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greatbearI'm back from my usual excursion to Carlisle, PA at this time of year to get my fix of everything automotive. Didnt spend too much money this time (about 200 bux), but I got some common as well as specialized tools to keep the garage up-to-date and replace tools that get worn out or busted from me getting carried away with them at times. The weather was more or less teh suck, but that still didnt keep a few rather well built (and conveniently dumb in some cases) men from showing off their bodies to the rest of us. This brings me to the one non-automotive reason I go. It's a great place to observe a certain segment of humanity.
It never ceases to amaze me. Here is a place where thousands of men and comparitively very, very few women gather amidst a 40 acre sea of every imagineable car, truck, part, tool, memorabilia and accessory under the sun. It's also (thankfully) devoid of the bikini-clad ditzmodels hanging around and draped over some late-model Japanese sport compact riced up more than all the paddies in southeast Asia combined and thumping enough bass to cause concern for the USGS. And, except for one weekend devoted to them later in the year, none of the aforementioned blinged-out compacts.
No, it's a gathering of males, leaning towards the mid-late 30s in average age, mostly interested in Detriot iron, musclecars, classics, late models. There is a definite redneck influence, given the content and geography, of course. No shortage of NASCAR stuff, whether it be diecast models of the cars to pace car replicas (and sometimes the real thing). Mullets are not hard to spot. Bears, well, there are literally tons. And more than a couple slack-jawed yokels. I interact with anyone, talking about cars, or what have you. But it is just watching how all these men interact that makes for interesting observations.
There is subtle posturing. Those believing they are alpha males go about performing rather predictable rituals. Of course, those with more than some muscle will show them off even when the weather is not generally conducive to tight t-shirts, tank tops or downright shirtlessness. Other guys will often watch the bigger or bulkier or hairier ones, as if measuring themselves. There is not much direct eye contact, unlike that you would see at a cruisey gay hangout. No, these guys are presumably straight, but given the absolute drenching of testosterone of the area, these men behave subtley, yet very ritualistic. The one thing mostly missing from all this are the females, the 'usual' triggers of male ritualistic behavior.
I have no doubt that something rather ugly would occur if in the midst of all this masculine chess playing two guys were to be spotted holding hands or kissing. Not outright violence, mind you, but catcalls, slurs and derision will bubble up from the nearly assured staring and pointing. No, this is a place where even if there is faggotry in the midst, the guys will abide by some unwritten code of conduct. My otherwise somewhat reliable gaydar gets interfered with by the cloaking, jamming, chaff and what I call 'wishful thinking'. But, some of the signs are still there. These may mostly be guys who for all intents and purposes are straight as proverbial arrows, but if enough alcohol and dark, secluded corners (neither of these are found here) were to somehow be introduced into this mess, I am sure a bit more than simply 'brotherly love' would begin to break out. Also, for as (relatively) good that my gaydar is, I get tripped up by most guys attempting to 'cruise' me. Unless it's right in my face, so to speak, I miss out on some of it that is more than obvious to friends around me. "You just got blaatantly cruised and you didnt even notice?" I would be asked, and I would invariably have to answer 'yes'. Still, my 'cruise detector' does go off a few times whenever I am in such places. Ultimately, I go to these events to gawk at the cars/parts/tools and buy stuff and peek at the men only as a little bonus. Icing on the cake, as it were.
Like I said, it's a lot of fun for me to watch these goings-on. Men are fascinating animals, and just in other realms of the animal kingdom, pecking orders, primping, posturing and sometimes fighting are always occuring. For example, even though it was a cold, wet, mid-50s morning, that did not stop at least two separate guys I saw from 'parading'. Both of these guys were huge, at least 6'/6'4 and 240/270# respectively by my estimation. One wearing a tank top, the taller a very tight t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up and both displaying a set of massive guns at least 20 inches. The shorter had a goatee, taller one just unshaven for a couple days. In addition to me, these dudes drew stares from a great deal of guys, and in a couple instances, I heard things like "sheesh" and "damn" from those passing by. Said muscleheads were milling around, one looking at a restored '69 Bronco and the other more or less just shopping. Neither of these guys (sadly) where anywhere close to each other, or it would have been interesting to see their reactions at seeing one another. My question is what are these guys up to, and to what ultimate end? This is not the first time this has ever happened, in fact, unless it's a rain-out, it always goes on, getting worse (better) as the temperatures go up. Either I have stumbled into the most amazing meat market coupled with automotive nirvana I could ever wish for, or it's just guys being guys and said nirvana is just the reason for it.
