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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 […]
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ryan Justice. I know, I know, awesome last name, right? Some say I was a superhero in a past life…I say they’re right.
I was born in a small town just outside of Lima, OH (Glee anyone?). In 2003, I moved down to the Bluegrass where I attended Berea College.
After graduating with my BA in Psychology, I moved to Chicago to finally try my hand at a big city.
FOF #1982 – Butch Up that Walk – 05.07.14
VIDEO: Sexual Fetish and Leather – Mistress Melissa
Sex, Fetishes, and Social Networking. OH MY!
International Mr. Leather Boys & Toys Montage, 2009
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.