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Baby… #Berlin is Porn That Way; #glbt porn that is…

So Saturday I found myself looking at a gigantic picture of what was undeniably a man. With a pussy.

Yes, it was a naked Buck Angel, and as I’ve heard him described himself, while listening to the Savage Love podcast, he’s a man with a pussy. Never having seen him naked before (not my thing), it was something seeing him in all his glory as he welcomed me to the Porn That Way exhibition at the Schwules Museum*, Berlin.

The Schwules Museum* (Gay Museum*) is a Berlin institution dedicated to… uh… as they put it:

With its highly regarded exhibitions, archival holdings, numerous contributions to research and more than thirty-five (mostly volunteer) staff, the Schwules Museum* has, since its founding in 1985, grown into one of the world’s largest and most significant institutions for archiving, researching and communicating the history and culture of LGBTIQ communities. Changing exhibitions and events take diverse approaches to lesbian, gay, trans*, bisexual and queer biographies, themes and concepts in history, art and culture.

Currently the majority of its exhibition space is dedicated to Porn That Way – at least through the end of March 2015.

I popped in, with one of my colleagues to have a gander at the diversity that is GLBT porn – and I have to say that – at least among the gay porn, I recognized a lot, including (near the start) images that I had previously seen on the Antique Erotic tumblr. There were also numerous images from things that have crossed my radar – Brent Corrigan (a man whose first films featured an underage Brent Corrigan), Cazzo Films porn from Berlin (including a snap of two men fucking on one of the old railroad bridges that cross Yorckstrasse), and Jake Cruise (so. not. my. thing.).

But of course there were things that I wasn’t so familiar with: lesbian porn and trans* porn. Of course, as the exhibit points out, much of the early lesbian porn wasn’t actually made to titillate women, but was rather designed to excite heterosexual men – with lesbians accidentally enjoying some of it. (It’s my understanding from my lesbian friends that they find “lesbian porn” that’s for straight men to be somewhat unrealistic – especially with the long fingernails.)

There were also examples of comic book porn – something I’ve only seen occasionally and never quite understood (this is actually true for graphic novels/comic books in general: they don’t work for me). That said, there was one featured that I must acquire: Al-Qaeda’s Super Secret Weapon. Check out this review:

My favorite (and that of my colleague), was a series of photographs, hung in a row, of men, holding their legs up in the air, showing off their asses. As a collection, it would be awesome to have all hung in a neat row in my apartment.

The Schwules Museum* has three other exhibitions right now: Leonard Fink’s Photographs of Gay Liberation and the New York Waterfront, New in the Collection, and an homage to “13 Years of Klaus Wowereit As Mayor Of Berlin.” In this order: meh, vaguely interesting, and – at least for me – I don’t care if Klaus Wowereit is gay – he was a terrible mayor (see Berlin Brandenburg International Airport).

For a mere 7,50€, my Saturday afternoon with porn was enjoyable. It is worth the effort to find the Schwules Museum in its slightly obscure (and new, if you’re not aware that it moved) location — Lützowstraße 73, 10785 Berlin.

Although it’s surrounded by public transport, it’s not close to any single stop and the streets are a bit confusing –it is easier and clearer to walk from “Potsdamerstraße/Lützowstraße” (M48/M85) or Lützowplatz (100, 106, 187, M29), than to navigate from Nollendorfplatz and its myriad of transport options. If you’re not familiar with the neighborhood, do note that Kurfürstenstraße, west of Potsdamer Straße, is filled with working women – who try to attach themselves to single men.

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