I'd love to see what a psychologist and/or male sex researcher would say about this environment. The automotive stuff, well, I live and breathe this stuff, so there is no questioning why I am primarily there. And, granted, in warm weather I go around in a tank top or even shirtless as well, but not to impress or intimidate (or, sadly, humor) anyone (at least conciously), but just to get my dosage of sun and feel comfortable. I often wonder if there is some sort of collective, subconscious interplay that goes on with people who know they will be immersed in a virtual sea of mostly anonymous humanity for a day or two and they prepare themselves accordingly. The muscleheads I talk of today were the visual upper end of this pecking order, there were countless 'lesser castes' of guys doing the same things at different levels, though ultimately, many were there because of the car stuff, and wrapped themselves in that and that only.
This whole Carlisle exercise has happened for me at least twice a year since the late 70s, though only since the mid-80s as I have gotten more world-wise (so to speak) have I discovered and tried to make sense of the 'testosterone subculture'. This is the first time I have written about it or really discussed it with anyone, and I am curious what others' takes on it would be.
It never ceases to amaze me. Here is a place where thousands of men and comparitively very, very few women gather amidst a 40 acre sea of every imagineable car, truck, part, tool, memorabilia and accessory under the sun. It's also (thankfully) devoid of the bikini-clad ditzmodels hanging around and draped over some late-model Japanese sport compact riced up more than all the paddies in southeast Asia combined and thumping enough bass to cause concern for the USGS. And, except for one weekend devoted to them later in the year, none of the aforementioned blinged-out compacts.
No, it's a gathering of males, leaning towards the mid-late 30s in average age, mostly interested in Detriot iron, musclecars, classics, late models. There is a definite redneck influence, given the content and geography, of course. No shortage of NASCAR stuff, whether it be diecast models of the cars to pace car replicas (and sometimes the real thing). Mullets are not hard to spot. Bears, well, there are literally tons. And more than a couple slack-jawed yokels. I interact with anyone, talking about cars, or what have you. But it is just watching how all these men interact that makes for interesting observations.
There is subtle posturing. Those believing they are alpha males go about performing rather predictable rituals. Of course, those with more than some muscle will show them off even when the weather is not generally conducive to tight t-shirts, tank tops or downright shirtlessness. Other guys will often watch the bigger or bulkier or hairier ones, as if measuring themselves. There is not much direct eye contact, unlike that you would see at a cruisey gay hangout. No, these guys are presumably straight, but given the absolute drenching of testosterone of the area, these men behave subtley, yet very ritualistic. The one thing mostly missing from all this are the females, the 'usual' triggers of male ritualistic behavior.
I have no doubt that something rather ugly would occur if in the midst of all this masculine chess playing two guys were to be spotted holding hands or kissing. Not outright violence, mind you, but catcalls, slurs and derision will bubble up from the nearly assured staring and pointing. No, this is a place where even if there is faggotry in the midst, the guys will abide by some unwritten code of conduct. My otherwise somewhat reliable gaydar gets interfered with by the cloaking, jamming, chaff and what I call 'wishful thinking'. But, some of the signs are still there. These may mostly be guys who for all intents and purposes are straight as proverbial arrows, but if enough alcohol and dark, secluded corners (neither of these are found here) were to somehow be introduced into this mess, I am sure a bit more than simply 'brotherly love' would begin to break out. Also, for as (relatively) good that my gaydar is, I get tripped up by most guys attempting to 'cruise' me. Unless it's right in my face, so to speak, I miss out on some of it that is more than obvious to friends around me. "You just got blaatantly cruised and you didnt even notice?" I would be asked, and I would invariably have to answer 'yes'. Still, my 'cruise detector' does go off a few times whenever I am in such places. Ultimately, I go to these events to gawk at the cars/parts/tools and buy stuff and peek at the men only as a little bonus. Icing on the cake, as it were.
