So, here’s the problem: There is not enough porn wherein submissive men are the erotic subject matter.
If you’ve read even a little bit of this blog, you’re probably already well-versed in many of my rants about how paltry the available porn is for submissive men like me (and, by extension, dominant women like Eileen). But the problem is actually two fold. One problem is, of course, that there’s simply an insanely disturbing general lack of the stuff. In fact, it’s so bad that if you Google for the three words “male submission art,” you actually get female submission links littering the first page of results.
This is actually even worse if you go actively hunting for porn with the hopes of finding erotica depicting men who are submissive. Instead, you’re much, much more likely to find erotica depicting women who are dominant. This is actually a major nuisance for a lot of people—including many submissive men, I might add.
Arguably even more frustrating that that, however, is that what male submissive porn is out there is total shit relative to the porn available for other sorts of orientations. In such erotica (unless it’s gay imagery, of course) men are portrayed as impotent, ugly creatures. That is not sexy. It’s also insulting.
Announcing MaleSubmissionArt.com: Art and visual erotica that depicts masculine submission
My proposed solution? I launch MaleSubmissionArt.com and have people send me hot pics of men being submissive. I figure there just has to be enough people out there as fed up with this situation as I am, and if I can get some of them to send me contributions from their personal stashes of erotica or while they are browsing the Internet hunting for more, I’ll be able to crowd-source the content for a shared porn collection full of the kind of stuff we actually like.
Best of all, even though this project is based around me wanting to have one easy place to go get beautiful pictures of sexy tortured men, it has the potential to really change the way people think about creating erotica around the notions of male submission. Specifically, as the site description states:
We showcase beautiful imagery where men and other male-identified people are submissive subjects. We aim to challenge stereotypes of the “pathetic” submissive man.
I’d be thrilled to be able to get a steady stream of hot male submission action into everyone’s RSS feeds daily, but to do that I need your help in scouting out sources for this kind of porn. I’m very much hoping that those of us in the sex blogging community will spread the word about the site. I’m also hoping that those of you able to contribute will do so in any of the ways I’ve outlined on the MaleSubmissionArt.com project page.
So, do you think we’ll be able to stem the tide of portraying submissive men in horribly unattractive ways?
So good to see this. I am sure many will be scouring the web for images to send to you
Yah know, for years I’ve been asking myself why femdom erotica always seems to be about 26 year old leather clad hotties (not that I’m complaining) and paunchy 48 year old guys. Having been a paunchy, 48 year old guy myself, I can tell you that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. We’re a dime a dozen.
A few years ago, the tickleberry.co.uk website had some fantastic images of a 26 year old leather clad hottie (not that there was anything wrong with that) and a 50 something year old guy who was in excellent shape, and who did not appear in poses making him look like, well, particularly unattractive.
Great idea, May. In fact, after I lose a few more pounds, I’m even going to volunteer my services as a “guy next door” kind of model, in case anybody wants to do some fetish shoots with non-paunchy 50-something models.
I love you two! Thank you! And yes, I will be scouring the web…
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You know what I love about you, May? The fact that you see a problem you try to solve it, something that very very few people actually do.
@everyone: Thanks for your support and for sending us pr0n! Yay for pr0n!
Awesome idea! But I have to wonder how many clueless online wankers will be sending you pics of themselves in lingerie, maid uniforms, or chastity devices.
@roo-roo: I’m sure we’ll eventually get some photos from clueless wankers but the answer to that is quite simple: we just won’t post them. ;) See also our brand-spanking new FAQ (as of last night).
I’ve tagged Male Submission Art for regular checking, because it’s so damned excellent! I’ve just spent a very happy few minutes scrolling through the current images :). What a *great* idea :D.
Have you ever tried, just for personal fun, looking through fanart places for images of submissive men? I’ve scribbled a few myself, largely in a gay context, and I’m wondering if you mind a submission that’s got possibly (though not necessarily :D) recognisable characters in it?
There’s some gorgeous (and very hot) stuff out there, too. Some of my favourite folk do some gorgeous images of men in various interpretations of submission.
Thanks for brightening the internet, maymay & Eileen. I love the idea.
Tom, I’d like to see the results of a good fetish photographer getting hold of you.
Tom, I’d like to see the results of a good fetish photographer getting hold of you.
::blushes::
Just curious: what’s your policy in regards to pictures that feature both female dominance and male submission? Like that one of you and Eileen from floating world?
There isn’t really a “policy.” We’re simply looking for imagery that “is about male submission.” We’ve posted a number of images that include women in the picture already, and naturally female dominance can go hand in hand in heterosexual male submission erotica, so that’s fine. It’s just that we don’t want to be posting images that are “about female dominance,” since there are enough sites like that already.
Honestly, I think if you take a breeze through the site in one browser window and a breeze through just about any other site claiming to be about male submission in another you’ll quickly see some striking differences. It’s early to be articulating those differences, but that’s precisely what this project is supposed to inspire. I would love to hear what other people think is or is not erotica that is “about male submission” versus erotica that is “about female dominance.”
[...] case you haven’t heard yet, Maymay and I have recently launched Male Submission Art, a new blog focused upon showcasing and [...]
@Scarlet: Meep, sorry, I didn’t notice your comment! The answer to your questions is that we’ll happily accept characters from fandoms and depicting slash/yaoi stuff. Personally, we actually really love that stuff because we are total geeks. ;)
Great initiative!
Just looked through the images with Boy Toy. Your site managed to pull him from working at his computer, so obviously, there’s an interest there lol! Ok, ok, we liked it. And it might even inspire me to expose Boy Toy a little… We’ll see, though, because of course, they would have to be anonymous, no face showing.
Anyway… Thanks!
