Dead Cow

[octothorpe]

I was having an interesting IMversation (no, that's not a word) with notdefined, and the subject turned to leather bars. A lot has been said over the years about the golden age of leather bars and biker bars, and how today it's just not the same, blah, blah, blah. A few interesting points came out of this:

• A lot of people know what a leather bar/biker bar is "supposed to be", but they always fail to make what they've got, into their ideal. This isn't a problem with the owner, it's a problem with the patrons who think this. If you don't like it, *change* it. A bar owner only provides a venue, the rest is up to the people who go there. I've gone into straight bars and made them gay bars for the evening. Nothing is stopping anyone from making their bar into their ideal.


• We're a much more "out" and open population. We simply don't need to sneak around dark alleys looking for sex in dodgy places. Of course, some of us still want to.


• Bars-as-hookup-spots have been made totally irrelevant by the internet. Why bother going through the cruise dance, when your sex partner can be delivered to your door, not unlike "Fresh Direct"


• There is a lot of nostalgia (and I mean this in the correct sense of the term, not just "memory") out there for that "Golden Age" of dodgy leather/biker bar. This is an age that never *actually* happened the way people like to think it did. Today, people either weren't alive when it was all happening, or they're just remembering their fondest bits. Many of the memories people have, are actually second-hand stories of "how it used to be", mostly because those who were around "back in the day", are sadly, no longer with us.

Discuss!!

Comments

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

I don't want to seem to be holed up in the past, that is a mistake that many of us older gents tend to make. What I was saying, I think, is that not all of what we had was bad, it was a time that gave some of us the strength to survive because we had to 'engineer' our way around all of the legal and 'ethical' obstacles thrown in our path. When AIDS happened, we almost lost. It was a time of suffering I would not wish on my worst enemy, and for some of us who survived, the friendships we cultivated at the 'old places' is what got us through. We did not have time to grow out of it, so to speak, because it was torn from us literally overnight. The new generation does not get it and maybe I should thank all that is holy that they do not because that would mean they lived through it. But, but the same token those were the times that made today possible, gave us the strength and determination to take our place at society's table.

As far as jumping my bones, well I'm flattered, but I believe your source of information may be a bit biased. :) I'm just an old dried up 'mo. :)

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

Being holed up in the past would be bad, but so would refusing to honor it and learn from it.

We're fundamentally in agreement about the value of the community at the time you experienced it, too, hon. See: I only had the community I came out into in 1996 *because* of the efforts of men in your cohort. This is very clear to me as both of the men I've been in long-term partnerships with happen to a) be about your age and b) have been major players in creating the community I came out into.

There wouldn't have been a place for me without the efforts of people in your age bracket.

But I also agree that there are times when I'm glad that some younger folks have the luxury of being ignorant of all that.

As for my sources about you? Oh baby, please. Have you looked at your userpics lately? I have. [leer] ;-)

[notdefined.livejournal.com]

I have a nasty habit of saying in 1000 words what could be easily said in 10. But I'm glad you understand where I am coming from. As far as the pics go, the photographer is very well known to you and I swear he could make Yoda look hot. :) My goal in life is to remain active, fit and able to enjoy an extraordinarily long life. I want to be a centenarian still in possession of my wits and able to contribute to society, not just consume its offerings.