Art and visual erotica that depicts masculine submission. We showcase beautiful imagery where men and other male-identified people are submissive subjects. We aim to challenge stereotypes of the “pathetic” submissive man. Learn more…. Your steward is maymay. Want to collaborate with me? It’s easy: visit MaleSubmissionArt.com/submit or tag your Delicious.com bookmarks as for:MaleSubmissionArt! More ways to contribute…. Original work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. We make a concerted effort to attribute works properly; please show us, and the artists whose work we feature, the same courtesy. Please redistribute this work; you are not stealing. Tumblr (3.0; @malesubmissionart)http://malesubmissionart.com/<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6d9x04rUY1qzs83zo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1519" rel="attachment wp-att-1519"></a>A clothed man is bound to a heavy chair with long locks of hair, his wrists pulled to the chair’s armrests and his ankles spread at the chair’s legs.</p> <p>This unlikely image was sent in by Ashitaka, who had this to say:</p> <blockquote><p>I grabbed this frame from the trailer of an upcoming Disney movie titled, “Tangled.” This scene made me squirm in my seat. In it, the heroine uses her unusually long hair to bind the hero to a chair against his will. I’m sure Disney will claim that there is nothing inherently erotic about a scene in which a strapping hunk is restrained helplessly and forced to submit to a beautiful princess, but we all know better than that. This trailer reminds me of my fantasies of other Disney characters when I was a kid. Oh Ariel, you were so much sexier with legs….</p></blockquote> <p>Disney’s re-imagining of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapunzel">Rapunzel</a>, on which <cite>Tangled</cite> is based, could certainly be interesting. The increasingly common notion of feminine protagonists who possess strength enough to overpower male leads is a welcome change from previous generations of Disney flicks in which women were largely helpless unless they, themselves, were villains. This fact has major implications for the future.</p> <p>Recently, <a href="http://beyondthehills.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/this-is-my-brain-on-disney/">Ranat wrote</a>:</p> <blockquote cite="http://beyondthehills.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/this-is-my-brain-on-disney/"><p>I grew up on a lot of Disney movies. A lot. And me being the little unsuspecting sadist and dominant I was, you can probably guess which were my favorite parts. Yes, in Disney movies. […] Even though I’ve been aware of a lot of this my entire life, it was kind of shocking to add it all up. It’s been a surprising antidote for my residual sexual shame, because, dude, if I was three and getting off on this stuff, I ain’t corrupted.</p></blockquote> <p>As Ranat points out, imagery like this can offer people, including children, a healthy sexual self-affirmation. It’s not the case that children view this material as inherently sexual, but it’s also not the case that the material can be inherently sexual or not. The “sexual nature” of an image is itself subjective, following <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/177738968/a-skinny-short-haired-man-kneels-on-a-dirty-floor">the same rules as the distinctions for beauty</a>.</p> <p>Any perceived dangers of an image like this has nothing to do with this image and everything to do with <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/72089270/a-young-couple-barefoot-on-a-suburban-sidewalk">the context that it’s presented in</a>. Change the context, and you can change the nature of the image without touching the picture itself. <a href="http://www.msnaughty.com/blog/2010/07/10/questioning-the-moral-panic-about-sexualisation-of-children/">Concerns over sexualization frequently lack context</a> grounded in reality, <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/07/29/anti-porn-is-pro-censorship-even-if-they-say-theyre-not/">speciously suggesting that censorship is the only “appropriate” course of action</a>.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/879252420http://malesubmissionart.com/post/879252420Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:46:11 -0700tumblrizebondagesolo<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3sezoLLx91qzs83zo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1470" rel="attachment wp-att-1470"></a>A young man is pressed against a wall by a larger man, who holds the smaller man’s head near his own.</p> <p>This gripping photograph is from the <a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/1252918/92971">Model Mayhem portfolio of Eri Nicholas Vohnson</a>, and was suggested by ohmyfckity, who had this to say:</p> <blockquote><p>I came across this picture tonight and just <em>had</em> to share. I love how the younger male is utterly enjoying the dominating older man. There is no fear in his expression and he’s so willing.</p></blockquote> <p>This picture took my breath away because the <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/07/16/dont-be-nice/">juxtaposition of forcefulness with willingness is searingly sexy</a>. I also like that, in a clearly dramatized scene, both <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/96059570/a-shirtless-lean-young-man-stands-in-front-of">models are wearing very plain clothing</a>. Further, the androgynous look of the smaller man adds several <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/215415525/a-shirtless-man-whose-hands-are-tied-at-the-back">dimensions of power</a> to the narrative, including <a href="http://followsthesun.com/having-it-all-a-gender-post-with-pictures/">gender</a>, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/201618408/reaching-around-a-smaller-boy-sitting-with-his">age</a>, and <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/92201638/a-naked-man-is-tied-to-a-large-wooden-plank-by">culture</a>.</p> <p>Finally, the shorter man’s untroubled expression is particularly interesting in contrast to the taller man’s aggressive stance. Coupled with his <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/675818748/two-men-embrace-outdoors-one-whos-shirtless-and">queered gender presentation</a>, the image challenges <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/101610732/one-naked-mans-ass-is-held-gently-by-the">a culture that indoctrinates many people—including men—with the belief that male lust is dangerous</a>, and uncontrollable. Interestingly, homophobic men, like Mark Schwartz, Republican Senator Tom Coburn’s chief of staff, are arguably the group most afraid of male sexuality. <a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/60172/sen-tom-coburns-r-okla-chief-of-staff-all-pornography-is-homosexual-pornography">According to Mark Schwartz</a>:</p> <blockquote cite="http://washingtonindependent.com/60172/sen-tom-coburns-r-okla-chief-of-staff-all-pornography-is-homosexual-pornography"><p>Pornography is a blight. […It’s] my observation that boys…have less tolerance for homosexuality than just about any other class of people. They speak badly about homosexuality. And that’s because they don’t want to be that way. They don’t want to fall into it. […] All pornography is homosexual pornography, because all pornography turns your sexual drive inwards.</p></blockquote> <p>Ignoring for a moment this statement’s <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/668867160/a-naked-man-straddles-the-lap-of-a-woman-in-her">supreme stupidity with regards to pornography</a>, Schwartz’s internalized homophobia can be logically explained. As <a href="http://www.realadultsex.com/archives/2010/06/no-sex-class-homophobia-natural-byproduct-societys-male-stereotypes">Figleaf points out</a>:</p> <blockquote cite="http://www.realadultsex.com/archives/2010/06/no-sex-class-homophobia-natural-byproduct-societys-male-stereotypes"><p>It seems to me that if you’re sold on that view of men then homophobia is a twisted but logical outcome. Because if you’re raised to believe that you literally can’t resist sexual temptation of any sort but you’re not actually sexually oriented towards other men […] it makes sense that you’d be wildly intolerant of gay men. […If] one believes men are ravenously, uncontrollably sexually impulsive then one must live in mortal paranoia that not only might one inadvertently receive an aggressive sexual advance not only from perceptibly “homosexual” men (who are falsely presumed to be sexually interested in any possible opportunity for sex with any possible man) but equally uncontrollable straight men for whom, after all, must also believe “a hole is a hole.”</p></blockquote> <p>Put another way, the shorter man’s androgynous look allows homophobes to <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/82782371/laying-on-his-side-in-front-of-a-mirror-a">more easily view him as “less than” manly</a>. They define masculine sexuality so narrowly, both his appearance and his serenity in this situation breaks the mold.