Gay Pornography: Representations of Sexuality and Masculinity

by John Mercer

Gay pornography, online and onscreen, is a controversial and significantly under-researched area of cultural production. In the first book of its kind, Gay Representations of Sexuality and Masculinity explores the iconography, themes and ideals that the genre presents. Indeed, John Mercer argues that gay pornography cannot be regarded as one-dimensional, but that it offers its audience a vision of plural masculinities that are more nuanced and ambiguous than they might seem. Mercer examines how the internet has generated an exponential growth in the sheer volume and variety of this material, and facilitated far greater access to it. He uses both professional and amateur examples to explore how gay pornography has become part of a wider cultural context in which modern masculinities have become 'saturated' by their constantly evolving status and function in popular culture.

Genres: Pornography, Queer, Nonfiction, Sexuality, LGBT, Gay

240 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Other authors publishing under this name are:

John Mercer, American teacher and author
John Mercer, British archaeologist, author and weaver
John Mercer (1918- ), Film, Cinematography
John Mercer (1923- )

Reviews

[Nev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earlier in the year I read a couple of non-fiction books about porn that were mainly focused on mainstream straight porn and indie queer feminist porn. I really enjoyed reading them and learning about the industry, however they barely touched on gay porn at all. So I was looking for a book to read about the gay porn industry so I could have a more fully formed idea of porn as a whole. This book isn’t so much about a look behind the scenes of the industry but rather an exploration of how masculinity is represented in gay porn.

Initially I was looking for more of a popular non-fiction book instead of scholarly or academic writing. However, the more mainstream books I could find were all older and I wanted to read something that would be more recent and reflect the current state of porn & the internet. So I had to flex some brain muscles that I haven’t used much when it comes to my leisure reading. It was kinda like being back in some of my media studies & gender studies classes as an undergrad. It was actually a fun read and wasn’t too difficult to get used to the academic style.

Through looking at the different eras of gay porn over the years John Mercer writes about the shifting representations of masculinity and the different types of masculinity that are currently on display in porn. Twinks, daddies, bears, jocks, leathermen, and more are all discussed within the book. The representation of race and ethnicity within gay porn was another topic that was explored. I personally found the section on amateur porn to be really interesting.

I don’t think this is a perfect book by any means. But I thought it was very fascinating and it opened my eyes up to the fact that I can enjoy academic books for fun. I think this will encourage me to pick up books in the future if the topic interests me and not base my decision on whether it’s popular/commercial non-fiction.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nunca pensei que um dia iria ler um livro acadêmico analisando pornografia gay. Nunca pensei que fosse gostar tanto do que li neste livro. Gostei porque ressoa muitos dos meus estudos sobre masculinidade e sexualidade que tenho feito em direção da construção da minha tese. Mas também porque apela para uma cultura marginal e marginalizada que eu faço parte e que se baseia nessa sedução das imagens, que é a pornografia e que poucos teriam coragem de abordar de forma acadêmica. John Mercer faz essa análise com louvor unindo teorias do próprio porn studies com teorias culturais e de gênero. O autor estabelece fases históricas da pornografia gay e depois, desenvolve análises sobre diversas categorias de masculinidades representadas nestes artefatos culturais: o twink, o jock, o bear, o daddy, o gay-for-pay, o kink, o bareback, entre outros estilos de masculinidade e culturas gay. Ele também discute quando celebridades se tornam "atores pornôs" e quando atores pornôs se tornam celebridades. Outros pontos importantes trazidos por Mercer são os estilos "internacionais" de pornô gay e como isso interfere nos padrões de masculinidades que fazem com que a branquitude prevaleça sobre os demais. Um livro ótimo, inovador, quebrador de paradigmas e tabus.

[Brian Centrone · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent contribution to the field of porn studies.

[Bookshire Cat]

I read about 50 %. Nothing wrong about the book but not what I need for my research.