Today is National Coming Out Day, and on this day we always think: as hard as it might be for men to "come out" today, it was almost impossible in decades past. But for millions of those men in the 1950's and 60's who were forced to lead secret lives, one straight man, Joe Weider, provided at least some measure of relief.
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You gotta love Joe Weider. With a 7th grade education and $7, he published his first magazine, "Your Physique" in 1936 when he was 17 years old. From there he started a bodybuilding and publishing empire that continues to this day and includes magazines Muscle & Fitness, Shape, Men's Fitness, Senior Golfer and Flex. And he's still around at 90. Wow.
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One of Weider's magazines in the early 1950's was called "Mr. America" and was an attempt to tap into the "men's adventure" movement which was popular at the time. The magazine had a "pulp" look to it, and although it was decidely hetero, appealing to men's interest in sex, adventure, machinery and bodybuilding, the artwork, at times, was decidedly homo, as in homoerotic. But we honestly don't think there was anything sexually subversive going on in the early days of bodybuilding; there's absolutely nothing suspicious about a bunch of straight men obsessing with how one's glistening, sweaty muscles look while posing in a bikini for other men to judge, right? Wait a minute.
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All kidding aside, these images, while providing a roadmap for a nation of straight men for how to be more masculine, for gay men at the time, the images were important for completely different reasons. For gay men, there were no gay magazines where one could see sexualized images of other men, these "physique" magazines provided the only eye-candy for a nation of deeply closeted homosexual men. So, thank you, Joe Weider. Whether you know it or not, you were a hero to millions of gay men.
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(For more on this topic, click on "Gay Issues - Vintage Beefcake" and "Gay Issues - Gladiator Movies" in the Labels list.)
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