, they preferred his stubbly side:
“Compare photos of Colby Keller without facial hair from his Sean Cody days with pics of him with scruff, and he looks better with scruff. [That’s] why we didn’t ask him to shave when we cast him in Golden Gate. I wrote that scene with Colby in mind and I think that’s part of the reason it turned out so good.”
Do you like the return of the porn ‘stache? Or do you agree with the porn industry’s thinking that bare skin (at least on the face) will transcend tonsorial trends? Let your hair down in the comments.
Wesley Horace
lol they have to rewrite the script? because the scenario is sooo important!
i love colby keller. i prefer stubble, scruff, short beards. oh so tastey!
QJ201
@Wesley Horace: “I wrote that scene with Colby in mind”
colby enters, colby strips, colby whips it out, colby bends the other guy over, colby splooges the guys face.
verybookish
I like scruff and beards, but it depends on the guy. Some look hot. Some just look like idiots.
Marie Cohn
Because insane quantities of tattoo ink are “timeless”, too.
Charley
Love smooth twinks.
MikeE
I’m just still trying to digest that they “WRITE” porn????
The problem with porn producers is that they are choosing the kinds of guys that THEY get turned on by. it’s the same with every internet porn site as well.
If all of the porn producers prefer hairless twinks, or waxed steroid containers, then that is all we will get in porn. Probably why I’m so little interested in porn anymore. That’s my personal preference, and not an indictment of those who DO like that sort of thing.
Astro
I like natural! Whatever one prefers, but facial hair can be very sexy. I’m not sure when the love affair of all things hairless started in gay culture.
However,not a fan of hipster douchebag porn staches though. I think the only one who can rock it was James Franco in Milk
Steven
I love body hair on my guys because it really adds to that sexy masculine appeal. This is one of the reasons why I have stopped watching almost all professional pornos and now get my fix from amateur videos.
Pitou
@Steven: TOTALLY agree! Hairless is not a sign of masculinity. Men have body hair. Boys dont.
I prefer “Bear” porn.. but I also like my men built more like real men too.. ripped, sculpted bodies usually don’t do it for me. Bearded, hairy, moderately pudged bears & cubs. mmmmm.
Aiden
Correction some men have body hair. I can’t grow a beard, a mustache, or chest hair.
dvlaries
The 15 minutes of the shaved body look is more than 20 years old, and very very tired indeed.
A bigger complaint is that they still haven’t learned that we don’t want the moans, groans, slaps and yelps drown out with grade-z disco. I’m still waiting to meet the first person whose porn collection choices are decided by the wonderful music 😐
Don’t much care for threesomes and even less for orgies too. The more people in the scene, the more drastically the camera’s (and editing’s) attention is stressed trying to give equal time to everyone. Thus, its constantly leaving the action that is turning you on, to go record shit you don’t care about. Everybody in the scene could be a proven favorite already to you, but the more of them in it, the more diminished the chance you’ll get a satisfying sample of any given one.
And tattoos? If you’ve tired of them like me, better choose your porn from about 2000, and work older, because there’s no escaping them in what’s being made now.
ToyotaBedZRock
Hair On The Face Is Icky, Same goes for hair in other areas, although some amount if trimmed is ok, sometimes.
who cares
I didn’t realize porn stars even had faces #whocares
Mike UK
give me stubble and ink any day! trimmed body hair a big turn on as well! I like a man to look like a man! 🙂
MikeE
@Aiden: “Correction some men have body hair. I can’t grow a beard, a mustache, or chest hair.”
What are you, a lesbian?
(just teasing… Christmas, Mary!)
🙂
Dallas David
Depends on the guy, really. Not everyone can wear facial hair, just like not everyone is suited for a flat-top. As “Cyclops” once said, “Ya gotta have an eye for that sort of thing.”
spider_orchid
whatever, I love Colby Keller. *Kanye Shrug*
Joetx
Facial hair works for some guys, but not for others.
What I don’t like is how they shave the performers bare or trim their bush or other body hair down to a stubble. I like men who look like adults, not prepubescent boys.
Scott Bonzitski
Facial hair is a MUST in order to get me “tingling” inside. A man is a man, a twink is for someone other than I. There’s nothing like a real man with his born attributes…SB
On My Knees
I WORSHIP Colby Keller. He such a hot hipster pig fuck machine. There should be idols erected in his honor.
