Censored!

posted by Madame Bubby

Lately many libraries (probably more boards that run libraries composed of evangelicals or traditional Catholics, now in alliance against anything that doesn't endorse “heteronormativity”) are censoring LGBTQ-themed books, especially that bestselling book by John Oliver, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, about a certain male bunny named Marlon Bundo who discovers the love of his life, who happens to be another male.
 

Marlon Bundo book cover

We seem to be going around in a circle where instead of a person, a book or any artistic creation is branded with as scarlet letter. Here are some the more extreme, even ludicrous instances of censorship against LGBTQ-related artistic creations:

Michaelangelo was homosexual, but he worked for a papacy which was becoming increasingly puritanical as it attempted to restrengthen itself in response to the Protestant Reformation. Male nudes appeared in his fresco The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. In 1559, five years before the artist's death, the Vatican hired someone to paint loincloths on the more risuque ones. Poor Daniel de Volterra became “the breeches maker.” In 1563, after the Council of Trent really started to crack down on any nudity in religious art (or any art, in fact), there was even talk of destroying it. Luckily, it did not happen thanks to protests by nobles and other artists. The Church had to back down. (It needed money.)
 

The Last Judgment

Then, much later, in 1933, a time of reaction to the Roaring Twenties, a shipment of art books containing images from The Last Judgment was seized by U.S. Customs as obscene material (someone who worked there had never heard of this painting; shows the importance of an liberal education, in my opinion). A few days later, the Treasure Department admitted the mistake and turned over the books.

Also during the 1930s, the screen version of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour was reworked, even bowdlerized, to omit any references to lesbianism. The lesbian character became a heterosexual, making the love triangle heteronormative. In fact, the Code, now in full force, even forbade meniton that the movie, called These Three, was based on the play.
 

The cast of These Three
The cast of These Three

In 1961, the Motion Picture Association of America relaxed the code mentioned above, which forbade any portrayal of homosexuality on the screen. But, in 1962, it still did not approve of the film Victim, because it actually metioned those “H” words, homosexual and homosexuality, on screen. Its star, Dirk Bogarde, was gay, but given the overall social climate of the period, he had to keep it in the closet. (He came close to really revealing his sexuality when he sported tight leather pants in the campy Western, The Singer Not the Song.)
 

Dirk Bogarde in Victim
Dirk Bogarde in Victim

In 1979, when the sexual liberation movements were in full swing, right before the age of AIDS and the ascendancy of Reagan/Thatcher and the Religious Right, British customs officials seized and burned 100 copies of The Joy of Gay Sex. They ignored 200 copies of The Joy of Lesbian Sex, but in 1984 they seized and shredded both books.
 

Cover of The Joy of Gay Sex

I wonder if the real issue here is fear combined with a substantial dose of ignorance. It's not like these creations are going to appeal to children, though I am certain some fanatics would use the for them appropriate religious imagery of The Last Judgment to scare children.

The irony here is those who would use power to limit knowledge and impose rigid boundaries, even though knowledge itself is power. When used wisely, it is a power that acknowleges limitation but at the same time understands that the world and those who dwell in it will always be more than we know.

Source: Leigh Rutledge, The Gay Book of Lists

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Jerk Off scene from Self-Service


When I was twelve (maybe thirteen) I inadvertently discovered the joys of jacking off. I think I woke up in the middle of a wet dream, turned myself on to my belly, and finished myself off. My brother then began to complain about hearing my bed frame squeaking (we shared a room, and thank goodness at that time my dad has taken down the bunk beds). Since then, I don't think I have missed a day, though I have changed my position to the most popular one. In fact, the day I wake up without a morning woody, I know the Angel of Death is just around the corner, and I won't change my name to deceive him (old Jewish bubby's tale). 

One interesting book in the Bijou archives called The Gay Book of Lists by Leigh Rutledge enumerates some jack off positions in some detail, also helpfully guiding the potential wanker offer to their specific advantages and disadvantages: 

Jerk Off scene from Do Me Evil“Lying on Back” is the most popular (illustrated by Tom Cruise in the movie Risky Business); advantages include a good angle for thrusting actions with the hips; the sheets don't get messy; easy reach for either tit. Disadvantages include it can be a bad angle for pictures (well, with these new-fangled cameras on phones, perhaps not) and it can become monotonous when done day after day (Maybe one could do it while lying on one's back in the bathtub; I tried it once, but I became so relaxed because I was lying in water not much happened; maybe I should have done it in a dry tub, but that would have been uncomfortable.) 

Jerk off scene from Made in the Shade 1“Standing Up” is also popular, especially for those who cruise public bathrooms and want to show off (I would add especially if one is a grower). An advantage especially for those who are narcissistic: one can look at oneself in the mirror. It is also easy to do anywhere. Disadvantages include tired knees and legs, cum-splotched footwear, and it can be difficult to keep a dildo in the ass. 

“Legs Thrown Over Head” is a position where a guy lies on his back and throws his legs back over his head so that the head of his dick is aimed right at his mouth. This position is often used in BDSM scenes as a way for the master to force his slave to eat his own cum. Advantages include an intense orgasm; one can satisfy a hunger for cum; and one can watch oneself jack off. Disadvantages include a sprained neck and back (yikes!) and eyes filled with cum. 

“On The Belly, Rubbing Dick Against Sheets, Pillows, Etc.” is quite fun and sensual, especially if one is in a lazy mood, and it also works while one is being fucked up the ass. Disadvantages include messy sheets and also, as I mentioned in the first paragraph, don't do this if one's bed squeaks a lot and one's roommate is in the room supposedly sleeping (unless he wants to join in).

Toilet jerk off from The Bigger the Better"Sitting on Toilet” is excellent if one can't find any other way to be alone and clean-up is quite easy. In fact, Portnoy, among others, helped make this position famous, and it became almost iconic in the movie The Right Stuff. More recently, based on craiglist missed connection postings, this seems to be going in men's room stalls everywhere, so perhaps for many it's not a distasteful location to pull the pud. 

Jerk off scene from The Goodjac Chronicles
Check out bijouworld.com as we carry titles that revel in the hottest guys pounding off their manmeat. 

One can also stream movies at bijougayporn.com and watch other guys jerkin' the gherkin to stimulate your own pole dancing. 

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