Body Beautiful, December 1961

Item ID: M04251 ......... $ 49.95

This physique magazine from England shows the developing sociopolitical conflict between the more conventional, “straight” photography in the bodybuilding publications of the period and the more daring, sexually charged photos that Bob Mizer of Physique Pictorial and Chuck Renslow were taking; models don't stand there and flex or hold poles, but tease the viewer by, for example, reclining on tables showing bare ass, or lounging about on a motorcycle, clad in the tightest and skimpiest of posing straps, and perhaps even wearing boots and other what-would-become fetish gear.

Most of the photos in this publication lean toward the former of the two types, but one can sense the Mizer influence beginning to predominate. For example, on pages six and seven, a rather square-headed muscle jock holds a chain and plays with some type of plastic(?) ball. The balls cover up what is obviously his genitalia; no posing strap is in sight. Dieter from Germany is divinely handsome as well as superbly muscled, Buddy Basil from the Marines and Manuel (a “Latin type”) could pass for something like a muscle twink. Manuel in a “pensive mood” resembles a Greek sculpture (another convention which derives from the Strength and Health and other old physical culture magazines). Bob Mizer's Athletic Guild is represented heavily, but the photos are the less daring ones, though the cloth tossed on hunky Joe Bryant's cock seems more risque than the usual posing strap. Note Dick Marine's very, very hairy chest on page 43.

The Ronald Wright (a Bob Mizer regular) artwork that accompanies the “Come Train with Me” feature are blatantly erotic, and perhaps even fight against the rather bland, unspecific set of “training” instructions. Do you normally caress the shoulders and chest of your training partner? Do you train nude? Illustration number four looks like possible foreplay for a fucking scene! And, as in many of these publications during this period, how-to physical culture/training tips are sparse: they emphasis is on the photos. And these photos appealed to a homosexual audience.

This tension many have created the rather florid (and not well-argued) feature entitled “Sex-Sick Society,” decrying the sexual over stimulation of the male in the culture of the period (the assumption is that such males are heterosexual, but ...). Even a movie like The Virgin Queen, the article claims, indulges in what became known as a cock-tease! Yet, perhaps reflecting on an even more complex level this tension, the editorial warns readers not to order nude photos of the models in such publications. This process may result in prosecution, given the obscenity laws of the time. The assumption is that male readers are ordering nude photos, right? The editorial doesn't condemn homosexuality; it just warns its gay readers to be careful.

On page 13, the “gossip” page (much reduced in scope from the detailed accounts of bodybuilders and their contest exploits), there's a reference to Woody Strode, an African-American baseball player who made some appearances in Hollywood films such as Spartacus and The Ten Commandments.

Contributors: Bruce of Los Angeles, Bob Mizer, Dieter Maxzin, Richard Potoczek, Darryl Summers, Bob Kohlick, Jan Eyck, Pete Dobing, Art McKenna, Joe MacCaffrey, Hugh Bracken, Jack Little, Bran King, David George, Vincent Boyd, Gene Stewart, Bob Anthony, Buddy Basil, Manuel, Bob Rome, Joe Leitel, Don Hawksley, Joe Bryant, Dick Marine, Ronald Wright, Guy Mierzuck, and others

Subject: Bodybuilders, Younger Guys, Underwear, Swimwear, Thongs, Asses, Chest and Nipples, Handsome, Hairy Chest