Did Physical Culture have Gay roots?
I was on a bodyweightforum and someone raised this question.
They went onto to say that the old Atlas course seemed to have homosexual undertones. In the thread someone claimed, though this stuff has since been removed in newer versions, that in an older version of the course it recommended activities such a naked sun bathing and encouraged getting friends to join you in this activity.
For instance in if you go to?
A site which archives information about guys like Atlas and the course materials they marketed there seem, to modern eyes, to be some undertones.
Below is a link to a piece on Atlas from an issue of Physical Culture Magazine which was published in October 1921.
http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Atlas/Handsome/handsome.htm
The section dealing with Tony Sansone, who was billed as Atlas?s number one pupil seems like actual gay porn, in places. There are some photos in gallery in his section, which I can?t see being classed as anything else.
A advert from Physical Culture Magazine in January 1924.
http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Sansone/start.htm
The picture gallery which, I think is a collection of photos from various magazines and training courses, seemss like nothing more than soft-core porn.
http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Sansone/gallery/index.htm
For anyone who knows about the history of the old exercise gurus I was wondering did physical culture have gay roots? Was there a conscious effort made to market towards the gay underground? Or was it simply a more innocent time which I’m now unfairly looking at with cynical modern eyes?