I attended a really moving theatre piece tonight, Naked Truths, which will be traveling to New York and opening Off-Broadway at the HERE Arts Center in April. Naked Truths deals very frankly with women’s issues like body image, sexuality and eating disorders.

Seeing the play made me think about the body image issues that I’ve been going through as a gay male. Unlike the stereotype that many have of gay men, I’m not devestatingly handsome, I don’t know how to dress, and I don’t have perfect hair. But I don’t think you have to be a gay male to be affected by all the masculine stereotypes in advertising, movies, and TV.

My poor self-image made it very difficult for me to get used to having a webcam. I’m still very self-concious about sitting down in front of my computer after I wake up in the morning – I always try to comb my hair and pull on a t-shirt. I’d never feel comfortable pulling a Halcyon and sitting in front of my webcam shirtless.