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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Annelie Geissler
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Memoirs

THE MALE GAZED

Manuel Betancourt

On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me about (Desiring) Men

Featuring deep dives into thirst traps, drag queens, Antonio Banderas, and telenovelasall in the service of helping us reframe how we talk about (desiring) men - this insightful memoir-in-essays is as much a coming of age as a coming out book.

Manuel Betancourt has long lustfully coveted masculinity - in part because he so lacked it. As a child in Bogotá, Colombia, he grew up with the social pressure to appear strong, manly, and, ultimately, straight. And yet in the films and television he avidly watched, Betancourt saw glimmers of different possibilities. From the stars of telenovelas and the princes of Disney films to pop sensation Ricky Martin and teen heartthrobs in shows like Saved by the Bell, he continually found himself asking: Do I want him or do I want to be him? THE MALE GAZED grapples with the thrall of masculinity, examining its frailty and its attendant anxieties even as it focuses on its erotic potential. Masculinity, Betancourt suggests, isn't suddenly ripe for deconstruction - or even outright destruction - amid so much talk about its inherent toxicity. Looking back over decades' worth of pop culture's attempts to codify and reframe what men can be, wear, do, and desire, this book establishes that to gaze at men is still a subversive act. Written in the spirit of Hanif Abdurraqib and Olivia Laing, THE MALE GAZED mingles personal anecdotes with cultural criticism to offer an exploration of intimacy, homoeroticism, and the danger of internalizing too many toxic ideas about masculinity as a gay man. Manuel Betancourt is a queer Colombian writer whose work has been featured in the New York Times, BuzzFeed Reader, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. He is the author of Judy Garland's Judy at Carnegie Hall and a contributing writer to the Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel series, The Cardboard Kingdom.

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Book Published 2023-05-30 by Catapult

Comments

Manuel Betancourt makes gender theory both accessible and fun... makes THE MALE GAZED feel well considered and charmingly personal as Betancourt denudes manhood of its preciousness.

Armed with an an ecyclopedic knowledge of film and TV, queer critic Betancourt goes deep on the cultural representations of masculinity that influenced his definition of male hotness. From Prince Philip in "Sleeping Beauty" to Mario Lopez's A.C. Slater in "Saved by the Bell," no hunk is left unturned.

Betancourt brings a Colombian perspective to the concept of masculinity in his native country, the larger Latin American world, and U.S. pop culture. Betancourt, with his witty, erudite, and self-revealing writing, goes back to his childhood memories and the masculinist system he knew growing up in Colombia... Readers seeking an honest portrayal of one gay man's voyage in the masculine imaginary will find a rich source of companionship.

A smart, refreshing essay collection on the subject, and deals directly and honestly with the paradoxes surrounding the topic of men...THE MALE GAZED provides a welcome perspective on a thorny, timely subject. Readers are sure to leave with a useful lens through which they can give masculinity a second look.

A warm, personal dive into masculinity as it appears to us through pop culture. When Betancourt unpacks what it's meant to him to be a man, you can't help but trust every word.

Manuel Betancourt's THE MALE GAZED is everything I want an essay collection to be: smart, funny, incisive, honest, and often very sexy, a bold and unabashed exploration of masculinity and queer desire through the lens of pop culture and obsession... I'll be re-reading and teaching and passing it along for years to come.