@Elle: Well, if there’s one thing I’ve got it’s initiative. ;) As for photos that are anonymous and have no face showing, that’s not at all an inhibitor for posting. We’ve posted several like that already and are happy to keep doing it if the photo is, of course, beautiful male submission. :) Please send along anything that’s relevant that you find or make! Thanks!
Sweet, thanks! And I didn’t notice your reply to my comment :D. I’ll tag some links of my stuff over the next few days – not entirely comfortable submitting other folk’s work to a public archive.
If you’d like to just perv at some ridiculously scrumptious stuff, though, I can wholeheartedly recommend Ponderosa: http://destiny.ponderosa121.com/archive/art/
She draws a whole range, from TV to film to comics to book to games… and, just, so skilled.
@Scarlet: Are you familiar with the Creative Commons nomenclature? The artwork you linked to shows that it is licensed under a shareable license, which actually implies that submitting the work to other archives is encouraged so long as you give appropriate attribution. Credit where credit is due and all that, a very good policy in my opinion.
In any event, thanks for pointing me in that direction. Please do keep suggesting stuff that you find.
I am so wonderfully thrilled to have found this. I’ve ranted about the exact same subject in my livejournal before. The pictures you’ve posted have been enthralling, thank you so much. I’ll definitely keep my eyes open looking for some to suggest.
What a great idea and site you’ve created. As a hetero male sub, I’ve grown up looking at traditional Femdom images. Yes, I “get off” on it often, but there was always something missing: the tender, loving feelings I have and share with my Mistress. .
Best of all, I’ve found things here that reflect our relationship (and other things) which I can send to Her because I know she will enjoy them.
@michael: I’m glad you’re enjoying the site! I hope you’ll take it upon yourself to suggest some pieces for us to post in the future. A fun new year’s resolution, perhaps? ;)
I, too, have been known to “get off” on more stereotypical imagery of “teh FEMDOMZ.” It’s unavailable, and it’s good fodder for philosophical debate about how powerful social commentary through imagery really is. I’ve even (relatively often) masturbated to images of submissive women with dominant men because, frankly, that’s the only good stuff that was available and my imagination does a decent enough job of placing myself in the position of the submissive, despite the gender identity dysphoria. That, however, is occasionally intensely enraging—and I’ve hinted on this blog before at how incredibly depressing it is to be masturbating to something that makes you viscerally angry (several times).
Anyway…I’m really heartened to hear that we’re posting stuff that reflects your relationship. Naturally, that’s the best kind of stuff to see. Especially when it’s so positive and loving…and sexy. ;)
Happy holidays.
Hi, I just wanted to let you know how much I’ve been enjoying Male Submission Art. I can’t stop staring at the color pic posted February 27th. Yummy.
Thought you might like:
http://www.eroticartcollection.com/Jim_French/index.html
There’s other stuff on eroticartcollection too.
I have to say that it was a great idea to start malesubmissionart.com. Love the images! Good erotic art is pretty hard to find online.
What a fantastic idea. We’re in!
We showcase beautiful imagery where men and other male-identified people are submissive subjects.
This is the line that got my attention. I’ve noticed that trans men (like myself) tend not to be included in collections of erotic photos of men, regardless of the other subject matter. It’s nice to see a truly trans-inclusive erotica collection which doesn’t rely on othering trans men, or painting us as “not really men.”
Interestingly, as a “cisgendered” man but not one that fits within traditional models of masculinity, I’ve been called “not a real man” more often than I’d like to remember. I was not explicitly thinking about transgendered individuals when I wrote that line, but I certainly had in my mind the idea that nontraditional masculinities, which I believe can be embodied by many kinds of people who identify themselves as the one of many genders commonly referred to as “male”, should be included. In other words, I was trying to write something that would be inclusive of myself. :)
I think this is quite a cool thing because it’s certainly a lesson in the power of language to be inviting or exclusionary. Go semantics!
Just wanted to thank you for your honest and thoughtful site. There was a definite need for this; the exploration and the validation. I will be passing by regularly from now on. Such breath-taking beauty, how could I resist?
Thanks so much for starting malesubmissionart.com.
I love the images of men tied to a bed with a woman teasing him. I know you have some issues with whether to include these images, but I’m glad you occasionally post them.
Cheers!
Congratulations on your site, I am so happy to have run across you and your ideas about eroticism. I have been trudging through porn for years hoping for something new and exciting and I think I have just found it. Well done.
I presently have my own site but I am in the process of abandoning it in favor of producing original digital artwork. Unlike yourself, I am not so much about the representation of vulnerable men but the body language of dominant women and the visual aspects of story telling.
I have a funny feeling we will have a lot to talk about…again, congratulation on your site. I have been looking for something like this forever. I would love to send you a few images that you might find interesting…and as soon as I figure out how to do that I will.
Thanks so much, cheers.
Thanks, Freddy. I’m glad you find the site inspirational! To suggest images to me for MaleSubmissionArt.com, you can do one of many things: you can suggest photos directly from the site, you can send in an email, or you can suggest links on Delicious.com
[...] of those opportunities I want to pursue is continuing to develop the MaleSubmissionArt.com project. It began at the start of this year because there was a depressing lack of respectful erotic imagery of submissive masculinity. Today, [...]
I just wanted to thank you. I am a young woman and even though I’ve known I was submissive for quite a while, I’ve had a hard time reconciling that with my strong personality. Your comments, though, have inspired me to go looking for a dom willing to work as hard for me as I’ll work for them. I’m pretty sure you’ve changed my life for the better and I sincerely appreciate it. Thank you.
Have I mentioned to you lately that visiting Male Submission Art makes me happy every time?
‘Here,’ it says to me, ‘look, how beautiful. Porn that lights your fire! Thoughts that are close to your heart! Every post a message in a bottle from other humans who are sexually wired like you and your beloved, who cherish what you cherish.’