</p> <p>As for Schwartz, well, one does wonder if his hands are afraid of his penis since, by his logic, masturbation must be the most homosexual act of all.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/682890493http://malesubmissionart.com/post/682890493Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:02:03 -0700tumblrizehomosexualnarrative<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3qkmvf71H1qzs83zo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1448" rel="attachment wp-att-1448"></a>Two men, each wearing collars, one naked save for a chest rope harness, the other in briefs, hold themselves against a wall with their hands above their heads. A woman stands between them, holding each possessively.</p> <p>This picture was suggested by Halo, shown in the center of this image. Halo’s account of the scene this photograph’s from is quite absorbing. Thanks to everyone involved for sharing your experience with us.</p> <blockquote> <p>This is a photo (from left to right) of Jack, Halo [myself] and Chris, taken by our friend Smalls (rope work also by Smalls). They’ve all granted permission for this photo to be shared.</p> <p>I’ve chosen to share it because it captures submission as an act of strength, tenderness, and trust. Chris is butch, straight, and adheres to a patriarchal definition of masculinity: as a former Korean soldier, he’s been raised in a very conservative environment. Because of this, he was quite homophobic, but he trusted me enough as his Domme to participate in a scene side by side with Jack, a queer man with long hair, lovely curves, and a handsome red beard—a man who Chris had seen sucking cock earlier in the evening.</p> <p>Chris wasn’t happy about being next to Jack and had told me so, but he knew it pleased me to play with both of them and so was willing to take part. He clenched every muscle that he could and bore the scene in silence.</p> <p>I commanded both men to put their hands against the wall, then began spanking and flogging them until Jack was sweating, moaning, and crying out. Chris merely tightened up and took it. Afterwards, to show them how pleased I was with both of them, I covered them with red lipstick kisses.</p> <p>The next morning, while I cooked breakfast, a shirtless Chris happily chatted with Jack. “Do you want to see how many push-ups I can do?” Chris asked. “Usually I do 500.” He knelt before Jack and began doing push-ups with perfect form until his breath came in pants and a sheen of sweat built up on his skin.</p> <p>Although Chris and I no longer play, we learned a lot from each other.</p> </blockquote> <p>As Halo’s story shows, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/345627203/a-nude-man-lies-on-his-back-on-a-bed-with-crimson">trust is a prerequisite not only for good sex</a>, but for learning; trust in oneself and in one’s partner to feel safe enough to do something potentially uncomfortable, but moreover <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/233741302/two-men-in-pajamas-kiss-in-front-of-a-bed-one-of">trust that you have something to gain from it</a>. That’s what’s so obviously lacking from <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/494491786/a-couple-embraces-in-front-of-st-patricks">those who willfully fail to acknowledge the validity of consensual sexual behavior</a>.</p> <p>I also think it’s quite telling to hear about Chris’s <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/90554705/two-muscular-men-have-anal-sex-with-the-bottom">stoicism during his in-scene discomfort</a> in contrast to Jack’s <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/109231315/a-young-man-is-bound-and-gagged-as-a-fully-dressed">expressiveness</a>, and how Chris’s <a href="http://changingminds.org/techniques/resisting/stonewalling.htm">stonewalling</a> (no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots">pun intended</a>) seems to have dissipated the next morning, perhaps along with some of his <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/176453906/a-blue-eyed-man-in-a-white-t-shirt-is-shackled-and">homophobia</a>.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/679404639http://malesubmissionart.com/post/679404639Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:02:21 -0700tumblrizephotograph<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3opai2wfO1qzs83zo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1385" rel="attachment wp-att-1385"></a></p> <p>Two men embrace outdoors, one who’s shirtless and presents masculinely kneeling in front of the other, who’s dressed femininely.</p> <p>This photograph was suggested by <a href="http://safeword.tumblr.com/">safeword.tumblr.com</a>, but it’s the context that makes the image truly interesting:</p> <blockquote> <p>Both the people in this photo are men and male-indentified. I think a tender, beautiful representation of the truth that masculinity and femininity are not only tied to sex, but are also not tied to dominance and submission. The kink community likes to act as if a man putting on heels or lipstick makes him submissive and humiliated (think of sissies or forced-fem), as if wearing lipstick and heels is something to be ashamed of, something that makes you weak. I see both people represented here as very strong.</p> <p>This image would be very different if the man with the long hair (Izzy Hilton) was kneeling at Kris Kidd’s feet—that would tie femininity to submissiveness. Instead, the image is of masculinity submitting regardless of gender, regardless of cultural concepts of weakness and strength, but out of a desire to be nurtured and cared for, since this picture also does not seem expressly sexual. He looks almost childlike, like the way the top is cradling his head is soothing him.</p> </blockquote> <p>I deeply appreciate that “safeword” sees both men in this image “as very strong” because it <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/362096985/kneeling-on-a-mattress-a-naked-young-man-is-tied">acknowledges how submission can engender power</a>. Tangentially, I take issue with the use of the phrase “the kink community” because, as used in this context, I’d argue it <a href="http://followsthesun.com/defining-kink-kinkforall-boston-and-beyond/">misconstrues kink to equal BDSM when, in fact, it does not</a>. With that said, I like the rest of “safeword“‘s analysis of this picture, and I agree wholeheartedly.</p> <p>The commentary on diverse masculinity is particularly apt as <a href="http://KinkOnTap.com/?p=767">a recent Gallup poll revealed</a> that <q cite="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/opinion/05blow.html">for the first time, the percentage of Americans who perceive ‘gay and lesbian relations’ as morally acceptable has crossed the 50 percent mark</q>. The most interesting part of the survey results is the fact that the numbers were punctuated <q cite="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/opinion/05blow.html">by a dramatic change in attitudes among younger men</q> aged 18 to 49, whose <strong>acceptance of gays rose by a stunning 48% in the last four years</strong>. This, to me, proves <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/494491786/a-couple-embraces-in-front-of-st-patricks">the value in being <em>visibly</em> proud of who you are</a>.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/675818748http://malesubmissionart.com/post/675818748Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:08:44 -0700tumblrizehomosexualphotograph<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3oem44Ivi1qzs83zo1_400.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1393" rel="attachment wp-att-1393"></a>A pale-skinned man with striking blue eyes looks up at the camera, holding himself above the space between two walls. He’s dressed in a black leather buckling chest harness.</p> <p>This photograph was (most recently) suggested by Allie Coquelicot, who wrote:</p> <blockquote> <p>This is one of the first images I saw of a submissive man, about two years ago now. It immediately struck a chord with me. I wasn’t sure at first why I desired this man so much, but over the years it has become much clearer that BDSM is an integral part of my life.</p> <p>His position, the intensity of his gaze and the outdoor setting makes this a really stunning photograph. […] It’s an image which I feels portrays a beautiful, sexy submissive man. I now want him peering up at me with those expectant—perhaps slightly fearful—eyes.</p> </blockquote> <p>Oddly, I like the man’s relatively plain earring most of all, since this image doesn’t impress much else on me. I may simply be too strongly <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/83006285/a-naked-man-bound-in-wrist-waist-and-ankle-cuffs">averse to the stereotype of BDSM and leathers</a> (a fact too many BDSM’ers think is “ironic,” which is a sign of their ignorance more than anything else). Nevertheless, I do find the fact that the picture was a formative catalyst for Allie noteworthy precisely because it does little for me.