“In bars, guys have dumped their girlfriends to talk to me all night about wrestling,” Rook says.Ĭompared with the rest of filmmaking, the interviews were easy finding archival footage was especially arduous. That made people feel comfortable initiating conversations.
Every day for four years, Rook wore a wrestling T-shirt. “And straight audiences wanted nothing to do with anything that spoke of homoeroticism, even when kids make constant jokes about wrestling looking so ‘gay.'”īut clearly, interest was there. “Gays were afraid that this film may set back gay men who take wrestling seriously,” he says. Those same issues – boys’ shame about their bodies, and homophobia – ultimately prevent more kids from getting into wrestling.”Īs he traveled the country filming interviews, Rook felt pressure from two sides.
Rook says that USAW did not want to be associated with lightning-rod issues. It was removed on the grounds of “solicitation.” However, a similar request for a fictional film was allowed to remain. He posted a request for interviews on the Web site of USA Wrestling, the umbrella organization for high school and college grappling. He also wanted to include every form of wrestling: amateur, professional, submission and “horseplay.” He wanted to address sensitive subjects like wrestling homoeroticism, but in a way that straight and gay men could both respect. Through conversations with thousands of men – gay and straight, single and married – he realized his attraction to wrestling was far from unique. Since 1998 has been his main source of income. But in the late 1990s he realized two ambitions: He made a nature documentary for PBS, and he started wrestling.Īfter a wrestling cartoon he drew earned attention, he quit his job. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State, then worked as a technical writer for years. “I thought you had to be a short, thick-necked Italian,” he laughs.
Growing up near Buffalo, Rook did not wrestle. Now – thanks to Rook’s film, an accompanying book and his Web site – wrestling fans are coming out of the closet. As kids, they cut photos out of library wrestling books as adults, they believe they must hide their interest. Here are others: Vast numbers of men are sexually attracted to wrestling. And it’s just one of many controversial, often-ignored topics addressed by Victor Rook in his insightful new documentary, “Stronghold: In the Grip of Wrestling.” They sound beautiful and serve as a tangible experience you can’t have with online photos.įor more information go to the website, and for a great interview with Andy, go to the Bob Mizer Foundation blog.That straightforward fact is the elephant in the wrestling room. A rarity these days.Īsk him about the metallic prints. The prints are available on eBay at very reasonable prices, and if you don’t see what you want, you can call him and ask him. He has kept in touch with as many of the Denver bodybuilders as he can and notes their passing on the company's Facebook and Twitter pages. We spoke with the very friendly Andy Dimler and he recounted the early days of helping his uncle in the studio and darkroom. Although models are no longer photographed, high-quality prints and photo sets are still produced. Today, Western Photography Guild is operated by Don Whitman's family - Don's nephew Andy Dimler and his daughter Myra, assisted by Don's niece Elisa Townsend.
This created a showcase for physical culture in the Rocky Mountain region. Colorado Body Building Contest, along with Lester Workman and Phil Dewald, in the early 1950s. Don was also one of the original founders of the Mr. It was established in 1947 by photographer Don Whitman. Western Photography Guild is a physique photography studio in Denver. In fact, the founder's nephew is still printing from the original negatives. Western Photography Guild is a family business. #TBT: A Trove of Physique Memorabilia for Collectors (Photos) See more of WPG's fantastic photos on our previous gallery: Perhaps it was for the purity of the sport, perhaps it was for the assembled audience, either way, no one goes away unstimulated. God save us from that! But this is the way the Greeks did it in ancient times.
#STRAIGHT GAY MEN WRESTLING FULL#
Think of the possibilities: sudden cardiovascular congestion in the pouch area, unintended stimulation by the strap string in the fundamental area, sudden face-to-face action with a very full pouch sprouting with pubic hair from its bursting sides and top. These perfect examples by Don Whitman with the Western Photography Guild (read the story of WPG below) capture the excitement and tension of a couple of maybe straight, maybe gay, maybe even mixed (!) guys, all oiled up in the warm sunshine trying to get a good hold on each other. There was a time in the middle of the last century when photos of men wrestling in posing straps was about as stimulating an image as a gay man could find, legally.