Above:
Stemmed by Andrew Bowman
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🌼Happy Mother's Day!🌼
To both those celebrating today and those who celebrate on other dates of the year!
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Happy Birthday today May 10th
Mother of Them All
Those who remember the Blockbuster era, (mid 1990's to mid 2000's) most certainly are familiar with model and actress Shannon Tweed. Shannon is undoubtedly the mother of soft-porn, and for many, a gateway to male nudity on video. When I was in my early twenties, and still in the closet, renting a Shannon Tweed flick was a safe way to get my fix of the nude male form.
The movies always had titles which included words like 'desire', illicit', forbidden' and indecent, and their covers usually focused on Shannon the the female form. I know however, that I'm not the only one who rented one of these flicks for the male skin. More often than not we ended up disappointed. The sex scenes were usually badly lit and intentionally dark and some of her movies, even with a hot male co-star, didn't include any male skin.
But.. sometimes they did. If you were lucky, you got a glimpse, or even a long look, at an actor's butt, usually thrusting up and down as he either had sex with Shannon's character, or was being watched by Shannon's character. Occasionally however, there was even a male frontal, dark, quick, but in one film, there were even two actors flashing frontal.
Shannon's male co-stars ran the gambit, from up and comers, to never to be seen again. There were actors on the way up, and actors on the way down. Television and film actors who were now sadly reduced to 'straight to video' movies. For lovers of the male form however, these movies often were often the first, and only place many of the actors showed any skin at all.
Hot Dog... The Movie
Some actors became 'regulars' shagging Shannon in multiple films. Others, like actor Andrew Stevens, used Shannon's soft core allure to both act, and move into writing and directing. If a production company could get both a naked Shannon, and a naked Andrew, they were often willing to allow an actor to direct. The movies didn't cost a lot, and usually recouped their money with dolts like me renting them multiple times for few moments of male flesh.
Scorned
Mother's Day seemed like a good time to check out the mother of soft-core, and some of her many male co-stars. I featured a couple actors, and their scenes with Shannon in the past, with pieces on William Katt in Last Call, (HERE:) and Andrew Stevens in Night Eyes III. (HERE:) Check out Page 2 or click the links below for new pieces featuring a few other of my favorites Shannon studs. I especially loved revisiting Scorned, with Shannon seducing an especially hot mother's son.
With Andrew Stevens in Night Eyes III
Check out:
With William Katt in Last Call
Other People's Mothers
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you!
No, this post isn't about any mother fetish, or the sexualization of our own mothers. It began with my love of vintage cfnm imagery, but also my experience with other people's mother. I had a good mother that I loved very much, but she was my mother. My mother also wasn't especially loving, at least not outwardly, and some of my most intense childhood experiences with maternal figures emotions came from the mothers of my friends.
Mothers, regardless of whether their our own, have the ability to bring to light feelings and emotions like no other. Feelings of safety and pride for sure, but also feelings of guilt, remorse, embarrassment and shame. They are the women who's attributes we either look for, or run from in all our other relationships with women.
I had three 'other' mothers growing up. The first was a teacher, and the mother of my best friend in grade school. This mother was a sex bomb, and one who stood out from the older, more conservative female teachers in our school. At the time, I thought I loved her, but looking back, it was her style, her look, her power, that I was really attracted to. Her son hated the attention she received, and was especially uncomfortable with comments about how hot she was.
Everything I loved about her, he hated, something most of us have experienced. My mother was strong, but stern, but my friends loved her. I hate remembering how much I disliked and was embarrassed with how my mother interacted with my friends. It fascinating that the second maternal figure in my life, the mother of a female friend I had in junior high was loved by myself, and so many others, something her daughter really hated.
This mother was the 'friend' to all her daughter's friends. We hung out at her house, more to be with her her than her daughter. She bought us junk food, and had the fridge stocked with pop and junk to encourage our visits. She was also more than a little suggestive, and liked to talk to the boys about sex and their bodies, and encouraged things like mooning and streaking. Her husband, a large older man, also hated our hanging out at his house, and usually arrived from work, took a look at us, and headed upstairs to be alone.
Mom's Night Out!
She was obviously looking for something, not hard now to figure out. Things took a turn one night when we were all in the backyard partying. She took a few shots of a group of guys mooning, and when the images came back. (at that time, they needed to be devolved) they showed a bit more than just a full moon, but some danglers between the legs. She found it funny to show the images to everyone who came over, and a couple of the guys told their parents. Things took a turn, and most of us stopped hanging out there. She was reserved when I'd see her out in public or at a school function, but her daughter, loved the change.
