Homoerotic Archaeology: Torso (May 1988), Part One

Friday, May 23, 2025

Torso (May 1988), Part One

After replying to an advertisement for male models in Frontiers in 1984, Jim Bentley began a long career in the adult film industry, starring in dozens of films over the span of nearly three decades, including Falcon’s Splash trilogy, and publishing an autobiography – Last Time I Drew a Crowd – in 2005. In this 1988 interview for Torso, he discusses the two-year hiatus his former boyfriend made him take due to fears of AIDS. As Bentley explains: “He brought a lot of things to my attention, including the AIDS crisis and the things I was doing.” Following their breakup, Bentley returned to the industry; however, safe sex became a primary focus for him. Also featured in the first half of this issue (which has been broken into two parts) is a review of the adult film Thick ‘N Creamy, the winner of the 1987 Torso Coverman Search Contest, and a photospread titled “Executive Privilege.”

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What is Homoerotic Archaeology?

In 2016, I discovered several discarded boxes at an estate sale. Under their flimsy flaps were hundreds of well-worn issues of homoerotic magazines from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. I purchased them out of mild intrigue and, as I perused their pages, I was startled to realize that something commonly disregarded as pornographic smut earnestly chronicled the evolution of gay culture: the social and sexual liberation of the 1970s, the crushing devastation from AIDS during the 1980s, and the gradual strengthening of the community in the 1990s. As a gay man, I was touched by the subtle narrative these publications told. As a historian, I was motivated to digitally preserve their content. And, as an educator, I was driven to create a platform to share that information freely with others interested in the progression of gay society. Homoerotic Archaeology is that venue. Here you will find the advertisements, articles, short stories, and (of course) pictures found in these magazines lovingly preserved and presented for future generations of gay men to enjoy and study.

Why Preserve Homoerotica?

As early as the 1970s, scholars such as June Rook have stressed the need to preserve homosexual history in an effort to combat repression and establish a cultural background for future generations. Much of the preservation process admirably focuses on the substantial works of homosexual artists and thinkers; however, it sadly ignores other elements quintessential to the community’s history, particularly homoerotica. Although frequently labeled obscene filth, homoerotica has, just like the significant creations of artists and thinkers, been a prevalent part of the group’s culture and has played an integral role in shaping identities and perceptions (consider how influential Tom of Finland’s hypermasculinity has been in molding the body ideals of modern gay men). Due to this factor, the conservation of homoerotica is just as essential as the preservation of major artistic and theoretical homosexual works.