</p> <p>Of course, <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/08/04/what-sexuality-might-taste-like-if-you-were-a-submissive-man-in-2007/">my aversion to the common presentation of submission</a> is the entire <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2008/11/19/malesubmissionartcom-or-why-i-am-crowdsourcing-my-own-pornography/">basis for this website</a>. My agenda is no less hidden: to showcase the <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/175406586/a-handcuffed-and-blindfolded-man-lays-on-a-bed-as">diversity of submissive masculinity</a> in the <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/06/02/why-malesubmissionartcom-doesnt-have-comments/">hopes of catalyzing authentic sexual awareness in others</a> (and curating admirable beauty along the way). In a world where men are allowed to look at women, but <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/168794536/a-naked-man-lays-on-a-bed-next-to-a-video-camera">women are not allowed to look at men</a>, we have no hope of living sexually unencumbered. I <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/04/02/stand-against-stigma/">aim for nothing less than sexual freedom</a>, and neither need you.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/675227118http://malesubmissionart.com/post/675227118Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:46:22 -0700tumblrizephotographsolo<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3kye5gRet1qzs83zo1_r6_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1405" rel="attachment wp-att-1405"></a>A naked man straddles the lap of a woman in her underwear as she leans in to kiss him.</p> <p>This touching photograph was suggested by <a href="http://amantes-amentes.tumblr.com/">amantes-amentes</a>. It is, as amantes notes, <a href="http://vimeo.com/9389959">very sensuous</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>This photo […] immediately struck me as beautiful. Most photos of lovers in this position have the woman in this man’s position. In this photo, the woman is cradling her lover delicately, protectively, and sensuously. I especially love that we can see her right hand on his back, and the way he is grasping her upper arm.</p> <p>I often feel a sense of guardianship and protection over the men with whom I have any sort of relationship, but especially with my sexual partners, and I think this embodies that aspect of the dominant-submissive relationship. (Not that submissive men <em>need</em> protection, of course! Just a personal inclination!)</p> </blockquote> <p>The position of the models is particularly arresting because it’s one in which, perhaps due to their genders, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/116275731/a-naked-couple-is-having-sexual-intercourse-in-the">a brief glance can give you the wrong impression</a>, whereas a closer look will reveal details painting a very different picture. For instance, without even diving into the power implications, the slight angle at which the man is leaning back, not forward, the fact that the woman is still wearing her bra, and the arrangement of her arms as though they are enveloping his body all indicate tenderness, not aggression. Wait…tenderness? In <em>porn</em>?</p> <p><a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/94133599/a-muscular-gray-haired-man-is-tied-naked-to-a">Many who spout sex-negativity eagerly lump all pornography together</a> into one (<a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/274448667/a-tattooed-man-sitting-naked-on-the-floor-leans">censored</a>) pile with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDYZOaTaK2A">outrageous claims like viewing pornography creates rapists</a>, but the variability in <a href="http://KinkOnTap.com/?p=771">reality refutes this conflation</a>. Of course, far be it from anti-porn activists and “researchers” like Dr. Gail Dines, Founder and Board Director of <a href="http://ourpornourselves.org/stop-porn-culture/">Stop Porn Culture</a>, to let mere reality stop their crusade.</p> <p>Dines and her organization are convening in Boston on June 12^th for an upsetting conference called Feminists Against Pornography (aka. FAP; seriously, “<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fap">FAP</a>”). Headlining at the conference is <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/474514518/a-shirtless-man-with-a-bloodied-back-kneels-in">character assassin and University of Rhode Island Women’s Studies professor, Donna M. Hughes</a>, a <a href="http://www.realadultsex.com/archives/2010/05/retraction-turns-out-donna-m-hughes-not-neoconservative-dupe-because">well-known right-wing wingnut</a> most famous for her <a href="http://kmareka.com/2009/10/02/coalition-against-pleasure-and-health/">Coalition Against Pleasure and Health</a>, responsible for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Andelloux#Controversy_over_The_Center_for_Sexual_Pleasure_and_Health">delaying Megan Andelloux’s non-profit sex education Center from opening</a> for half a year.</p> <p>While I’m thrilled to see the Internet abuzz with <a href="http://magazine.goodvibes.com/2010/05/28/sigh-another-conference-against-porn/">people discussing the merits and demerits of pornography</a>, I feel much of that discussion misses the point. Both Stop Porn Culture and the Feminists Against Pornography conference are red herrings. To borrow from <a href="http://jessicavalenti.com/">Jessica Valenti</a>, <strong>their tactics are <q cite="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052802263.html">part of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052802263.html">a larger conservative move to woo women by appropriating feminist language</a>. […C]onservatives are trying to sell anti-women policies shrouded in pro-women rhetoric.</q></strong></p> <p>Thankfully, June 12^th is the same day as the <a href="http://wiki.kinkforall.org/KinkForAllWashingtonDC2">sex-positive, free KinkForAll Washington DC 2 unconference</a>. As developmental psychology post-grad and <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/thoughtfulanimal/2010/06/just_how_bad_is.php">researcher Jason G. Goldman put it</a>, <q cite="http://scienceblogs.com/thoughtfulanimal/2010/06/just_how_bad_is.php">I will suggest that given the ubiquity of pornographic content available to children and adults, and given the ease at which it can be acquired, and given the high amount of sexual content in mainstream media (e.g. primetime TV), the people who are meeting in Boston next week to denounce pornography might redirect their efforts at improving the quality of sex education in our schools.</q></p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/668867160http://malesubmissionart.com/post/668867160Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:38:43 -0700tumblrizeblack and whitephotograph<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3kk54owXP1qzs83zo1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1374" rel="attachment wp-att-1374"></a></p> <p>A man strains against bonds as he lays naked on a padded table, while a casually dressed young woman holds his erect penis in one hand and a small plastic-looking tool between his legs with her other.</p> <p>As others have mentioned, the most defining—and enjoyable—characteristic of this photograph is the woman’s attire: a blue, oversized “Abercrombie” sweater. His nakedness and frenetic energy is far more striking because of the <a href="http://bitchyjones.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/dominatriz-style-bulletin/">contrast her nonchalant appearance</a> provides. Couple this with the not merely unconcerned, but <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/96002048/a-shirtless-man-with-his-jeans-pulled-down-about">downright gleeful expression on her face</a> and the strips of tape serving as a blindfold and gag on his face, and, well, I’m sold.</p> <p>That being said, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/90554705/two-muscular-men-have-anal-sex-with-the-bottom">concluding that this man is necessarily in pain is a mistake</a>. It’s more likely that she’s pleasuring him, not hurting him, because no matter its genre, the <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/168794536/a-naked-man-lays-on-a-bed-next-to-a-video-camera">tired narrative in pornography is that men receive (physical) pleasure and women provide it</a>—regardless of who’s touching who and how. What would, instead, be most compelling to me is if this scene was one in which an overabundance of sexual pleasure was itself the instrument of pain.</p> <p>In so doing, and only thanks to the woman’s obvious blitheness, it could help redefine several porn “pleasure narratives” (if not its <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/91916170/some-anonymous-masked-guy-stands-against-a-wall-as">gender or power narratives</a>). It would more clearly show pleasure’s true diversity, that <a href="http://followsthesun.com/he-belonged-to-me-loss-optimism-and-kinkforall/">joy is possible</a> through <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/136225950/a-young-man-is-shackled-and-leashed-to-spreader">pleasure, pain, or both</a>, that both “receiving” and <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/208694591/a-young-man-tethered-by-ropes-strains-to-give-a">“giving” physical sensation can be pleasurable</a>, and that the “giving” may be most satisfying for the “giver” when the act is performed <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/338612898/a-man-lays-on-the-floor-on-his-stomach-in-front-of">on her terms</a>. Therein lies the missing “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_mile">last mile</a>” of porn’s potential honesty.