The Arab Boys in My Basement

I hate going down to my basement. You have to navigate dark lakes of sewage from leaking pipes, used needles and tinfoil on the floor, and sometimes the stench of fresh feces. I’m always afraid I will meet the people who obviously populate my basement, but it hasn’t happened so far. Sometimes there are big dead rats, followed by infestations of meaty flies. Once I got sick from the dust, so now I always wear a tight face mask when I go down there. Afterwards I sanitize both my clothes and myself, like we did in the military after walking through mustard gas to test our gas masks. Yes, my dear—my basement is disgusting! And so I try to minimize the times I have to enter it.

But my desire had grown in the past few weeks, because I keep something very valuable in my basement: an almost full collection of the West German gay magazines Du & Ich and Don from the 1970s. Magazines that sprouted and flourished after West Germany partly decriminalized homosexual acts (including kissing) in September 1969.

So finally I did it. Equipped with face mask and protective gloves, I went for a basement haul.

What makes these magazines so interesting is that they provide a direct peephole into an emerging gay identity, formed as it was by the readers and editors of these magazines in concert. The monthly production cycle meant feedback on themes and photos was as instant as it could get in those days, and the magazines therefore swiftly adapted to reader demand.

So what did the newly liberated gay men of West Germany demand in the 1970s?

Travel reportages! Lots of them. To every part of the world, because no matter where you went, you would be freer than in conservative and largely Catholic West Germany, a society that had actively persecuted and prosecuted gay men throughout the 1960s.

As you browse through hundreds of these magazines, it becomes clear that the Middle East and North Africa seem to have a special place in the heart of the readers of these magazines, and their contributors. Not least are the Arab men and boys in the articles described in an idealized way, as über-masculine and virile “love machines” who will happily “take you as their wife.”

I wrote a photo essay about these magazines’ depiction of Arab boys and men for the course Theory and History of Social and Cultural Anthropology during my master’s studies. But instead of pointing out and condemning the obvious “othering” that this can be seen as a prime example of, I wanted to understand the roots of this will to idealize and elevate others—while deprecating oneself.

Departing from Edward Said’s Orientalism and more recent theories on colonial photography, I presented findings that turned the colonial perspective upside down, quite literally. As queer perspectives often do. This is reflected in unique aspects in the photos of these articles, along with the text, headlines, and captions.

I want to present these findings to you. Not here and now, but in an illustrated essay, where I can go deeper than in the course paper. I want to lay out my case on how the queer gaze challenges established ideas of power relations. The gay magazines in West Germany in the 1970s provide a unique material for a case study of how desire and identity are negotiated within a group.

I love these magazines! I get a rush from browsing them, sniffing the offset ink and withering paper—they are physical artifacts from our common history! As such, they deliver undeniable but sometimes uncomfortable bits of information about the interests, concerns, and desires of their readers (not only regarding Arab boys and men), printed in black and white and stored forever at the National Library. In other words, they say something of our heritage, and therefore about us.

I want to respect that heritage. Respect the readers, some of whom must have browsed the very same copies that I now have in my apartment after my successful basement haul.

Therefore, stay tuned for interesting upcoming publications!

Oh, I almost forgot! My book on shota comics in Japan is still available for only 19.99 USD/EUR:

My book on Amazon.com

If you haven’t already, please rate or review it on Amazon and Goodreads. I’ve only got one review so far (but smashing, very happy, read it here), and I plan to summarize the reactions in a future email. (Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through my links to Amazon in these emails.)

With that, I wish you a nice weekend!

Take care.

Karl