Beauty in the Beast: How the Internet turned monsters into objects of sexual desire

Beauty in the Beast: How the Internet turned monsters into objects of sexual desire:

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Following up on the publication of Mitch Alexander’s excellent article on monstrous affinities amongst LGBTQ folks, I figured it would be a fun exercise for me to translate an old piece I wrote for a French magazine four years ago on pretty much the same subject. It’s shorter form (because it was meant for print) and more focused on the sexual (because that’s what the mag requested) but otherwise, I thought it would provide another angle to approach this particular topic from.

“I know the game is old but I’ve just finished Chrono Cross and WOW! Does anyone have pics of Zoah?” This is how things usually start on Baraspot, message board dedicated to admirers of muscular men, real or imaginary: someone confesses a secret love for an obscure video game character, not necessarily expecting much, but Anonymous delivers and soon, others make the same coming out, like a handful of castaways unexpectedly discovering each other on a desert island.



Fan art and fan fiction aren’t exactly new but with the ubiquity of Internet and the explosion of special interest websites and communities, absolutely nothing is off-limits, leaving classic yaoi fantasies far, far behind. Ken blowing Ryu during a Street Fighter break, that’s old news; Blanka and Russian daddy bear Zangief in the middle of a slimy 69, though, that’s already spicier. There are even rules to this game, including the famous Rule 34: “If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions”. And a lot is existing out there, featuring a cast of characters as diverse as Final Fantasy X’s sexy kitten Kimahri, World of Warcraft’s Orcs, Silent Hill’s Pyramid Head, or Gears of War’s Locusts, a dazzling porno menagerie constantly reinventing the meaning of sexy.



As is usually the case with most sexual fetishes, childhood appears to be the pivotal point. Describing himself as an “introvert teen”, Monsterbait spent a lot of his time in the digital playgrounds of PC and Super NES games. Now in his thirties, he’s been turning big-dicked Bel Ami or Falcon models into demons from the Ultima series of role-playing games and slutty submissive Predators. Perversion? Of course - but not as much as you’d think. “All of those beasts and monsters have always been very sexualized: very muscular, glistening sweaty bodies, barely clothed, they’re truly creatures of sexual power”, according to him. “This idea of temptation, of unfathomable sin you’re supposed to reject, has clear religious undertones… The dark, unbridled side of male sexuality, if you will.”
That “beast” is also the center subject of Logan’s work. Mostly inspired by American comic book culture and superheroes, the French bande dessinée artist can also been seen openly flirting with the Cthulhu Mythos in his Pornomicon, creatures and themes that he uses to express “rejection” according to him. “I tend to favor protagonists that do not fit the molds of gay mainstream beauty canons”, he explains. “Some will find [my character] Porky, who is clearly obese, ugly and unappealing. And the super-sized penises that I draw are often referred to as ‘monstrous’.” Logan also notes that way before the age of the Internet, established names such as H.R. Giger, Clive Barker or David Cronenberg were already pushing the boundaries of eroticism into shocking, sometimes monstrous forms.



New (digital) flesh calls for new sexual icons then, even if this only appears to be the latest upgrade to an underlying fantasy seen everywhere in Western culture; in 1941, the lusty Wolfman was already seen chasing that young virgin, herself torn between righteous fear and forbidden desire for her dual-faced suitor. In 2011 though, the Little Red Riding Hood has no trouble giving in to the Big Bad Wolf’s beastly advances. Gathered in micro-communities that provide strength and support, this new generation is making full use of the World Wide Web’s incredible reach, finding in the process a new visibility and, ultimately, legitimacy. And this is how, right between the fisting how-tos and the rest stop piss-boy confessions, an uber-geek icon like Master Chief can now be found roaming the pages of hardcore fetish mag Instigator - simple cosplay session on the surface, absolute “transformation” for the happy mutant behind the mask. “Alone, I am FREAK”, he exults. “Together, the MOVEMENT begins.”