</p> <p>As an aside, I’m pretty sure he’s not in pain because, what is that she’s holding, a toothbrush? (No, seriously, <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/02/08/on-dichotomies/">is it a toothbrush</a>?) </p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p> <p><a href="http://mostlystraight.tumblr.com/post/667346976/333images-i-love-this-i-love-that-hes">mostlystraight</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="http://333images.tumblr.com/post/651646490/i-love-this-i-love-that-hes-properly-tied-down">333images</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>I love this. I love that he’s properly tied down, and he’s in real pain, and he’s clenching his knees together but it won’t do him any good. I love that she’s wearing a fucking hoodie and she’s just delighted with herself. Where is all the femdom like this?</p> <p><a href="http://thoushalllovethymistress.tumblr.com/post/631984025/happilytrapped-via-fempower-i-love-how-much">thoushalllovethymistress</a></p> </blockquote> <p>(via <a href="http://fempower.tumblr.com/post/628238175">fempower</a>)</p> </blockquote>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/668099443http://malesubmissionart.com/post/668099443Sat, 05 Jun 2010 18:29:26 -0700tumblrizebondagephotograph<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l36d76DGct1qzs83zo1_r7_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1360" rel="attachment wp-att-1360"></a>Laying on his stomach naked on a bed, a man with long hair strikes a pose tilting his head, while holding onto the footboard.</p> <p>This photograph of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Viglione">drummer Brian Viglione</a> was suggested by <a href="http://dardrian.tumblr.com/">dardrian</a>, who wrote:</p> <blockquote><p>I love this photograph of him. The arch of his back, his closed eyes, the way he has tilted his head, the fierce grip he has on the foot-board, all seem to indicate to me that he is waiting for something. Perhaps a smack, perhaps simply to be ravished.</p></blockquote> <p>There’s an austere yet sensual beauty in every part of this image, including the man, that I really enjoy. That, and the awesomely <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/290116059/a-young-man-is-blindfolded-with-a-thick-leather">pervertible</a> bed frame on which his hands could easily be bound. I think part of the <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/264664940/a-blindfolded-man-looks-upwards-as-he-sits-naked">intrigue this photograph</a> provides is Brian’s own serenity; seems he would be equally comfortable <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/96059570/a-shirtless-lean-young-man-stands-in-front-of">being admired</a> as he would <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/152854226/resting-on-the-ground-curled-into-a-fetal">being alone</a>—and <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/82782371/laying-on-his-side-in-front-of-a-mirror-a">that confidence</a> is what I find to be the sexiest thing about him in this photograph.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/643300090http://malesubmissionart.com/post/643300090Sat, 29 May 2010 02:33:03 -0700tumblrizeblack and whitephotographsolo<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l2j6fkm4Ku1qzs83zo1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1345" rel="attachment wp-att-1345"></a>Holding a bouquet of roses in his lap, a shirtless man is strapped to a vintage armchair and blindfolded.</p> <p>This photograph is from a series called <a href="http://www.rugol8.com/Pro_decadence.html"><cite>Decadence</cite> by Alberto Rugolotto</a>, and was suggested by <a href="http://subtlecluster.tumblr.com/">Aida</a>. I like the iconoclastic mismatch of bondage and luxury in this image, and the ambiguity of the scene. Is he gifting those roses to someone, or are they intended to decorate him?</p> <p>Sexuality has had a long and controversial relationship with luxury throughout history. Many see widespread self-indulgence as a symptom of societal decay, pointing to the apparent decadence of the Roman Empire as historical evidence. Fewer seem to critique austerity outright, as even the Victorians—those remarkable people who shunned pleasure to the point of boiling the nutrients out of their childrens’ food in order to achieve blandness—have many fans for many reasons even today.</p> <p>Sex and sexual pleasure is contradictorily viewed as both a luxury and a necessity. Although the mainstream needlessly flip-flops on this according to the morality du jour, I think the paradoxical view is correct. <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/82782371/laying-on-his-side-in-front-of-a-mirror-a">Sexual self-expression is a human necessity</a> (<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/05/08/certain-unalienable-rights/">and a right</a>); sex occupies both the base and higher levels of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs">Maslow’s hierarchy of needs</a>.</p> <p>Like good nutrition, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/166706698/a-naked-man-wearing-ankle-and-wrist-cuffs-lays">fulfilling sex (at least with oneself) is required for health</a>. <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/97517693/a-couple-sits-at-a-table-in-a-restaurant-the">Like gourmet food, fantastical sex might be a luxury</a>, currently available only to those <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/92702385/a-young-man-kneels-on-top-of-a-bar-as-other-men">financially</a> or <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/02/27/8-things-submissive-men-want-from-a-dominant-partner/">emotionally wealthy enough</a> to indulge in it. Seen in this light, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/474514518/a-shirtless-man-with-a-bloodied-back-kneels-in">the crusade against sexual freedom</a> is revealed for what it is: systemic emotional starvation.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/604771656http://malesubmissionart.com/post/604771656Sun, 16 May 2010 14:02:06 -0700tumblrizeblack and whitebondagephotograph<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l2hbvzxVli1qzs83zo1_r6_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1330" rel="attachment wp-att-1330"></a></p> <p>While wearing a head harness and a ball gag, a man rests his head in his partner’s hand.</p> <p>This photograph was taken and suggested by Vode, who also sent this lovely description of the image:</p> <blockquote> <p>I would like to share a picture I have made with my boyfriend. We both are into BDSM, he was a switch, I submissive. But he longed to be dominated and I liked the idea although I never dominated anyone before. But with him, it was like we were made for each other, and it went so easy. He loves it when I make him wear gags, it’s almost insta-submisson for him and you can see it from the look of his face.</p> <p>This picture was taken when I wanted to have a little photoshoot and while taking pictures trying to dominate him a bit and let his submission shine through in his pictures. I think it did. I love this picture especially because of my hand holding his face and his facial expression. I hope you like it too.</p> </blockquote> <p>I do like it, too. The delicateness with which his head is held, evident through the position and gentleness of the thumb, guides my eyes to his. This is in sharp contrast to what we often see in erotica, and I’ve written before about <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/12/11/men-and-masks-in-porn/">how distasteful I find porn that covers up mens’ faces to be</a>, and <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/66066158/in-front-of-a-gathered-crowd-one-man-walks">how beautiful and joyous shamelessness can be</a>.</p> <p>Vode also wrote me an encouraging note:</p> <blockquote><p>Thank you for the website, it made me more attracted to male submission, and keep up the lovely work.</p></blockquote> <p>Particularly as it came from a self-described submissive, her note reminds me <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2008/11/19/malesubmissionartcom-or-why-i-am-crowdsourcing-my-own-pornography/">why MaleSubmissionArt.com exists</a>: We cannot be what we cannot see.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/601778674http://malesubmissionart.com/post/601778674Sat, 15 May 2010 14:04:01 -0700tumblrizeblack and whitephotograph<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0wycxizmL1qzs83zo1_r9_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1289" rel="attachment wp-att-1289"></a>Chains wrap a young man’s wrists as he holds his hands together, bowing his head.