Physique Pictorial

Physique Pictorial is an American magazine, one of the leading beefcake magazines of the mid-20th century.[1][2] During its run from 1951 to 1990 as a quarterly publication, it exemplified the use of bodybuilding culture and classical art figure posing as a cover for homoerotic male images and to evade charges of obscenity. The pages of Physique Pictorial primarily featured the photography of Bob Mizer, who also served the magazine’s publisher and editor, consisting of black and white photos of athletic young men, either nude or nearly so.[3] The magazine also served as a venue for homoerotic artists including Touko Laaksonen (as Tom of Finland), George Quaintance, and Dom Orejudos (as "Etienne"),[4][5] and was a predecessor to later overtly homosexual publications.[6][7]

Physique Pictorial
Physique Pictorial, volume 5 number 2, Summer 1955
EditorBob Mizer
CategoriesBeefcake, erotica
FrequencyQuarterly
FormatDigest
PublisherAthletic Model Guild
First issue1951
Final issue1990
Based inLos Angeles
LanguageEnglish
OCLC643902464

Physique Pictorial was published in Los Angeles by Mizer's Athletic Model Guild, an ersatz modeling agency that provided cover for the publishing of the magazine, and the sale of photographs and film strips which could be purchased through the magazine.[8]

In 2017, the magazine was relaunched by the Bob Mizer Foundation featuring a mix of legacy Mizer photographs and contemporary photographers' work.[9]

Issues of Physique Pictorial are shown among other physique magazines as examples of publications intended to entice children into homosexuality, in Perversion for Profit, a 1965 anti-pornography public service announcement.[10]

The 1998 docudrama film Beefcake tells the story of Bob Mizer, Physique Pictorial, and models featured in the magazine.

Mizer did not include copyright notices in issues published between 1951 and the late 1970s, likely because the contents would have been deemed obscene by the U.S. Copyright Office.[11] Because of this, issues published before 1978 that lacked copyright notices as required by U.S. copyright law at the time, immediately entered the public domain when published.[12]

References
  1. "A Look Back at the Glorious Beefcake Magazine That Inspired David Hockney". W Magazine | Women's Fashion & Celebrity News. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  2. "A (Long) History of Physique Magazines". QNotes. 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  3. Encyclopedia of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history in America. Stein, Marc. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons/Thomson/Gale. 2004. pp. 272–273. ISBN 0-684-31261-1. OCLC 52819577.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Leofstreom, Jan (2014-02-04). Scandinavian Homosexualities: Essays on Gay and Lesbian Studies. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-95757-7.
  5. Prono, Luca (2008). Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Popular Culture. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-33599-0.
  6. "Physique mags helped usher in the gay market". The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  7. "How Bob Mizer's 'Physique Pictorial' Pioneered Modern Gay Erotica". www.out.com. 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  8. Johnson, David K. (2019). Buying gay : how physique entrepreneurs sparked a movement. New York. ISBN 978-0-231-18910-1. OCLC 1035441993.
  9. "Bob Mizer's Physique Pictorial has returned". Bob Mizer Foundation. 2017-05-12. Archived from the original on 2019-08-08. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  10. "Category:Perversion for Profit - Wikimedia Commons". commons.wikimedia.org. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  11. The complete reprint of Physique pictorial. Taschen. 1997. ISBN 3822881864.
  12. "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States". Copyright Information Center.
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