Details has always walked a fine line—branding itself as a guide for straight men, while clearly trying to keep the interest of its sizable gay readership. The new November issue, hitting newsstands October 25, couldn’t be any queerer if it cover model David Gandy was getting his butt snapped by a towel in a high-school locker room.
The lead feature is on “America’s New Male Body Obsession”—which isn’t really that new, since the lengthy slideshow illustrates examples dating back to the 1980s and ’90s, like Marky Mark wearing his Calvin Klein undies and beefy lifeguards on Baywatch. (There are also more modern cases, like True Blood‘s vamp hunks and Ryan Gosling’s sick physique.) “Have we entered a grand age of self-improvement?,” the feature asks. “Or is it narcissism? Or homoeroticism? It’s all those things, and more.”
Us gays won’t be as mystified by the man-candy trend as Details‘ presumably straight readers, but its fun to see how far the culture has come in objectifying men as slabs of meat. (There’s also a nice bonus slideshow of Gandy shot by Norman Jean Roy.)
Michael
Ugh guy on front gorgeous. Ive never read details magazine I don’t even know if they are gay friendly to begin with.Just because you put some good looking dude on the front of a magazine cover does not mean you are gay friendly.This magazine from their site even seems to be directed more towards women and less directed towards gay men.From what I have seen that is.
Michael
Even if Details wants to avoid the obvious at least the advertisers know what’s what since the ads are 100% gay.
RFM
Details magazine has always skirted on gay and bisexual male issues, and it’s done this ever since it was first published.
I don’t subscribe to it but I have read some articles in it when I’ve seen it in stores and I did buy an issue of it for pictures of Ethan Hawke back when he was handsome.
Tiger
Those D&G guys know their meat, David Gandy was modelling for them for years…and he also has the sweetest British accent!
Gauthier
I just can’t get over the spelling and phrasing mistakes and dropped words in Queerty articles. It’s astounding how one of the supposedly ‘leading’ gay blogs doesn’t even have their pieces proofread before they are published. Will the poster please take a second look at his first sentence…?
Lil
so a magazine has a few photos of shirtless men and it means it’s gay friendly?!!!really??
why does “naked men=homoeroticism”??
come on, half of the population are female and I’m sure they prefer looking at naked males than naked females.
jason
Lil,
I tend to agree with you. I also find it strange that the male body is equated with homoeroticism by gay men. Such an assumption is quite insulting to women in that it downplays a woman’s interest in men’s bodies. It’s a form of gay male arrogance that, in essence, is dismissive of a woman’s heterosexual interests.
Perhaps gay men need to own things. They need validation for their agendas. I find it sad that, in this regard, gay men are showing all the worst qualities of straight-identifying men. I mean, a gay man is as likely to call a naked male body “gay” as is a straight guy. The gay guy does it for validation, the straight one does it out of insecurity.
It represents a coming together of gay men and straight men but not in a very nice way. I’d much rather go back to the days before gay liberation when gay men did not own anything. They don’t deserve to.
kyle
I feel sorry for you, Jason. You seem miserable.
Capt. Obvious
@Lil: Details is a men’s magazine, not a women’s magazine, so it is not farfetched to say that having photos of shirtless men in it makes it homoerotic or gay-friendly.
Michael
@jason:
You are fucking ridiculous.I must be living in an alternate universe did I just see a GAY man write the word AGENDA referring to your OWN community? You must indeed be self loathing and self hating especially to write something as stupid and ignorant as that.Why don’t you give the haters more ammo while you are at it claim we ARE indoctrinating children.Go for it man I believe you will achieve that goal! Uhh and where exactly did your appreciation much less respect for women come from?
Such an assumption is quite insulting to women in that it downplays a woman’s interest in men’s bodies.
Are you not the same Jason who has made plenty of hateful and misogynistic comments against lesbians and women in general here?I think you are.
sotakei.com
Details is NOT gay friendly. They do market to gay suckers with insipid articles about how to shave your taint and yes they flaunt (usually straight)sex because they know that vapid gay men are their customer base, but they have never been pro gay. The only time they even acknowledge gays is to make fun of them with some stupid tongue in cheek article that borrows every lazy gay stereotype.
bufffuzz
Unfortunately, hunky cover guys couldn’t save them.