DenverBarbie
I think there is certainly a market for the face fuzz! Colby Keller seems popular, Ethan (Sean Cody) grew a beard and it seemed everyone went crazy, and then there was a pretty awesome response to the boys in the porny short (and soon-to-be- feature length) film “I Want Your Love” (which Jack Shamama is attached to).
And needless to say, there are the studios who cater to bears.
Smooth is gorgeous, too.
It’s “whatves.” (Though, above all else, I’ll always appreciate the classic porn ‘stache!)
@On My Knees: I like you. In a parallel universe, where I am the filthy gay man I was supposed to be, we’d totally f*ck! Alas, I’m still a lesbian. Maybe next life!
Elloreigh
Give me a natural man. I scream in horror every time I see a commercial where some guy is shaving his chest.
As far as I’m concerned, if there’s any manscaping to be done, it should be about taming the too wild, and not about smoothness.
Elloreigh
With regard to facial hair, I prefer a close-cropped beard. While I’ve said “give me a natural man”, that doesn’t completely apply to facial hair. A clean-shaven face is preferable to ugly patchiness. And it’s called ‘facial hair’, not ‘throat hair’. I like a natural-looking beard that follows the jaw line, not something that has no shape – or worse, a beard that say you think you’re an avant guarde designer with your beard as the medium for your art.
As for stubble, it may look sexy, but it hurts. I don’t want to experience a stubble burn – especially not on my more tender parts.
Mike UK
a lot of guys here in Manchester (UK) seem to be growing face fuzz at the moment and a lot of those guys are straight! probably a fashion thing but hey, some of them look damn good!
Jay Pat
Its cause “we’re” obsessed with fucking things that look young lol. Same reason women are supposed to be hairless. hmm seems a bit pedophile-ish now that I think about it.
Aaron
Moose knuckle. hehe
Sebizzar
Jocks, models, & fit older men look sooo hott with trimmed facial hair, the five o’clock shadow, stubble, scruff, fuzz, whatever you wana call it. Some beards or mustaches can be sexy too, but nothing too extreme. Twinks & younger guys who still have a baby face, just keep it clean shaven lol i would know as i still have a baby face xP I recently have really gotten into chest hair on fit guys, but clean shaven chests are fine too 🙂 Armpits mostly look better shaved, pubes shaved or at least trimmed, & finally leg hair is always sexy & should never be shaved 😛 Oh… butt hair of course looks better shaved completely, but i understand it can be tough unless you have someone else helping you lol.
Bryan
While I love body fair, I can’t say I’m a big fan of facial hair especially when it’s as much as the guy in the pic. I prefer a slight scruff.
Joseph
@who cares: What you mean? Faces are the primary draw for me with porn stars; I don’t care how great their body is, if they have an unattractive face (for example, Matthew Rush), I’m not interested in watching them have sex.
Which in turn leads to one of my pet peeves about porn. I WANT to see their faces, preferably their whole bodies, when their having sex, not just the penis going in and out of an ass — that’s boring. Their faces’ and their body’s reaction to the sex is what really turns me on.
As for the original debate, bring on the facial hair — LOVE it!!!
Kurt
What’s called “scruff” is not actual facial hair at all, it’s just not shaving your face for a few days or even a week. I actually prefer men to have facial hair and have actual facial hair. I am not attracted to twinks who pretend that they’re not nellie by not shaving their faces or who pretend to butch it up by growing “scruff” for a few weeks and then doing porn and then a purse falls out of their mouth when they speak. If a man’s facial hair is too trimmed that also is a turn off for me. I’m also not sexually attracted to men who do not have any facial hair at all. Also shaved and waxed bodies are a total turn off for me, as are fake tans. Then again most gay men don’t know anything about facial hair or what looks good even if the media likes to pretend that they do.
Xanderer
I think it’s more about showing that you CARE about your appearance. A well trimmed beard and/or stache is much preferable to someone who just lets it grow into some sort of untamed jungle, and if facial hair looks good on them it’s preferable to a clean shaven look too. Cause it looks good. If you’re doing “twink” stuff then you probably want to shave off your body hair facial or otherwise, to give that more youthful appearance. Not my bag, but some people like it.
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