The third woman who I considered a mother figure was actually the mother of my high school girlfriend. We were together quite awhile, and I spent a lot of time at there home. Dinners, holidays, special occasions, even family vacations. I felt a part of their family, one who liked to have more fun than my own.
When my girlfriend and I eventually, and inevitably, broke up, I missed hanging out at her home, and her family more than I missed being with her. It was her mother, that actually consoled me after the break-up, and promised that we'd remain close. We didn't, I went back to their home a few times over the years, but it was never the same. I never again felt 'motherly' feelings from her mother, she couldn't really, the reason for our connection was severed. These three women, like all mothers, were never really meant to be in our lives forever, but like all mothers, or mother figures, had an important purpose and their voices, remain in our heads long after we last actually heard them.
The Modesty Bouquet by Andrew Bowman
'The flowers began as just a random theme on one of my very first shoots.'
Fans of photographer Andrew Bowman are accustomed to seeing bright, colorful flowers sprout up as a recurring and creative concept within his images. I'd always wondered where the theme originated, and always assumed it must have stemmed from the love of beautiful blossoms. Not exactly...
The flowers began as a random choice early in Andrew's career as a way of providing a little penis privacy. Many models want to keep their junk in the trunk, and some penis's as we know, aren't always a model's most attractive asset. The modesty bouquet became routine on fitness shoots, and instead of a model using their hand cup their penis, the flowers provided a pop of color and a more interesting visual to the shots.
They were also unique. Many photographers, especially those going for that 'masculine' feel, would use helmets, hockey sticks or sports equipment to let us know we were looking at a manly man. Andrew liked the quirky contrast of the flowers and the color and eventually started using them with almost every model he shoots. Even with models who are fine with showing their penis, they provide a covering in some shots which allows Andrew to share the images on Instagram or other sites which don't allow full frontal nudity.
Despite it being 2020, flowers are still seen by many as falling into the feminine category which makes their use even more visually compelling. Society accepts a retired man having an interest in flowers, yet, can still struggle with a guy under 60 passion for the petal. Most of us have learned that the measure of a man isn't determined by whether he's holding a football, or a bouquet of daffodils, but it is something that takes awhile for some to truly understand.
I'm still a couple of decades from retirement, but over the last two years, there are two flowers (three if you include a poinsettia at Christmas) that make yearly appearances in my home. Both, are thanks to my mother. When I was in high school, one of my drama class assignments was to co-direct two scenes from Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. At the end of the showcase, my co-director, (a female) and I were both presented with a card, and a bouquet of red tulips. The showcase took play in May and tulips were in full bloom.
It was the first time I'd ever been given flowers, and remember feeling a little uncomfortable carrying them around backstage. This feeling only intensified when I arrived home and my older brother laughed, mocked and made fun of my gift. I still remember him calling them 'faggy flower's' and given I was still firmly in the closet, laughed along with him. My mother however, who really wasn't into flowers, told my brother to be quiet, and told me I should be proud the actors thought enough of my work to give them to me.
That's all it took. Those red tulips stood tall on my bureau for weeks, long after the red had faded, and they wilted down the side of the vase. A few years ago, during the month of May, I spotted a bucket of fresh tulips at the end of the check-out line at the grocery story. My instantly went back to that night in the nineties, and I've been picked up a red bunch, and have been buying them every May since.
The second flower that brightens up my living room is the sunflower, which I now purchase every August. As I mentioned, my mother wasn't a big flower lover, except for sunflowers. When she died a couple of years ago, my siblings and l all left the service with bouquets of sunflowers that had been sent to the family. I took two of them home, and again, kept them long beyond their shelf date. I now buy a bouquet each August, and have been planting them outside beside my back deck the last two springs.
Whether it be in our living rooms, or within an image focused on the male form, flowers bring a pop both color, and even more so, life and energy. Although with an especially hot model, we may be wishing to see more stem than petal, you can't deny the power of the flower. Within Andrew's images, they also provide a sense of gentle strength and it's interesting visually to see how individual model holds, and interact with their bouquets.
We've all had memorable experiences with flowers, whether it be their beauty, or their scent. Given their connection to events boy joyful and painful, they have a natural ability to provoke memories and stimulate emotions beyond the their time as a temporary bouquet.
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