The Male Gazed
On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men

A non-fiction book about pop culture and looking at beautiful men? Count me in! More than anything though, "The Male Gazed" is the memoir of Betancourt, a gay cultural critic who grew up in Columbia, studied in Canada and now resides in Los Angeles. Structured around themes, he enriches his experien......more

The manufactured intimacy a show like Drag Race creates, though, has served as a welcome window into a kind of queer utopia, a space where bodies aren’t sites of contention but sites of artistry and possibility. A space where, following Ru’s cosmology, we’re all encouraged to break masculinity apart......more

I had a great time reading this. It’s an excellent bridge between personal essays and more academic looks at the different topics throughout the book. The Male Gazed is about the ways that the media portrays masculinity and homoeroticism and how that impacts the ways that men, especially gay men, th......more

In under 200 pages, Betancourt provides ten essays on a variety of topics exploring the ins and outs of masculinity and the male form, aka why we're so enamored with wrestlers in singlets, Hercules, Gaston, and King Triton. Masculinity is truly such a learned and put on identity - a costume men wear......more

I loved reading this collection of essays and learning new and interesting things about myself through the eyes of Manuel Betancourt. He is a phenomenal writer and offers powerful insight and asks the reader what it means to be a "man", who is queer, and what it all means in the end. I hope he write......more