IS THE GAY GLASS HALF NAKED OR HALF DRESSED?

So I was thinking about naked men this week — as part of my job, you pervs. Get your minds out of the gutter!

Actually, it wasn't just naked men I was pondering, but gay/bi male sexuality and how it's treated in the traditional media. Have things gotten better? Worse? In what ways? Is the gay glass of male sexuality half full or half empty?

What got me thinking about the topic? Well, like most things these days, it can be traced back to Glee which actually seems pretty emblematic of the whole topic. And more specifically it was the new issue of GQ featuring Cory Monteith, Dianna Agron and Lea Michele from Glee, that got me pondering the subject.

When I first saw the GQ cover I thought to myself, "Wow, what a double standard. You'd never see that sort of thing with the guys from Glee."

Given the high school theme, it seems pretty clear these images are meant to evoke Glee's underage female characters and are clearly designed to titillate GQ's mostly male readers. And, I harrumphed to myself, we'd certainly never see a gay version of this. Just look at that picture Chris Colfer did for Rolling Stone.

Then I went back and actually looked at Chris' Rolling Stone picture again.

While the pic is certainly open to interpretation, there is no denying this group of older gay men (Bears! Yay!) are eying the virginal Colfer (or Kurt Hummel depending on your POV) and that it's perfectly reasonable to see an erotic element at play. So in retrospect, my initial reaction that there was a total double-standard at work didn't quite hold up. Clearly things are changing.

So is this diminishing double-standard of overt sexuality a good thing or a bad thing? I'll leave the discussion of the continuing sexualization of popular culture for another time (or you can see what the ladies of AfterEllen had to say about the GQ spread), but in terms of gay/bi male visibility and the normalization of our community, it's hard not to see this as hugely progressive.

It not only acknowledges that gay male sexuality exists, but by including it in a hugely popular magazine like Rolling Stone, it's shown as being a perfectly appropriate topic. And that helps Americans get more comfortable with gay male sexuality and past the idea that gay sex is "icky" and "other." In fact, I'd argue that popular culture is so influential in helping us achieve equality that this inclusion of gay sexuality is truly a marker of how far we've come.

Which isn't to say that we don't have a long way to go for full equality. While the Colfer pic is progress, we're still a long way from how heterosexuality is portrayed. After all, can you imagine any of the Glee guys posing for these pics Michele did for GQ?

Yeah, me either. And I know GQ is ostensibly aimed at straight men, but given the erotic nature of the rest of the pics, I find it highly amusing that GQ kept Monteith dressed from head to toe in an utterly safe manner. True Blood on the cover of Rolling Stone this ain't. (Then again, that cover was really remarkable for featuring two naked men in the same pic.)

Glee itself is a pretty good example of how things have shifted in our favor having given us almost as much male eye candy as it has hot cheerleaders. In fact, it's probably given us more as I can't recall seeing any scenes of the girls' lockerroom. Meanwhile, Glee practically lives in the guy's lockerroom, including the showers.

Then when you throw in shows like Spartacus and Blue Mountain State, which not only serve up huge portions of male beefcake (and great gay characters in the case of Spartacus), but are shows presumably aimed at a heterosexual male audience, you really can see how much things have changed.

But Glee also embodies society's tentative approach to gay male sexuality. While we are getting plenty of beefcake from the show, it's interesting to note that while last week's episode gave us two hot cheerleaders macking on each other, we have yet to see a same-sex male kiss on the show despite Kurt being an openly gay character. When he gets a boyfriend, will we see them making out the same way? This is Fox after all. That will be telling either way.

Next page! Is this really just an excuse to ogle nearly naked men? Would that really be so bad...

Another example of the shifting boundaries when it comes to this topic can be seen in all the problems I Love You Phillip Morris had finding a U.S. distributor, reportedly because it features graphic gay sex. Nonetheless, the movie did finally find a distributor and any questions we had about whether or not U.S. audiences would get to see the more graphic version of the movie have apparently been answered by the movie's Red Band trailer which just came out this week. (Warning: Definitely not safe for work.)

Want another example of how schizophrenic/changeable the topic can be? I happened to peruse some pictures from ESPN's "2010 Body Issue" (it's called research, people!) and I noticed that not only were the pictures still lightyears behind European counterparts in terms of sensuality and eroticism — not to mention homoeroticism — but it seemed to me they'd actually gone the opposite direction from the year before when ESPN first debuted the "Body Issue."

Let's compare some of the pics, shall we? (BTW, I totally acknowledge that just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so too is eroticism, but this is my column so neener neener neener.)

Here are Oguchi Onyewu and Zdeno Charo from the 2009 issue.

And here are Evan Lysacek and Camilo Villegas from this year.