Like I said, it's a lot of fun for me to watch these goings-on. Men are fascinating animals, and just in other realms of the animal kingdom, pecking orders, primping, posturing and sometimes fighting are always occuring. For example, even though it was a cold, wet, mid-50s morning, that did not stop at least two separate guys I saw from 'parading'. Both of these guys were huge, at least 6'/6'4 and 240/270# respectively by my estimation. One wearing a tank top, the taller a very tight t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up and both displaying a set of massive guns at least 20 inches. The shorter had a goatee, taller one just unshaven for a couple days. In addition to me, these dudes drew stares from a great deal of guys, and in a couple instances, I heard things like "sheesh" and "damn" from those passing by. Said muscleheads were milling around, one looking at a restored '69 Bronco and the other more or less just shopping. Neither of these guys (sadly) where anywhere close to each other, or it would have been interesting to see their reactions at seeing one another. My question is what are these guys up to, and to what ultimate end? This is not the first time this has ever happened, in fact, unless it's a rain-out, it always goes on, getting worse (better) as the temperatures go up. Either I have stumbled into the most amazing meat market coupled with automotive nirvana I could ever wish for, or it's just guys being guys and said nirvana is just the reason for it.
I'd love to see what a psychologist and/or male sex researcher would say about this environment. The automotive stuff, well, I live and breathe this stuff, so there is no questioning why I am primarily there. And, granted, in warm weather I go around in a tank top or even shirtless as well, but not to impress or intimidate (or, sadly, humor) anyone (at least conciously), but just to get my dosage of sun and feel comfortable. I often wonder if there is some sort of collective, subconscious interplay that goes on with people who know they will be immersed in a virtual sea of mostly anonymous humanity for a day or two and they prepare themselves accordingly. The muscleheads I talk of today were the visual upper end of this pecking order, there were countless 'lesser castes' of guys doing the same things at different levels, though ultimately, many were there because of the car stuff, and wrapped themselves in that and that only.
This whole Carlisle exercise has happened for me at least twice a year since the late 70s, though only since the mid-80s as I have gotten more world-wise (so to speak) have I discovered and tried to make sense of the 'testosterone subculture'. This is the first time I have written about it or really discussed it with anyone, and I am curious what others' takes on it would be.
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 03:45 am (UTC)Like all gathering, some still nice to look at - lots of yummy untouched tushie.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 04:55 am (UTC)On a side not, I can also tell you as a former Carlisle resident that Carlislians, as we called ourselves, detest the car shows to a one, particularly the gargantuan Spring and Fall shows. The town isn't large enough to support that many people, and getting around the north side of town is well-nigh impossible from Thursday to Sunday of the show. However, none of us were EVER stupid enough to think that the town would survive long without the shows. It was a necessary evil.
Odd, Phil, to think that in the 80's you were going to the car shows, and I was working them in a khaki uniform. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 09:27 pm (UTC)It's changed somewhat, especially since people figured out they could let people park in their yards and charge them ten bux a vehicle for the priviledge. People outside of the fairgrounds radius still have to deal with traffic, gridlock and the occasional loud exhaust. But the town as a whole seems to have evolved with it since the earlier days. If ya caint beat 'em, join 'em I guess.
Yeah, I remember the Scouts helping out in that regard. Also there used to be 'professional haulers' pulling little carts with small lawn tractors who would carry out the purchases. None of those are around now, it seems you are to fend for yourself to get things to your car. People bring their own wagons, as I bring a hand truck if I anticipate a big purchase.
Our paths most likely crossed back then and neither of us knew it.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 10:09 pm (UTC)That guy you speak of sure does send a bunch of mixed signals. If I were to desire an explanation, I would hope it would be the last scenario, "he was just damn friendly and didn't give a care that he was chatting it up with two homos". The world needs far, far more of that.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 02:37 pm (UTC)I don't know about that, sounds like typical locker room behavior to me... same sort of pretending to be unaware of their bodies and the attention they get from other men. I go through the same rituals myself, only I don't have to worry about if I'm enjoying it too much.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-24 11:52 pm (UTC)If we were talking about females, there wouldn't be a question that straight women freely admit they find other women attractive. Feminine beauty is constantly on the minds of most girls I know. They may even enjoy looking at other nude women on an aesthetic level without ever considering they might be lesbian. That's because those stigmas and social norms aren't so rigid for women.
You don't see many str8 men gushing over tuxedos on the red carpet.
I think the question is: without expected behavior from society, would men become more like animals, or would they become more like women in the sense of appreciating beauty whether male or female without necessarily interpreting it as sexual?