Masculinity is a succinct name for photographer Michael Stokes' debut book. I am particularly impressed by a naked football player on the cover, standing in the shadow of the Romanesque Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games. He may be a real football player, but I don't recognize him without his uniform.
Despite massive tattoos around his neck, on his right breast, right forearm, and right torso, he still manages to appear completely clean-cut. His muscular young body is virtually hairless, and the hair on his head is cropped close to his scalp. He's holding a football in his right hand that, surprise, blocks our view of his crown jewels.
A bronzed blonde guy with tats is a full-frontal nude, one of the few pictures that makes no effort to obscure the genitals. He's wearing nothing but his dogtags, which almost reach down to his belly button. His simple blue-ink tats aren't particularly impressive. Two doves on his upper chest fly towards each other, and a constellation of five-point stars decorates his right arm. He would look better without them, but they still can't destroy his Nordic appeal.
His body hair is a bit darker than the short platinum hair on his head and the almost imperceptible stubble on his face. His head is slightly bowed, and his eyes closed, so we can't see just how blue his eyes are. He has a six-inch-long scar on the upper part of his right arm, as if someone took a can opener to his flesh. But not even a scar can mar his classic masculine beauty.
Masculinity by Michael Stokes, published in 2012, is out of print and will cost you from $500 for a used copy to over $700 for a rare new one. It seems gay male books are appreciating in value faster than precious metals!