Tan Lines XXXV

Subject: Rafael Branciforti.
Photographer: Unknown.

Not a Weapon or a Mere Tool

. . . but a means of making contact

The following is noted in From Wild Man to Wise Man: Reflections on Male Spirituality.


Let's be honest, every man is proud of his erect penis, but perhaps, strange as it sounds, he should meditate on it and see what it is telling him about his deeper nature. Let's for a moment look at our male genitalia as a metaphor for manhood.

. . . The male penis is, first of all, both soft and hard. That is its first message. There is a proper place for both in our lives, vulnerability and strength, letting go and firmness. Wisdom is to know when, where and how.

The male penis is not a weapon or a mere tool, but it is a means of making contact, literally "reaching out" for the other, not to hurt or invade, but to pleasure and delight – mutually! . . . Not just me, and not just the other, but both simultaneously.

Is that not an ideal metaphor for what all human relationships should be? And maybe even what morality should be. I bet you never imagined you could learn that from your male body.

See also:
• Soft
• Hard
• Body and Soul
• Tools of Attraction
• Affirming Our Essential Goodness
• The Gay Male Quest for Democratic, Mutual, Reciprocal Sex (Part 1)
• The Gay Male Quest for Democratic, Mutual, Reciprocal Sex (Part 2)

Hare Décor II

Image: The Leveret.

Boys Will Be Boys II

Image: Subjects and photographer unknown.

Lapin aux Belles-de-Jour

Image: "Lapin aux Belles-de-Jour" by C.C. Barton.

Bel Homme XI

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Dancing Hares

Image: OZinOH.
Sculpture: "Dancing Hares" by Sophie Ryder (Ballantrae Park, Dublin, Ohio).

Morning Light XLIII

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Winter Hare

Image: "Hare in Winter" by Philip Black.

Boys Will Be Boys

Introducing a new series celebrating the exuberant, playful, often erotically-charged energy of males together – gay, straight and everywhere in between. Enjoy!



Image: Subjects and photographer unknown.

Mysterious Assemblies

. . . [Norman Halkett] is one of the few people to have seen the mysterious circular assembly of hares. . . .

"No one has ever been able to explain to me fully just why hares do on occasion sit in a wide circle with one or two or even more of their number having a gambols or frolics inside the circle. . . . I have seen it at least three times in my life, from as small a circle as say ten or twelve, to as many as thirty or forty hares, all performing at once. Some standing up . . . bolt upright on their hind-legs, others sitting on their hunkers, as we say, and some actually lying down as though they weren't paying much attention. But it does happen and I would honestly like to know what it really means."

– Excerpted from The Leaping Hare
by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson
p. 53

Image: MajorWildlife.co.uk via WonderfulWorldOfImages.com.

Bel Homme

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.