Posting Technical Issues

I'm not sure what the problem is, but the Blogger platform I use for this blog is not allowing me to upload photos.  Hopefully, it is a short lived problem.  Once it is back up and functioning, photos will be added.

Ageism in the LGBT Community

At the recent Equality Virginia Commonwealth Dinner, there were a good number of younger members of the LGBT community. As an honoree, I found them to be universally respectful and pleasant. Since the event tends to draw those of a more activist bent, I suspect many were simply more inclined to be respectful of older activists.  The same cannot be said for young gays in clubs and some social settings.  Indeed, older members of the community are often greeted with nastiness and almost a form of condescension aimed at those of us no longer in our 20's or early 30's - young and beautiful, if you will.  By their standards, when I came out and first engaged with the LGBT community shortly after my 50th birthday, I was already ready for the grave and certainly not an object for romantic interest.  Since then, I feel I have made contributions to the LGBT community and have tried to make a different.  Not to sound peevish, many of the young club boys cannot say the same.  Some even seem oblivious to the threats facing our community and the need for activism and more than shallowness.  Attitude magazine looks at a new movie "Prime Time" that looks at the vibrancy of gays of a certain age who likely would never get a second glance from many of today's gay youth.  Here are excerpts:

Most of my film works up till now have been set among groups of older people, primarily older men – railway enthusiasts, model car racers, hobbyists seeking friendships and affinities in local clubs or like-minded communities, or, in the case of one film, retired people out taking early-morning exercise. I am drawn to the unseen rituals that characterise these various social interactions, and the unspoken codes and signs that bind individuals to these groups. But I have always also been struck by the energy and vitality and self-confidence of the people I have met, and who I have featured in my films. While I like to step back, with my camera, and observe the quirks of human behaviour, I also want to highlight and celebrate that energy and vitality and self-confidence – especially at a time when those qualities are increasingly associated with (and commodified in) a cult of youth.

If this exaggerated focus on youth is an inescapable part of mainstream culture, it is, even more, the case perhaps on the gay scene. For a couple of years now, I have been following and befriending an American network of older gay men, known as ‘Prime Timers’. It’s a largely Stateside phenomenon to date, in which members of the community get together on a regular basis to go on group excursions together. One of these, a Caribbean cruise, is the subject of my latest film, ‘Prime Time’.

While making the film, once again I found myself in the company of people who had time on their hands, but who also, in their latter years, clearly exhibited a real zest for life. As a younger gay man, alert to the pressures exerted by a physical ideal that people are meant to find desirable or aspire to possess, I wanted to show a different aspect by portraying the marks and contours of older male bodies in a sensual, affirmative way. I was in the presence of people who were totally comfortable in their own skin, and I wanted to convey that sense of self-possession and ease, and its attractiveness to me.

The film got me thinking more generally about the question of how and when we can properly say we are in the prime of our lives. You can be young and fit, buff and gym-toned, absolutely at your physical peak, but do your best years still lie in front of you, when your physical powers may be starting to diminish, but the wider experience you have accumulated more than compensates? I reflected on this through the mirror of the cruise ship itself: a little utopia floating on the ocean, in which time seems to both fill out, and stand still.

Although ‘Prime Time’ can be summed up in a snappy one-liner – ‘it’s a film about cruising on a cruise ship.’ – it’s also my attempt to grapple with something more universal, even existential: how we both measure and deny the passing of time. 

Let me say it first.  Yes, I confess that I typically post "male beauty" photos of young guys.  There are several reasons, the first being that it is very hard to find quality sexy, racy photos of mature/older guys.  For finding photos, the choices tend to be x-rated "daddy" porn sites that are generally too risque for Blogger if one wants to remain a non-mature website (and most of the men are beefy, football player types - a body type that frankly does nothing for me) or hair style/color product models. Of course, this scarcity of older male models in and of itself underscores the larger problem of America's cult of youth.  

Google Backtracks on Porn Ban on Blogger

As noted in a prior post, Google - which owns the Blogger platform used by this blog and countless others - had announced that come late March, all porn would be banned from blogs using Blogger.  Blogs not following the ban would be forced to private, by invitation only blogs.  Now, Google is rapidly backtracking after receiving "a ton of feedback" raising hell over the decision (I can't help but wonder what percentage of the complaints came from the Bible Belt which leads the country in online porn usage).  The Guardian looks at Google's change of heart. Here are highlights:

Google has backtracked on plans to ban sexually explicit images from its blogging platform Blogger, in the face of widespread opposition from users.

The company had initially announced a ban on “sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video”, with just a few exceptions for content which offered “a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts”.

It planned to enforce the ban from 23 March, when any user with offending material still on their blog would be forced to turn it into a private site.

Now, the company has backed down. Jessica Pelegio, a social product support manager at Google, wrote: “We’ve had a ton of feedback, in particular about the introduction of a retroactive change (some people have had accounts for 10+ years), but also about the negative impact on individuals who post sexually explicit content to express their identities.

“So rather than implement this change, we’ve decided to step up enforcement around our existing policy prohibiting commercial porn.”

“Blog owners should continue to mark any blogs containing sexually explicit content as ‘adult’ so that they can be placed behind an ‘adult content’ warning page,” she added.  Bloggers existing policy is much looser when it comes to adult content than many other providers.

Since at least 2012 the company has warned users to “not use Blogger as a way to make money on adult content” . . . .  Users are also not allowed to “post or distribute private nude or sexually explicit images or videos without the subject’s consent.”

Google Bans Porn From Blogger Based Blogs

This blog uses Google's Blogger platform.  Many other blogs that I follow do so as well.  Today, Google announced that it will ban "pornography" from blogs utilizing Blogger.  I've received no notice from Google and feel confident that this blog will continue unaffected by this new policy.  Some years ago, I did a poll of readers and by a vote of 70% to 30% readers wanted the male beauty photos to continue as a daily feature.  Sadly, some of the blogs from which I source my "male beauty" images may not fare as well given some of their racier content  The irony is that blogs with "pornography" get far higher traffic volumes than those that try to offer serious content. Here are details on Google's announcement from CNN Money:

In an announcement that was sent out to bloggers who use the company's blogging website, Google (GOOGL, Tech30) said people will no longer be able to "publicly share images and video that are sexually explicit or show graphic nudity" on Blogger as of March 23. 

Google said those Blogger sites that continue to host pornography after March 23 will be made "private." That means the content will be allowed to remain up, but it will only be accessible to the site's owner and the people who the user directly shared the blog with.

Google noted that it isn't completely banning nudity from being shown publicly on Blogger. The site will allow nudity "if the content offers a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts." 

But it also puts Google in the position of deciding what is art and what is pornography -- a decision that Instagram and other sites have struggled with.

Blogger previously allowed adult content on its sites, but it required users to mark their blogs as "adult." Those Blogger sites came with an "adult content" warning that would appear before a visitor could enter the site.

It's unclear how many sites will be affected by the new rules. Google did not respond to a request for comment.

In July, Google stopped porn from appearing in its online ads. And in 2013, Google decided to remove blogs from its Blogger network that contained advertisements for online porn sites. 

 Look for more "artistic" male beauty photos as time goes by. 

Photo Publisher Errors

Blogger apparently is having problems with its upload feature for photos. As soon as the problem is remedied, I will resume posting Male Beauty and other photos.