</p> <p>I love the way the lighting in this photograph almost seems to drape itself over the model’s hands and the chain around his wrists. The <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/200014963/a-man-leans-his-head-toward-a-womans-open-hand">limited view we get lends itself to many possible narratives</a>. Psychoadept, who sent this picture in, had this to say about the image:</p> <blockquote><p>Hard to tell what the subject is wearing, but it’s not hard to imagine he could be in a religious setting, maybe even a young monk. And yet there’s nothing <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/217979796/at-the-edge-of-a-cliff-a-nude-man-on-his-hands">explicitly religious</a> about it, and it makes me think about how many parallels there are between sexual submission and religious “submission,” right down to the control of sexual urges and sexual behavior.</p></blockquote> <p>As this picture suggests, constraints often foster creativity. Strict rules of meter inspired some of the world’s most powerful poetry, just as Twitter’s 140-character rule made it a breeding ground for innovation. In an ideal world, <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/02/27/8-things-submissive-men-want-from-a-dominant-partner/">I’d only face restrictions (religious or otherwise) I chose</a> to challenge myself with. But in the real world, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/494491786/a-couple-embraces-in-front-of-st-patricks">influence is too often sought via imposition or intimidation</a>, turning constraints that could be opportunities if you were to choose them for yourself into obstacles because they were chosen for you.</p> <p>Equally horrifying, I think, is the <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/12/14/an-exemplar-of-conservative-hypocrisy/">hypocrisy spawned by self-righteous sanctimony</a>. It’s amusing (to say the least) that <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/03/24/the-salvation-army-incites-personal-attacks-against-me-a-blog-reply/">devout Catholics appear to be the group most easily stimulated</a> by <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/474514518/a-shirtless-man-with-a-bloodied-back-kneels-in">Donna M. Hughes and Margaret Brooks to bandy baseless accusations of child molestation at me</a>, especially when the media is afire with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/europe/25vatican.html"><em>evidence</em> of decades-long coverups by the Catholic Church</a> of that exact crime. Just as the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/world/europe/15vatican.html">Catholic Church continues to conflate homosexuality with pedophilia</a>, so-called <q cite="http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/aug/05080909.html">prominent feminist</q> <a href="http://www.thesexcarnival.com/2010/04/academics-donna-m-hughes-and-margaret-brooks-confuse-sex-education-with-human-trafficking/">Donna M. Hughes and Margaret Brooks are conflating speaking about sex with child sex trafficking</a>.</p> <p>As <a href="http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/07/keeping-americas-children-safe/">Thomas has suggested</a> on <a href="http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/fear-of-the-geeky-teen/">numerous occasions</a>, <q cite="http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/07/keeping-americas-children-safe/">I think [Donna M. Hughes and Margaret Brooks are] not really interested in protecting children. I think they’re interested in shutting down <a href="http://kinkforall.org/">the conferences</a> and silencing kinksters.</q> Is it any wonder, then, that <a href="http://">those who try to impose their own sexual morality on others</a> find such fertile ground for their disingenuous crusades among the religiously zealous?</p> <p>Among all the parallels between sexual submission and religious “submission” is this one, as well: consent is moral, oppression is not.</p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/523021067http://malesubmissionart.com/post/523021067Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:01:45 -0700tumblrizebondagenarrativephotographsolo<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0bvoktZSz1qzs83zo1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a rel="attachment wp-att-1257" href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1257"></a>A couple embraces in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral as part of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Pride_Parade_(New_York_City)">New York City Pride Parade</a> in 2005. The shirtless man shows welts on his back as he hugs his partner, a woman wearing renaissance fair garb.</p> <p>This picture is of Eileen and I when we marched in the NYC Pride Parade 2005, blurred and published with her permission. I remember the experience vividly. It’s <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/04/02/stand-against-stigma/">one of the most self-empowering memories I have</a>: “I am not afraid to be seen here,” I thought to myself. I don’t show, or even get, marks like these often but, having had them, and having the opportunity to march, I thought it important to be visibly proud of them.</p> <p>By being <em>visibly</em> proud of who I am, I <a href="http://sexinthepublicsquare.org/ElizabethsBlog/when-stigmas-collide">fight against stigmas that people like Donna M. Hughes and Margaret Brooks would use to intimidate</a> me, and which contribute to <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/12/13/please-read-poignant-commentary-on-hope-witsells-suicide/">the shaming and suicides of innocent youth like Hope Witsell</a>. I am not afraid to be different, to showcase the diversity of people’s differences, or to <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/176453906/a-blue-eyed-man-in-a-white-t-shirt-is-shackled-and">support others’ rights to be, to live, to learn, and to love differently</a> from me. In their “bulletin,” Donna M. Hughes and Margaret Brooks refer to <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/">MaleSubmissionArt.com</a> as a <q cite="http://citizensagainsttrafficking.org/uploads/Kink_and_BDSM_event_open_to_children.pdf">pornographic web site on the humiliation and sexual abuse of men</q>, blatantly ignoring <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/238913820/a-man-stands-with-his-jeans-pulled-down-below-his">how strongly I write against abuse</a> <em>and</em> <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/69976628/a-young-man-tilts-his-head-towards-a-woman-who-is">against humiliation</a>, which <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2008/11/19/malesubmissionartcom-or-why-i-am-crowdsourcing-my-own-pornography/">this entire website was founded to reject</a>.</p> <p>The <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/10/02/dont-you-fret-sexism-is-alive-and-well-in-bdsm/">willful ignorance of so-called “feminists” like Donna M. Hughes</a> to acknowledge the validity of consensual sexual behavior terrifies me (as it should you—<a href="http://sexinthepublicsquare.org/ElizabethsBlog/homophobia-bad-for-straight-kids">regardless of your sexual predilections</a>) because by actively conflating adults’ consensual behavior, sexuality education, and public discussion about sexuality with human trafficking, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/474514518/a-shirtless-man-with-a-bloodied-back-kneels-in">Donna M. Hughes, Margaret Brooks, and their mob strengthen the abuse they claim to fight</a>. When <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/12/14/an-exemplar-of-conservative-hypocrisy/">people like Donna M. Hughes and Margaret Brooks use fear tactics to incite moral panic</a>, whether it was <a href="http://www.sushiesque.com/photos/boston_common_031104/dscn1433.html">about interracial marriage in the 1930’s</a>, about homophobia in the 1950’s, or <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/11/23/sexual-adultism-at-kinkforall-washington-dc/">about sex education</a> more recently, ask yourself if they are really fighting to change the status quo, or fighting to keep it.</p> <p>As <a href="http://clarissethorn.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/salvation-army-attacks-sex-positive-activist-through-its-human-trafficking-email-list/">Clarisse Thorn rightfully asks</a>:</p> <blockquote cite="http://clarissethorn.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/salvation-army-attacks-sex-positive-activist-through-its-human-trafficking-email-list/"><p>[W]hat’s with this assumption that sex-positive activists have no clue about social issues of sexuality, or matters of the heart? Working to destigmatize sexuality is in no way incompatible with working towards better, more consensual, more meaningful relationships; in fact, I’ll be bound that sex-positive activists do a much better job of this than these “anti-trafficking” folks do.