Which do you find sexier? And I don't just mean whether you find someone in particular hot. Personally, seeing Villegas twisted up like a pretzel isn't exactly erotic while those black clouds behind Lysacek make me think of Nazi Germany for some reason. Meanwhile, both Onyewu and Charo are in poses much more suggestive and erotic. In their case, it feels like the viewer is being invited to ogle and eroticize them. This year's pics? Not so much.

Ditto these two covers from this year that seemed staged to emphasize that these guys are tough athletes as opposed to anything more sexual.

Meanwhile several of the women in this year's edition definitely give off a more "come hither" vibe. As for any group photos, this year we have this one for the straight male readers.

But no group shots of male athletes such as these two from last year.

So what does it all mean? That's impossible to say. It's hardly a trend to compare two years worth of pictures, but part of me can't help but wonder if the magazine didn't consciously retreat from both the implied homoeroticism of the group shots with the male athletes as well as the sexualization of the solo shots.

Given that ESPN is for a predominantly straight male audience, I wouldn't exactly be shocked if they did get nervous and decided to pull back this year. Which is too bad as I think the magazine is actually behind the times here. Not only are more men in touch with their erotic side, but many are less freaked out by the idea of homoeroticism in general. Or at least the younger ones that ESPN is probably trying to reach with the "Body Issue."

But I guess this means that for the 2011 edition we shouldn't expect to see this anytime soon.

Next page! What if Spartacus sounded like Oprah?

I AM SPART-A-A-A-A-CUS!

For some reason, every time the subject comes up around our house, I can't resist the urge to yell out "I am Sparta-a-a-a-cus!" Apparently the Flying Monkey (aka my partner Brent) thinks I sound just like Oprah when I do this which amuses him no end. And wouldn't it actually be kind of hilarious to see Oprah dressed as a gladiator yelling out her name as she charged Theokles?

I was thinking about Spartacus this week thanks to several readers who tipped me to a couple of items. First up, we have this animated backstory of how Barca come to be known as the Beast of Carthage. And I was happy to see it included his first lover Ciprian although, well, like all things Spartacus... I'll just let you watch.

Be warned, this is probably not safe for work!

In less positive Spartacus news, AE reader North_star who lives in Australia, recently informed me that the Barca/Pietros storyline had been edited out for broadcast in that country, or at least the fact that they were a couple was removed including their kiss.

I wasn't able to see the edited episodes myself, but North_star says while much of the nudity (especially the male nudity in the ludus) was removed, the heterosexual romances remained. And every time Barca left the ludus, Pietros would say how worried he was, but that without the kiss (or the sex), it's pretty hard to know they were a couple.

Spartacus airs on the GO! network in Australia and North_star says the network has aired plenty of racy material including a show called Underbelly that has featured plenty of sex and female nudity. So I guess this makes GO!, oh, what's the Australian word? Oh, yeah, wankers.

Hopping around to the other side of the globe, we have this Pepsi commercial from India sent in from AE reader Vikram. Let's take a look.

Now on one hand, the commercial feels awfully retro with the whole "OMG, he's gay!" twist the woman uses to get out of her arranged marriage. But as Vikram notes, India is still a ways behind Western Europe and North America and the fact that the young men are happy to pretend to be gay is a nice sign. But perhaps this would still be too much for Australia's GO! network.

This next item is a short film by Eric Gernand called Non-Love-Song and is about two high school friends getting ready to head off for college and it nicely captures what many gay boys go through when dealing with their straight best friends. While there is nothing sexual in the movie, there are a couple of "F" bombs of both kinds so watch at your discretion.

Next page! And you thought Padma was frosty!

MOVE OVER, PADMA! THERE IS A NEW ICE QUEEN IN TOWN!

If you think Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi is a frosty be-yotch, let me just say I think she might have to share that crown with The Fashion Show'snew judge Iman. Yes, Bravo has retooled the trainwreck that was the show's first season and replaced the dud that was Kelly Rowland with David Bowie's wife. Isaac Mizrahi returns which is a good thing as he wasn't the problem with the first season.

In addition to adding Iman, who describes herself as "prickly" (an understatement!), The Fashion Show divides the contestants into two houses that will compete against each other all season. That's right! It's Project Runway crossed with Survivor!

I've seen the first episode and while changing the format so it isn't exactly the same as Project Runway is a smart move, I can't say the new format is that much more compelling. And the show again suffers from having some real dicks competing. Last season it was Merlin and this time around it's Calvin. I know conflict is drama and all that, but I really don't like watching gay guys act like total a-holes. That's what The A-List is for.

