ABSTRACT
Classically, ‘the sailor’ in gay iconography2 is uniformed in masculine style: dazzlingly white trousers are revealingly tight round the thighs; his glistening chest is muscled and hairy. Maybe he’s even tattooed with a swallow, a symbol associated with gay sailors. Gay images of a desirable US sailor show him in a pert white hat, a brooding slash of hair falling down over smoky eyes. He gazes out with gravitas - and can clearly pack a punch.
