i'm not a gay man, but i think the weird influx of gay trucker erotica may have stemmed from the gay BDSM artist known as tom of finland? who may be of interest to you since he dealt with similar battles fighting censorship before his death. he very clearly had a type of man and often drew military or working class gay porn.
Oh. My god. I LOVE Tom of Finland! 😍 🇫🇮
That is the exact type of art that I love. Not the content, mind you (personally don't think men should be allowed to be masculine - being masculine is a woman's job 😏)
No, I'm talking about the motivation behind it. I LOVE when someone makes art about (or writes about) some weirdly specific topic just because they think it is the hottest thing imaginable. He qualifies:
I like that he knew exactly what he was into, and wasn't afraid to show it. I like the fact that he quit his successful job at an international advertising firm in order to draw gay porn. I like the fact that he made a bunch of problematic drawings of gay Nazis because, and I quote, "they had the sexiest uniforms!"
And I also like the fact that the government of Finland officially released the gayest stamp of all time in his honor:
And at this point, you may be thinking, "surely she's not going keep talking about vintage gay beefcake hardcore pornographic graphite drawings for much longer, right?"
Well, there is a bit more, actually.
Because I have found some relevant info regarding the sorts of books in the original post: underground taboo erotic pulp novels of the 70s.
The books with illustrations that most resemble the style of Tom of Finland were published by Surrey House / Surree Limited from roughly 1972 to 1978, with illustrations attributed only to "Adam":
And I have identified this elusive artist as being... Giacomo “Jack” Bozzi!
Although I don't have direct confirmation from the artist, many second-hand accounts do say he was strongly influenced by Tom of Finland!
...what's wrong with me? I hate how easily I get distracted & write these unnecessary long-winded posts. Just hope someone likes this 😭 🏳️🌈