</p></blockquote> <p>No matter the outcome of <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/03/24/the-salvation-army-incites-personal-attacks-against-me-a-blog-reply/">my current tribulations</a>, <strong>I am not going to be the hero in this story. <em>You are.</em></strong> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFEV35tWsg">Heroism is not the adherence to conformity but the courage to deviate from it</a>; <a href="http://vimeo.com/9518765">unity cannot be achieved through homogeneity but diversity</a>; <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/368500094/bent-at-the-waist-a-naked-man-in-darkness-dangles">bravery is not the absence of fear but the ability to stand tall in spite of it</a>, for what the fear-mongers and <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/02/24/open-thread-when-educators-are-censors/">the fearful surely know is that fear and intimidation have the power to halt action</a>. In Clarisse’s words, <q cite="http://clarissethorn.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/salvation-army-attacks-sex-positive-activist-through-its-human-trafficking-email-list/">We can’t erase Hughes’ and Brooks’ harmful accusations, but we can damn well expose them for the absurdities they are.</q></p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpOUctySD68">Yes, we can</a>.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/494491786http://malesubmissionart.com/post/494491786Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:19:30 -0700tumblrizemarksphotographsolo<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kzvwfejwlW1qzs83zo1_r2_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>A shirtless man with a bloodied back kneels in front of a standing woman who’s holding his hair in one hand and his cheek with the other.</p> <p>This photograph is an old picture of me and Eileen. I <em>love</em> it because it reminds me of <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2008/01/08/fantasy-worlds/">the loving relationship I had with her</a>. I’m <em>proud</em> of it because it (and the <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/08/26/a-moment/">response it got on my blog</a>) was an early spotlight <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/91994257/a-half-dressed-man-stares-across-a-room-at-a-woman">on the need for a more equitable representation of and focus on submissive men</a> in erotic imagery, rather than a myopic view of women.</p> <p>This picture was also re-published by <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/03/24/the-salvation-army-incites-personal-attacks-against-me-a-blog-reply/">Donna M. Hughes and Margaret Brooks in a bulletin inciting several bloggers to name me a “pedophile”</a> and “sexual predator.” They cite my work on <a href="http://KinkForAll.org/">KinkForAll</a> as cause, which <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/185006517/the-kinkforall-blue-and-white-flame-in-flame">I’ve written about before</a>, and they make references to this blog, <a href="http://MaleSubmissionArt.com/">Male Submission Art</a>. These are both places where <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/298177145/if-youve-been-following-me-for-a-while-you-know">I consistently speak up</a> in <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/11/01/on-youth-sexuality-education-and-your-fears/">defense of a fundamental human right to access free educational resources</a>, including sexuality-related ones.</p> <p>It’s hard to stand tall when mean, angry, or frightened <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/02/24/open-thread-when-educators-are-censors/">people like Margaret Brooks and Donna M. Hughes</a>, the same person who <a href="http://vimeo.com/9307358">conflated Megan Andelloux’s non-profit sexuality education center with human trafficking</a>, misquote you seemingly on purpose and paint you as a creature of (their) nightmares. It’s greatly offensive and <em>fucking terrifying</em> to be likened to things you revile.</p> <p>Donna M. Hughes, Margaret Brooks, and other fear-mongering alarmists scare me because their vitriolic ignorance hampers the very thing we all want: a generation free of sexual abuse. When they conflate adults’ consensual behaviors with humanity’s worst, they aren’t just attacking me personally, <em><a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/271520580/in-forbidding-darkness-a-young-man-is">they damage the possibility for everyone on Earth to live free of sexual coercion</a></em>, whether the abuser is <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/116275731/a-naked-couple-is-having-sexual-intercourse-in-the">an individual</a>, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/338612898/a-man-lays-on-the-floor-on-his-stomach-in-front-of">consumerist culture</a>, or <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/217979796/at-the-edge-of-a-cliff-a-nude-man-on-his-hands">religion</a>.</p> <p><strong>Standing up for what you believe in isn’t mutually exclusive with being scared or angry.</strong> That’s why it’s partly because of people like Margaret Brooks, Donna M. Hughes, and others who <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/402428718/a-burly-bleeding-man-partially-bound-half-naked">baselessly equate evil intent with whatever their personal sexual mores don’t allow</a>, that I am standing tall, speaking up, and <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/03/24/the-salvation-army-incites-personal-attacks-against-me-a-blog-reply/">writing all this in the first place</a>.</p> <p>If I can stand up and <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/09/14/freeing-sexuality-information/">empower others to break free of intimidation or coercion</a> about what they should or should not do, want, or think, then you can do it, too. So speak up and <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/11/23/sexual-adultism-at-kinkforall-washington-dc/">help <em>one</em> person make something better for themselves than was done for you</a>.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/474514518http://malesubmissionart.com/post/474514518Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:14:00 -0700tumblrizemarksphotograph<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kzb8d41zL81qzs83zo1_r6_400.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1180" rel="attachment wp-att-1180"></a>Crouching in darkness, a man with long hair perches on his fists and the balls of his feet, his hair thrown over his face, covering much of his naked body.</p> <p>I don’t typically like photographs whose levels have been altered for “artistic effect,” but for some reason this red-toned picture, sent in by John Pickman, appeals to me. John noted that the photograph is by S. E. Rider, and wrote:</p> <blockquote><p>This photo was part of an exploration of D/s themes and ideas between my partner at the time (the photographer) and I. I like this one in particular because it seems archetypal, removed from the constraints of any one person or place. Submission isn’t something you <em>do</em>, it’s something you <em>are</em>, and we tried to capture that.</p></blockquote> <p>Interestingly, this image doesn’t seem to evoke submissiveness to me, but rather strength, possibly even anger. The curled, almost gorilla-like crouched pose along with the hot red and white coloring brings rebellious, not docile, thoughts to mind. Although it might seem an inappropriate thing to put on a site called “Male Submission Art,” I think it’s crucial for “submissive people” like me to acknowledge <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/09/25/when-im-not-feeling-submissive/">when we’re not feeling submissive</a>.</p> <p>I’m often annoyed by inappropriate expectations of docility many have of me when the only thing they know is that I use the label “submissive” to refer to my sexuality, and I find any <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/03/06/orgasm-denial-does-not-submissive-men-make/">formulation of submission that denies me agency</a> repugnant. <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/137619403/a-naked-man-on-his-hands-and-knees-bows-very-low">Articulating sexually submissive desires</a> becomes even more challenging when the language available to discuss them fumbles so gracelessly and without <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/08/01/your-fantasy-is-not-reality-and-you-should-know-better/">distinction between fantasy and reality</a>. It’s one thing to experience pleasure from a position of “meekness” (one of many <a href="http://thesaurus.com/browse/submission">synonyms for “submission” by Thesaurus.com</a>), it is quite another to live meekly.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/449441672http://malesubmissionart.com/post/449441672Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:22:14 -0700tumblrizephotographsolo<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kzb9apbNuo1qzs83zo1_r1_250.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>A promotional image from the <a href="http://blog.iwhc.org/young-visionaries/">International Women’s Health Coalition Young Visionaries contest</a>, encouraging young people to create lasting change in the world by advocating for the sexual health and reproductive rights of women and other youth.