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Publisher | Columbia University Press |
Author(s) | David K. Johnson |
Subtitle | How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement |
Edition | 1 |
Published | 12th March 2019 |
Related course codes |
How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement
In 1951, a new type of publication appeared on newsstands?the physique magazine produced by and for gay men. For many men growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, these magazines and their images and illustrations of nearly naked men, as well as articles, letters from readers, and advertisements, served as an initiation into gay culture. The publishers behind them were part of a wider world of ?physique entrepreneurs?: men as well as women who ran photography studios, mail-order catalogs, pen-pal services, book clubs, and niche advertising for gay audiences. Such businesses have often been seen as peripheral to the gay political movement. In this book, David K. Johnson shows how gay commerce was not a byproduct but rather an important catalyst for the gay rights movement.