The Body's “Holy Hole”

In The Orifice as Sacrificial Site (2002), James Aho asks, "What exactly is it about the anus that induces a feeling of unease, dis-ease?"

He readily concedes that part of the issue is the anus's association with feces and thus its long history of being declared limmode [unclean]. Yet the anus is also one of the body's most erogenous zones, a "holy place of romp and renewal," in the words of poet James Broughton.

"The anus is the transforming and recycling volcano that fertilizes new growth," declares Broughton in his contribution to the 1995 anthology Gay Spirit.

Perhaps James Aho had something similar in mind when he wrote that "the anus occupies an ambiguous, transitional status"; it is one of those "other places in the geography of the lived body, passages and districts of otherness, holy holes . . . sites of numinosity and sacredness."

See also the previous posts:
• The Body: A Holy Place of Romp and Renewal
• Body and Soul
• Morning Light – November 26, 2016
• Out on a Limb
• Beauty

Hare Ring

Image: Late 19th century gold and enamel ring with gemstones (turquoise) and figural motif (hare) from the Germanic National Museum. Photographer unknown.

Morning Light

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Trémulo

Trémulo is a 2015 short film by Mexican director Roberto Fiesco.

A tender coming-of-age story, Trémulo features Benny Emmanuel as Carlos, a young man who sweeps, mops, and cleans in an old-time barbershop. Among the customers on the day before Independence Day is Julio (Axel Arenas). As soon as their eyes meet, there is an unspoken connection. Later, when the barbershop closes and Carlos is left alone to clean-up, Julio returns. The two young men spend the night together – eating, chatting, joking, dancing . . . and, in time, sharing a tender kiss.

To view Trémulo, click here.

Related Off-site Link: The Making of Tremulo – Queer Cinema via YouTube (September 17, 2015).

Bel Homme

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

In Autumn Fields

Image: "Dancing Hare" by Ian MacCulloch.

See also the previous posts:
• Autumn Hare (2017)
• Autumn Hare (2016)
• Autumn Hare (2013)
• Song in Autumn
• Autumn Beauty