</p> <p>Regular readers know that <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/298177145/if-youve-been-following-me-for-a-while-you-know">I have many projects</a>. I try not to interrupt the flow of masculine submission imagery often, but when my other projects pull me strongly, this blog takes a back seat. Most recently, <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/02/19/announcing-sex-education-everywhere-because-we-learn-more-than-what-they-teach/">I entered the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) Young Visionaries contest</a> along with my <a href="http://kinkontap.com/?author=3">Kink On Tap co-host, Emma</a>, with <a href="http://SexEdEverywhere.com/">a new media project called SexEdEverywhere (“SEE”)</a>:</p> <blockquote cite="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/02/19/announcing-sex-education-everywhere-because-we-learn-more-than-what-they-teach/"><p>The core of the project is a sexual health education and empowerment video campaign highlighting the reality that we learn about sex from disparate sources in many locations. I believe that <strong>the time has come for people to realize that “sex education” is not, has never been, and never should be confined to health class</strong>. I believe that young people, sexuality minorities, and certain other disenfranchised groups (still including, sadly, women) have an enormously important role to play in reforming the empty-vessel, top-down model of education and turning it into a peer-to-peer meritocracy where accurate information wins out over misinformation because it saves lives rather than being politically expedient.</p></blockquote> <p>That’s why Emma and I have put together <a href="http://blog.iwhc.org/2010/02/meitar-moscovitz-and-emma-gross/">a proposal for the project and submitted it to the IWHC Young Visionaries contest</a>, a contest that, if we win, would seed our project with $1000 USD of necessary funding to get it off the ground. Part of the criteria for winning the contest is based on popular vote, which means <strong>I need your votes to win</strong>.</p> <p>If <a href="http://sexedeverywhere.com/">SexEdEverywhere</a> sounds like a project worth supporting, please <a href="http://blog.iwhc.org/2010/02/meitar-moscovitz-and-emma-gross/">go to the IWHC voting page</a> and click on “Vote” next to our picture. There’s no sign-up or login necessary to vote, and the more people vote the better our chances of winning the grant for this ambitious campaign, so another way to help is by spreading the word. Thanks so much for your support.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/449470864http://malesubmissionart.com/post/449470864Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:12:23 -0700tumblrize<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz25hlmInV1qzs83zo1_r5_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1168" rel="attachment wp-att-1168"></a>Kneeling in total blackness, a naked man in a rope harness and headdress leans back and faces upwards.</p> <p>I like this entrancing photograph by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/larsnyc/">LarsNYC on Flickr</a> for its obvious and overt strength. The man is holding himself up with closed fists right along with the open and vulnerable pose. That combination creates an appealing composite because it hints at some significant substance from the model himself.</p> <p>One of my favorite things about this picture, though, is the total solitude in which the man is shown; there are only minimal accoutrement to indicate a possibly <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2008/01/07/because-submissive-is-an-orientation/">submissive orientation</a> other than his pose. This is remarkable because in my eyes it highlights the fact that submission does not come about through someone else’s control. That’s mere restriction in the best case and abuse in the worst. Instead, it comes about through a submissive person’s <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2008/10/25/equating-passivity-with-sexual-submissiveness-is-a-stupid-mistake/">active desire to submit</a>.</p> <p>Consensual sexual submission is not about how someone else controls me, it’s about the opportunities I create for myself to be vulnerable to another person. A desire for sexual submission itself is a valid motivation for healthy sex, despite being <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/293181170/a-man-bites-down-on-a-staff-while-another-pokes">a desire that’s often pathologized</a> or <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/328542139/a-young-man-reclines-on-a-couch-in-the-sunlight">invalidated by cultural pressures, levied particularly harshly on men</a>. That’s why I so strongly advocate for <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/02/27/8-things-submissive-men-want-from-a-dominant-partner/">empowering every individual to choose exactly what they do or do not want</a>—a power that’s required to make healthy sexual choices for one’s self, even “as a submissive.”</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p> <p><a href="http://ireensarrows.tumblr.com/post/176311257">ireensarrows</a>:</p> <blockquote><p><a href="http://male.tumblr.com/post/176247233/self-march-4-via-lars-nyc">male</a>:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/larsnyc/3373687720/">self march # 4</a> (via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/larsnyc/">lars nyc</a>)</p></blockquote>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/438658873http://malesubmissionart.com/post/438658873Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:55:39 -0800tumblrizephotographsolo<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyyg5vEJzx1qzs83zo1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1013" rel="attachment wp-att-1013"></a>The penis of a lean man is leashed loosely with cord and pulled to one side.</p> <p>It’s rare that I come across any penis photographs that I like because they’re so often preposterously garish. Frequently, people’s fixation on the phallus trumps too many other considerations, replacing any opportunity I might have found for reverence with scorn. The model in this picture, however, actually seems honorable to me. Perhaps it’s because, while <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/93002011/a-man-in-crotchless-leather-pants-leans-back-as">his cock is an obvious centerpiece</a>, there is so much else to enjoy about him, like the moisture dripping down his abdomen, the rough texture of his pubic hair, or the finely sculpted shape of his arms.</p> <p>Wherever men are involved, a dangerous, wide-spread stereotype is almost inescapable: the cock-centric notion that if you control a man’s penis, you control the man. Like many submissive men, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/63454672/a-young-man-looks-at-his-own-erection-while">I fetishize this idea</a>; the <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/07/17/i-too-kink-on-bdsm-stereotypes/">stereotype can be convenient fantasy</a>. But in reality, it’s important to <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/03/06/orgasm-denial-does-not-submissive-men-make/">distinguish fetishistic triggers from causes of desires</a>, lest we perpetuate the <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/215415525/a-shirtless-man-whose-hands-are-tied-at-the-back">myth that dominance is always coercive</a>, and <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/02/27/8-things-submissive-men-want-from-a-dominant-partner/">submission always unassertive</a>.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/434330030http://malesubmissionart.com/post/434330030Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:58:08 -0800tumblrizeblack and whitephotograph<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyfwvmgZn51qzs83zo1_r2_400.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1139" rel="attachment wp-att-1139"></a>Standing naked, a man’s wrists are tied behind his back with red rope as he holds a red rose upright in his right hand.</p> <p>This photograph was sent in by caitiff, who wrote:</p> <blockquote><p>I am the photographer so I am not sure I can be unbiased. However, I liked the idea because I don’t see enough of bondage as a prop of romance. Hands tied with rope are as erotic to me (if not more) than any of the stereotypical examples one can think of (nudity, the rose, ect.).</p></blockquote> <p>I like this simple, if perhaps somewhat cliche image, because the symbolic use of object and color is clear enough that even I (an artistic dunce) can understand it. Perhaps the only thing missing from the picture are the thorns on the rose, which seem to have been cut from the stem. Nevertheless, the <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/153901417/a-naked-man-stands-against-a-black-backdrop-with">association between being physically bound to being emotionally committed</a> is a powerful one.