ABSTRACT
This book started as a study of the gay gym, that cultural phenomenon and, until recently, somewhat obscure social institution that first surfaced during the 1970s in the gay ghettos of San Francisco, West Hollywood, and New York. But as I started consulting references and interviewing gay men at gay gyms, I had some important realizations: One, there is a startling number of gay men who are sharing a lifestyle; that it is them who make the gym gay; and, that over the past three decades, they have created a subculture all of their own. Two, in comparing one gay gym with another, even within the same city, the dynamics of one gay gym can be dramatically different from the others’ depending on the demographics of each particular one (younger men, older men, bears, circuit boys, etc). Third, and most important, that far away from the gay ghettos, in every American city, suburb, and rural area, as well as abroad, gay men of every age, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are living and practicing the lifestyle established by the gay gym and revolving around new norms in terms of aesthetics, body image, self-image, athletics, socialization, and, most important, interpersonal relationships. Because of these realizations, the book shifted its focus from the gym to the gay men who go to the gym and the social ethos that brings them together. These men are better described by the popular jargon used today: muscle boys.
