How a homoerotic magazine revolutionized men’s fashion—and our fantasies
frisky photo spreads, the International Male catalogue was so much more than a glossy advertorial magazine selling men’s clothing.With the tagline “freedom for the man,” the mag changed the way the world thought about men’s fashion and style when it launched in the ’70s.
But perhaps more importantly—for a significant section of its audience—International Male‘s titillating pictures provided a safe space to indulge in homoerotic fantasies, no doubt inspiring its fair share of sexual awakenings through the decades.
The surprising but true story of the catalogue and its cultural footprint is told in the excellent documentary All Man: The International Male Story, which spent the past year winning over audiences on the LGBTQ+ film festival circuit, but is finally—finally!—hitting select theaters and digital VOD platforms so you can check it out for yourself.From filmmakers Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed, the nostalgic doc explores years of the magazine’s history, from its founding in the ’70s to the height of its popularity in the ’90s, when it was reaching an estimated readership of three million each quarter.From bicycle couriers and health fads to physique pictorial magazines and Lady Gaga, here’s the delightfully strange history of jockstraps.
Narrated by screen hunk Matt Bomer, All Man assembles an exciting crop of experts and fans to weigh in (everyone from comedic scene-stealer Parvesh Cheena to style superstar Carson Kressley), as well as former employees and models (including Madonna‘s ex, Tony Ward) who share their experiences working for and with the mag.And though he passed in late 2020, All Man also features interviews with catalogue founder Gene Burkard, who’s rosy recollections of this “fairytale come.
