Tom of Finland: Pioneer of queer sexual power

TOM OF FINLAND © 1973 Tom of Finland Foundation

Leather, lust and muscular love: Tom of Finland’s sexy sketches were icons of a gay generation. To this day, his artworks inspire the LGBTQ movement.

Just as the emerging Gay rights movement started gathering momentum in the United States in the 1960s, a Finnish illustrator captured the community’s newfound self-confidence in his works: Tom of Finland’s pornographic drawings of hyper-masculine bikers, cowboys and sailors did away with the age-old stereotypical depiction of the homosexual man as an effeminate dandy.

His illustrations featured extremely masculine types flaunting their hardened bodies in tight leather outfits, celebrating sex with other men.

Tom of Finland  launched an aesthetic revolution within the Gay scene: “When he started drawing, there were no real role models for Gay men,” Richard Villani, creative director of Tom of Finland Foundation, told DW. “More than anything, Tom wanted to give Queer men a positive idea of their sexuality.”

After the Stonewall riots of 1969, his sketches of muscled men hit a nerve, providing long-needed icons that embodied the idea that love between men was completely acceptable.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY MARLON JUNGJOHANN

Published: 24th August 2023

Categorised in: News