The new 'Porn Wars': representing gay male sexuality in the Middle East

This article argues that Michael Lucas' Men of Israel was made in response to the rising popularity of Arab themes, performers and locations in recent gay male pornography, particularly American studio-based productions. The article explores how recent representations of Arab society, culture and men in gay male pornography employ varying degrees of performativity and authenticity in an attempt to break down differences, and bridge connections, between East and West, while Lucas and his film attempt to maintain that rigid imaginary border. I argue that the texts are a microcosm of the contentious and ongoing debates about homosexuality in the East and West and crystallise how gay identities are used as currency to push various cultural political agendas generally and through pornography subculturally.