</p> <p>Romance is frequently highly prescribed; <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/389515959/many-have-written-to-me-expressing-thanks-and">Valentine’s Day</a>, white-dress marriages, and serenades with string quartet accompaniment are oft-referenced platonic ideals. Moreover, it’s also strictly constrained; <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/176453906/a-blue-eyed-man-in-a-white-t-shirt-is-shackled-and">unions not based on gender</a> or that <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/90061456/two-naked-men-lay-on-a-couch-with-their-heads">include more than 2 people</a> are often mistrusted. But of course, “true” romance—like “true love”—is <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/153289342/standing-under-a-spotlight-in-a-corner-a-naked">what <em>you choose</em> to make of it</a>.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/412948124http://malesubmissionart.com/post/412948124Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:51:56 -0800tumblrizebondagephotograph<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ky6t88EY8J1qzs83zo1_r5_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=1088" rel="attachment wp-att-1088"></a>A burly, bleeding man partially bound half-naked to a wooden chair is punched in the face by another man wearing only the skimpiest of uniform apparel and military paraphernalia. Both men’s penises are visibly erect.</p> <p>When I first saw this image, it jarred me to the point of concern, but it also reminded me of a great movie I have long eroticized: <cite>Fight Club</cite>. Even before my exposure to that movie as a teenager, I fantasized about losing fights to stronger people, usually other boys. In those fantasies, and perhaps in this (likely staged) photograph as well, unrestrained but <em>invited</em> aggression were highly emotional and cathartic outlets for stress, celebrations of personal strength or achievement, and playful, sporty fun.</p> <p>Moreover, <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/136225950/a-young-man-is-shackled-and-leashed-to-spreader">being beaten <em>consensually</em></a> and emerging from the experience successfully can <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2010/02/08/on-dichotomies/">feel mind-blowingly empowering</a>. As <a href="http://vimeo.com/9518540">Zac explains in his excellent talk at KinkForAll Providence</a>:</p> <blockquote cite="http://vimeo.com/9518540"> <p> BDSM is a personal theatrical ritual. […] It’s a private performance, in which the participants are actor, director, writer, audience and stunt double. The successful carrying out of a scene depends on their mutual engagement in a shared fantasy, and this depends on effective and mindful negotiation and communication. I’d contend that navigating the mental and ethical twists and turns involved in this scene-setting has, at best, the potential for helping people navigate issues of consent and coercion in other venues of their lives.</p> <p>[…]</p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFEV35tWsg">Philip Zimbardo […] gave a TED Talk on evil</a>. He lays out seven pre-conditions for good people to commit evil acts. They are:</p> <ol> <li>Mindlessly taking the first small step.</li> <li>Dehumanization of others.</li> <li>De-individuation of self.</li> <li>Diffusion of personal responsibility.</li> <li>Blind obedience to authority.</li> <li>Uncritical conformity to group norms.</li> <li>Passive tolerance of evil through inaction or indifference.</li> </ol> <p>So, while <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Farley#Activism_and_views">what we do as kinksters is sometimes compared to the institutional abuses that happened at Abu Ghraib</a>, there’s actually no comparison between that rubric and what we do. There’s no room in there for interactions between two consenting individuals, outside the structure of social institutions, based on negotiation, discussion, communication, and empathy.</p> </blockquote> <p><small>(Skip to 4:01 in <a href="http://vimeo.com/9518540">the video</a> for the start of this quote.)</small></p> <p>Nevertheless, since consensual sadomasochistic ritual is easily mistaken for abuse by uninformed observers, those of us who engage in it have been <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/293181170/a-man-bites-down-on-a-staff-while-another-pokes">consistently pathologized by the medical community</a>. As a result of their ignorance, some <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/271520580/in-forbidding-darkness-a-young-man-is">depictions of SM have already been outlawed in the UK</a> and a <a href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/02/obscene-us-manga-collector-jailed-6-months/">US court recently sentenced a collector of “obscene” manga to 6 months in prison</a>. Legal decisions like these are extremely dangerous to everyone’s freedoms because their premise fails to correctly recognize the very thing on which the law is based: intent.</p> <p>The sad irony is that by criminalizing healthy explorations in navigating issues of coercion through consensual sexuality, <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/10/02/dont-you-fret-sexism-is-alive-and-well-in-bdsm/">anti-porn extremists are stunting the very self-determination they so desperately want</a> everyone to have.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p> <p>(via <a href="http://pornotumble.tumblr.com/">pornotumble</a>)</p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/402428718http://malesubmissionart.com/post/402428718Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:55:15 -0800tumblrizebondagehomosexualmarksphotograph<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ky3493njTP1qzs83zo1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://publisher.malesubmissionart.com/?attachment_id=908" rel="attachment wp-att-908"></a>Leaning backwards, a man sits in the lap of a woman whose face is pushed against his body and whose hands grasp at him possessively.</p> <p>This photograph was suggested by Bailadora, who wrote to say that:</p> <blockquote><p>This picture immediately brought to mind the entry you wrote about being on the receiving end of an aggressive blowjob.</p></blockquote> <p>Although I can see why the imagery here would remind one of <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2007/08/10/the-first-blowjob-ive-ever-bottomed-to/">that blowjob post</a>, this image speaks of possession, not assertion, to me. Perhaps it’s the position of the woman’s hands on the man’s body, pulling at his underwear and pawing at his neck, or perhaps it’s the almost sacrificial offering of his body in the way the man is baring his throat. Either way, what I like most about the photograph is the evident desire exuding from both models.</p> <p>Desire is a complex beast; it’s <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/137619403/a-naked-man-on-his-hands-and-knees-bows-very-low">difficult to succinctly and accurately communicate</a> what it is that we want. Worse, if you enjoy occupying certain social roles, such as submissive masculinity, cultural preconceptions about <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/168794536/a-naked-man-lays-on-a-bed-next-to-a-video-camera">what you are allowed to want</a> so strongly influence so many people that actually getting what you want is made even harder. And if that weren’t enough, many people often perceive frustration from wanting-and-not-getting as anger or entitlement on your part when, in fact, such frustration is simply the <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/176453906/a-blue-eyed-man-in-a-white-t-shirt-is-shackled-and">innate human drive towards equal opportunity</a>.</p> <p>In my pessimistic moments, <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/08/18/there-is-no-bdsm-mecca/">I’ve all but given up</a> on <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/02/27/8-things-submissive-men-want-from-a-dominant-partner/">getting what I want in a significant, lasting way</a>. Neither the mainstream nor alternative communities have felt like a home to me, with <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/10/02/dont-you-fret-sexism-is-alive-and-well-in-bdsm/">the BDSM community perhaps the most oddly sexist of all</a>. Nevertheless, I <a href="http://followsthesun.com/?p=418">try to stay optimistic</a> and make things better. When people ask me why, I tell them the simple truth: I’m <a href="http://malesubmissionart.com/post/115054159/a-naked-young-boy-is-restrained-on-a-circular">doing it for the children</a>, the unborn future generations of submissive men (and other youth) who deserve a better world than the one we’ve currently got.</p> <p>Please help me <a href="http://maybemaimed.com/2009/11/23/sexual-adultism-at-kinkforall-washington-dc/">make something better for them than was done for us</a>.</p> <p>-<a href="http://maybemaimed.com/">maymay</a></p>http://malesubmissionart.com/post/398368946http://malesubmissionart.com/post/398368946Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:59:56 -0800tumblrizephotograph