(A posting drenched in the contemplation of the male body and man-man sex, but with linguistic points along the way. Use your judgment.)
It starts with a Channel 1 Releasing (C1R) ad for their current fire sale on gay porn, featuring the flick Full Service:
(#1)
A remarkable photo. There’s the big-ol’ phallic symbol, that huge gas pump nozzle (in red, indicating that it’s engorged) that Brad Phillips is about to wield on Butch Taylor, both of their muscular tanned bodies drenched in sex sweat (well, covered in glistening glycerin — the film is from 1986, in what I like to think of as the Golden Days of Gay Glycerin). This shot is technically not X-rated, since Phillips’s hard cock is concealed by Taylor’s shoulder and Taylor’s fist wrapped around his own hard cock is concealed by the hoses.
On to the film, to nozzles as phallic symbols, and to various glycerin-related topics, ending up in the world of bodybuilders and fighters, all in posing oils.
Full Service. From Catalina Video in 1986 (30 years ago!), with cast of Brad Carlton, Chris Dano, Chris Ladd, Butch Taylor, George Madera, Jake Corbin, Lou Cass, Michael Britten, Tim Lowe, and Brad Phillips. The studio’s blurb:
[Director] Josh Eliot’s second feature for Catalina stars some of the hottest porn stars of the 80’s and 90’s! When the local bank threatens to shut down Brad Phillip’s [note unusual answer to the question of how to indicate the possessive of Phillips – not Phillips’s or Phillips’, but Phillip’s] gas station, his fellow grease monkeys team up to do any and everything to save it. A great cast including Tim Lowe, Lou Cass, Jake Corbin and Chris Dano make this gem a collector’s favorite.
(In #1, Phillips is above Taylor, he’s dark-haired to Taylor’s blonde, and he’s wielding the tool, so we assume that Phillips is t to Taylor’s b, but I haven’t seen the movie, and scene descriptions suggest that Taylor tops Phillips.)
Nozzles. NOAD2 on the noun nozzle:
a cylindrical or round spout at the end of a pipe, hose, or tube, used to control a jet of gas or liquid. ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from nose + –le2 (forming nouns having or originally having a diminutive sense)
So a nozzle is a little nose (though actual nozzles are mostly bigger than actual noses), and the frequent use of nozzles as phallic symbols is another instance of the recurrent nose-penis metaphor. Some previous occurrences of the visual figure on my blogs: first, with a gas pump nozzle, as in #1, then with other nozzles, in particular fireman’s hose nozzles. (Note: both gas station guys and firemen are icons of working-class masculinity, so especially suited for phallic contexts.). Another gas pump nozzle, which appeared on AZBlogX (on 9/15/10, #3 in “Phallicity: not at all innocent”):
(#2)
This is an ad for Diesel jeans, frankly homoerotic, with its emphasis on sexiness, plus “sean not included” (the ad doesn’t do caps). Meanwhile, Sean is a shirtless hunk with the challenging glare common to male models and hustlers.
On to firehoses. One nice illustration in “Phallicity: the symbolic and the real world, joined” of 9/5/10 on AZBlogX, not repeated here because it has a couple of actual penises in it. But then on this blog on 2/14/15, #2 in “A forest of symbols in a time of love”, a vintage Valentine with a fireman squirting water from his hose, oh my.
Finally, a household sprayer, the Mighty Blaster fireman’s nozzle, in a phallic-reference posting on this blog on 4/17/15.
Glycerin. The guys in #1 are tanned, which helps to show off their bodies, and they’re glistening with simulated sweat, which is supposed to accentuate their muscles and convey that they are sweating up storms in sexual arousal. This artificial, that is, fake, sweat is in fact glycerin, sprayed on them by the staff at Cataline Video.
Wikipedia on glycerin:
Glycerol … (also called glycerine or glycerin [on AmE glycerin vs. BrE glycerine, see this posting]) is a simple polyol (sugar alcohol) compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations.
The article goes on to catalogue an amazing collection of uses for the substance:
… In food and beverages, glycerol serves as a humectant, solvent, and sweetener, and may help preserve foods.
… Glycerol is used in medical and pharmaceutical and personal care preparations, mainly as a means of improving smoothness, providing lubrication and as a humectant. It is found in allergen immunotherapies, cough syrups, elixirs and expectorants, toothpaste, mouthwashes, skin care products, shaving cream, hair care products, soaps and water-based personal lubricants [on (sexual) lubes, see below].
… Glycerol is a component of glycerin soap. Essential oils are added for fragrance. This kind of soap is used by people with sensitive, easily irritated skin because it prevents skin dryness with its moisturizing properties.
… Glycerol can be used as a laxative when introduced into the rectum in suppository or small-volume (2–10 ml) (enema) form; it irritates the anal mucosa and induces a hyperosmotic effect [This irritation is relevant to the use of glycerin in lubes; see below.]
… Glycerol was historically used as an anti-freeze for automotive applications before being replaced by ethylene glycol, which has a lower freezing point.
… Glycerol is used to produce nitroglycerin, which is an essential ingredient of various explosives such as dynamite, gelignite, and propellants like cordite.
… Glycerol is used by the film industry when filming scenes involving water in order to stop areas drying out too quickly. [And in fake sweat, which is where we came in; more below.]
From a Lubezilla site, which is directed at women:
Personal lubricants provide a smooth glide that can make your sexual activities more enjoyable. There are many different types of lubricants on the market, which fall into the following main categories: water-based, oil-based, silicone-based and hybrid (water/silicone based). The most popular personal lubricants contain glycerin — also called glycerine or glycerol — which is a water-based lubricant that is extremely versatile.
For anal intercourse, silicon-based or water-based lubes are used, to avoid degrading latex condoms, since they are petroleum-free. The water-based lubes are also usually glycerin-free, because glycerin can irritate the anal mucosa (see above).
Now on fake sweat for filming. You can mix glycerin and water in a spray bottle for homemade artificial sweat; 1 part glycerin to 2 parts water is one standard formula, but other proportions make more runny or less runny sweat. However, some people have a contact allergy to glycerin, so film-makers inquire about this before spraying glycerin on their actors.
Commercial preparations are also available. Several sources carry Mehron brand Sweat and Tears:
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The included brush allows you to dab the stuff on to make tears. Or you can put it in a spray bottle for bigger projects.
Oils. On one discussion group, a commenter suggested spraying PAM on for fake sweat. Wikipedia tells us that
PAM is a cooking spray currently owned and distributed by ConAgra Foods. Its main ingredient is canola oil.
But the stuff has a scent, and all cooking sprays have a propellant, which has no chlorofluorocarbons, but does have some combination of food-grade alcohol, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, or propane — something many people would like to avoid.
But not to worry. That shiny look can be created by specially formulated oils applied by spray bottles, by hand, or even by roller, as in this photo of a Mexican bodybuilder getting oiled up for competition:
(#4)
Bodybuilers use these posing oils to show off the muscular definition they have worked so hard to achieve (and fighters to make their muscles seem larger and fiercer). As one bodybuilding site shouts:
POSING OILS
SHOW OFF YOUR MUSCLES THE RIGHT WAY AND CONTROL THE STAGE
WITH POSING OILS!
The site has on offer Pro Tan Muscle Juice (with a tanning preparation as well as the oil) and several versions of Organic GLO Physique Posing Oil. Elsewhere you can get Synthol:
(#5)