As for Iman, I'm not kidding when I say she makes Padma look as warm and cuddly as Mrs. Claus in comparison. Every time she exhales, you can see her frozen breath hover in front of her face. So if you like watching a woman who makes your gonads retract all the way up to your ribcage, this show is for you.

The Fashion Show debuts on Bravo on November 9th.

MOVE OVER JUSTIN AND MARSHALL. THERE IS A NEW GAY TEEN IN TOWN!

I've caught a few episodes of HBO's In Treatment before, specifically those featuring Blair Underwood as a possibly gay air force pilot. But when the show returns next week it's going to feature an out gay teen named Jesse played by Dane DeHaan who is quite fearless in the role. And when I say Jesse is out, I mean really out. Jesse is not only promiscuous, but he's not afraid to be blunt about it. In fact, there is very little he isn't afraid of being blunt about.

So why is Jesse in therapy? Is it some sort of ex-gay thing? Fear not. While his mom is apparently a pretty religious woman, Jesse's problems seem to stem as much from his issues about being adopted as they do his parent's issues with his being gay.

Dane DeHaan as Jesse

(Paul Schiraldi/HBO)

While I can't say I love In Treatment (it's a little too talky and static for my taste as almost all of it takes place in Dr. Weston's [Gabriel Byrnes] office) I recognize it is well done and different, and I really have to give them credit for going there in the three Jesse episodes I've seen. This is an unvarnished look at a gay teen with issues and it truly breaks new ground in realistically depicting what a troubled gay kid might be like.

And HBO is offering "Meet Jesse" video to check him out ahead of time.

Jesse's episodes of In Treatment air on Tuesdays at 9 PM on HBO starting this week.

And before we leave the world of TV, here were the two funniest lines on television this week. The first comes from Brothers & Sisters and is courtesy of Kevin responding to Kitty who doing yard work that involved "pounding a pole."

And then we have poor deluded Reichen Lehmkuhl who is providing much unintended hilarity over on the A-List.

Next page! Waging war over ... Star Trek?

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

One of the weirdest things about writing the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! is that I usually have no idea what topic will set folks talking in the comments. Just when I'm certain that my brilliant commentary about the gay glass of male beefcake being half full will get a ton of comments, something comes along and totally hijacks the conversation.

Case in point, last week I made throwaway joke about Enterprise sucking like a Delta quadrant black hole (and Scott Bakula putting the "dud" in Milk Dud) and that's all anyone could talk about.

In fact AE reader Trekboy got so worked up he put a dead tribble in my bed! True story!

He also put together this caption pic to try and rebut my brilliant Star Trek commentary.

Just for the record, I thought the idea of Enterprise was great when I first heard. It was just that the execution blew. And that it starred Bakula. And I'm not the only who thinks so. Let's call in some other experts, shall we?

As long as we're discussing sci fi (one of my favorite topics) I know I'm supposed to be outraged that the new Alien prequel might have some sort of weird "gay slave sex" thing going on that does sound like it could be offensive but A) the script is still in development and B) could actually turn out to be interesting and well done and C) there are plenty of actual things to get upset about without worrying about what might be.

BTW, I bet you'll never guess who wore purple this week for Spirit Day honoring the gay teens we lost. Some of the Bleacher Creatures we all got so pissed at for their homophobic chants at Yankee games. It's not as if all of the Creature Yankee fans were doing that awful version of "Y.MC.A." in the first place, but after the Yankees chewed them out, some of the Creatures decided to show where their sympathies lay by actually dressing for the day. Yay, for human decency!

If you've made it this far in the column, you've probably noticed there is no Asshat this week. I know I've gone back and forth on this, but each week fewer and fewer people are voting in the Asshat poll, so I've decided to retire it for good this time. This is the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! column and that was a bit of a downer.

This week we learned that Ramin Setoodeh has left People magazine to return to Newsweek, apparently without having written a single article. I already posted this on the main page, but since Setoodeh really bugs me, I thought it worth sharing again.

This week in the forums we had some nice activity. The M/M Gay romance" thread has been around for a while, but is showing signs of life. Meanwhile, our Canadian readers are banding together to overthrow us bond over being gay in Canada while Moonriver wonders what music would be good for mix-CD of music honoring the gay teens we've lost and Ribcage wants suggestions for good pro-GLBT rights film to show at a Christian school.

And poor Rich is feeling awfully lonely waiting for fans of All That Matters to start discussing Roman and Denisz! And Ta-Dah! It's Me! is edging ever closer to the 300 comment mark. Woo hoo!

And don't forget, Thursday night was the finale of Project Runway, so be sure to check F'losix' recap (and if you missed our interviews with Michael Costello and Mondo Guerra, for shame!) as well as Alessar's recap of The Vampire Diaries.

Phew! That's it for this week! Now I'll shut up so you can have the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER!