Bate Life

We're looking for writers who can contribute articles about masturbation, the arts, activism, grooming, fashion, poetry or any other damn thing you can think of that might be of interest to our readers.

Here is an opportunity to identify and feel great about the positive aspects of your masculinity in the accepting and nurturing presence of other like-hearted men, without competition, comparison or shame. There’s just something absolutely unique about being affirmed of your masculinity BY OTHER MEN, but in our culture these rituals have been upstaged by competition, performance, humiliation, fear of failure, bullying, hazing, and violence, to name a few. It doesn’t sound all that affirming or fun, does it?

But my second inspiration was BateWorld.com. Here, I met other men for whom this experience was just as revelatory. My book is dedicated in part to all the men who shared their sexual journeys with me. I realized that for so many of us, our sexuality is not peripheral to our experience of being human, but for many, it’s central. And I wanted to honor that — in myself and in the community that has sprung from BateWorld. I think if I had read my own book when I was 20 and starting my sexual life, I might have saved myself some trouble.

When you’re feeling “less than,” one of the most immediate ways to counter those messages is to do what really, deeply nurtures you. List out the things that make your heart absolutely blossom – and when Valentine’s Day comes around, do one or more of these exquisite things. And don’t forget self-pleasuring. After all, masturbation is one of the most intimate and loving acts that you can do with the one you know the best.

Over the years there've been a number of films that take themselves a little too seriously. The overall success of these films can be the difference between self-awareness and self-indulgence, and often it's hard to tell the difference. A Message Film can unintentionally become a Camp Masterpiece or, worse, Great Big Bomb, by default of its own over-baked seriousness. Sometimes, a movie just can't get out of its own way, and that's why we love them so.