After tonight’s Black & Blue Ball at the House of Blues, International Mr. Leather weekend, or IML, will be over until next year. If you haven’t heard yet, Tyler McCormick, a disabled trans man from was named Mr. International Leather. Congratulations to him, especially since it had to take incredible bravery to get there!
This was my second year going, and as usual it was fun. Like most IML newbies, there’s always an adjustment period. It can be an intimidating environment, but always fun by the end.
I was talking with a couple Facebook friends about it and it occurred to me that there is a generation gap that exists between younger generations and older generations. My friend, who has felt that he always got the “who’s this boy” kind of attitude. While it is a generalization, there is a little truth in the statement. Guys from younger generations are in the minority at these types of event.
Why is this? One could argue that the generation that started the leather community is the one who is drawn to it based on what the “ideal” used to be in the gay community. Masculinity is always attractive, but to what degree has “ideal masculinity” that changed?
I do find myself somewhat in the minority at an event like this and would love to see more gay men expand their horizons.
What are your thoughts? How can this be fixed? Or is this even a problem that needs fixed?
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4 Comments
Comments
There’s also a huge debate between the old guard that is pure leather-centric and the younger new guard that is more open to other fetishes. If you’re young and full-on leather, you could be the belle of the ball.
We talked about it last year with Mark Austin who taught a class on Leather history. You can listen to it her.
Exactly! At the core it goes right back to the conversations that occured during/after the Live podcast on Intergenerational Relationships. Older generations don’t think the younger generations understand or take it seriously, whereas the younger generations feel they do. Who’s right? Who’s wrong?
Young people are always right when it comes to things like this. Old people just get set in their ways and complain a lot.
Having been involved with the Leather community for about 10 years now, i have learned it isn’t a matter of who is right and who is wrong. Old can learn from young and young can learn from old. It’s just a matter of bringing an open mind to the discussion.
Ryan, when I was in my 20s I felt that many scenes ignored the creative talents of people in my age group. Nowadays, I feel that media, bloggers and musicians ignore people in their 40s and are way too focused on youth.
But that’s how trends go, some scenes are for older people, some for all and other scenes are for the younglings. Why don’t more young people go to IML? It could be that IML doesn’t advertise to young people. Most young people read blogs, websites, don’t really look at print. Many young folks just don’t even know what IML is, or that it exists.
From what I’ve seen, sex for young gay guys is more about pleausre and recreation and not about pushing boundaries or forming an identity. They should see it as a political statement, but many don’t.
I think its vital for organizations like IML to bridge the age gap, by reaching out to young people with online media. I hope to hear more from them next year!
Well they know where to reach me if they need a youth promotion consultant.
Oh and lets face it, IML is a sensory overload, no matter who you are. That’s what expos are supposed to be. A big giant room full of wonderful stuff: cars, computers, comic books, or in this case, leather and fetish.
I was a deer in headlights last year for the first 3 hours.
“I think its vital for organizations like IML to bridge the age gap, by reaching out to young people with online media.”
Well, hey, they have a Twitter feed now! (I should know, I’m the guy who’s running it for them!)
That’s great DNashty! What’s the link?
Follow IMLchicago on Twitter. Also viewable on the IML homepage, IMRL.com
Thanks DNashty! Here is a link people can click on:
http://twitter.com/IMLchicago
Awesome!
My experience at IML, last year, was what amounted to a place old circuit queens pump up their steroids and hang out in clicky groups. This is not something the youngens can associate with.
What I do know is that the younger set likes things new and holding this event in Chicago is becoming the problem, more than anything else. I think it a wise idea for the coordinators to host the event in other cities and create a bidding war to sponsor the event. Consider it a “Superbowl” of leather and fetish. Until this happens, other events like Mid Atlantic Leather and such, will continue to erode at the attendance.