when i usually think of dandyism, i usually think of quentin crisp, morrissey, and some little purple dude whose name i can't remember right now.

I'd take a dandy daddy any ol'damned day!

me too, also Oscar Wilde in his hey day.

I thought I might find you here at some point...

Heiress, if you don't mind, I'd LOVE to read your work when you're finished. The masculine aesthetic through history and cultures is one of my fascinations.

I'm neither a huge fan of nor expert on Tom of Finland, but Posthumous is correct in that the military boots, the leather, chaps, caps, muscle and body hair, etc. are all a sort of homage via caricature to masculinity, which, in turn, is sort of the totem of the homosexual. (And please don't take that in an idolotrous sense.) Even beyond the Leather Community, you'll find a similar reverence for the hypermasculine look throughout the gay world: cowbows, the "straight" or "daddy" look, the bear, bikers, construction workers, military men, men in formal wear, the "Abercrombie & Fitch" look, the thug, etc. Conversely, there is a certain sector of the gay community that actively reveres a masculine aesthetic exactly opposite of the hypermasculine: the transexual, the transvestite, the twink, the fem, etc. It's all very fascinating!

My guess is that if you dig deep enough, you'll find some of the earliest influences on this dichotomy in classical Western arts, literature and thought. Consider the juxtaposition of Apollo and Dionysus, for example...

Apollo, the Greco-Roman ideal of masculine beauty, was the all-time goldenboy. While classical retellings mention him as a god much younger than the titans, some among his cult passed on that he was THE model after which titan Prometheus patterned the human male: Tall, muscular, chisled, simultaneously a poet, musician and athlete, and the most widely celebrated lover (of both men and women) of all the Olympians. Yet, interestingly, he was the only male Olympian who wasn't a lover of Aphrodite, the goddess of female beauty. Also, while he is rarely depicted angrily or as a warrior or craftsman type, there was scarcely anything "feminine" about him. And visually, he's always on display -- either completely nude or scantily clad in most art and sculpture; his body beautifully muscled and his hair either handsomely coiffed or consciously untamed... and adorned with laurel leaves, the symbol of heroism, dominance and authority. You might say he was THE superlative archetype of the male completely detached from femaleness. Liken this to a Tom of Finland image (albeit sacred, rather than profane).

On the other hand, you have Dionysus, the father of wine, revelry and ecstacy. By some accounts he, too, was bisexual, and the male archetype in opposition to Apollo. He, like Apollo, was supposed to be eternally young and beautiful, but Dionysus was soft, slight, boyish or downright feminine, dressed decidedly in spectacular crowns, purples, reds and wildcat skins... sometimes, it is said, even in women's wigs and clothing! As we discussed briefly once before, his male cult revelers often followed suit. In fact, some are said to have religiously castrated themselves, as did the male followers of the goddess Rhea, Dionysus' mentor. I think he was a personification of the female-in-the-male aesthetic!

I think Dandyism, at least in the West, may have its roots among the ancients who imagined their beloved male dieties like these.

...And by all means, don't forget Oscar Wilde or Plato on male beauty.

[Edited 1/31/06 20:57pm]

Interesting, though, that these displays are a bit inverted in the case of Romantics and the New Romantics as well... Don't ya think?

Even Prince, I mean... what has he managed to reproduce, really? This is about attention-getting as a way to immortality.

Check out my avie!

I've been admiring it.