Is It Just Me....?

Well, is it?  I should probably explain before anyone can answer that question.

Every now and then, my partner and I buy Attitude.  This is a gay lifestyle (the UK's best selling magazine according to a strap at the top).  I've been reading Attitude on and off for a long time, probably about ten years now. 

In my early twenties it was an essential buy, I had it's release date marked on my calendar and eagerly rushed to WH Smith to buy it...although I always had a non-transparent bag to hand to thrust it into in case someone caught a look of it.  I was out and proud, but normally in the confines of my own home.  And if I'm honest, it did seem to represent the lifestyle I was living and seeing on a daily basis.  At the time. 

But I thought that had changed.

Where the hell was I when it didn't?!

This months Attitude is their annual sex issue.  I had bought this thinking there were going to be articles away from the usual smut, and to be fair there are. 

Paul Flynn's "Just sayin'...." was an interesting take on why sleeping with a straight man isn't the "Holy Grail of sex".  It's witty, personal and entertaining, while leaving you nodding your head.  There's a thought provoking, though biased, look at threesomes and an article on gay men becoming fathers that I've yet to properly look at.

Yet it left me with an empty feeling deep in that heart of mine.

Few of the men in the magazine seemed to have the kind of body shape and look of the men in my life.  Hell, there didn't seem to be a man with a waist size bigger than a 34.  Myself and my partner are...generously proportioned men.  Let's leave it at that.  It would be nice for once to see someone who looks like us and the people we know.  Figures vary, but apparently the average waist size of British men is 38 inches.  Where are these men?

This line of thinking led me to looking at the gay men represented on television. 

Eastenders have the obscenely muscled and toned Christian Clarke, played by John Patridge; Hollyoaks have the twink-like Ste Hay played by Kieron Richardson; and Emmerdale has the chavy looking Aaron Livesy who is portrayed by the talented Danny Miller.

I don't look like any of those men.  Really, REALLY don't.  Not anywhere near.  Couldn't be farther from it.

Now, my own body issues aside, am I unreasonable for wanting to see some more realistic looking gay men in magazines and on TV?  The gay community has a huge collage of sub cultures with the most diverse men.  From bears and cubs to twinks and daddys and chickens and chickenhawks, there's a lot more to gay men than what we see represented.

From Attitude's point of view I can understand that they need to pitch to a particular audience, and as a lot of the lifestyle spreads they print focus on clothes (with respect, there is not the same disproportionate number of spreads on clothes as there used to be), they want to show a certain kind of man.  But for once, just for once, I'd love to see an issue that is filled with average sized men.  Or at least average sized as I see it in my day-to-day life.

So I ask you, is it just me?