The brainchild of creative director and photographer,Eli Schmidt, Frock the World is a high-end publication devoted to providing an uncensored space for queer culture. The name’s potentially misleading, given that there’s virtually nothing  about frocks,

After Volume One (Physical Sensation), this second issue is dedicated to fantasy because, as Schmidt says, “after a long year of restrictions, isolation and general uncertainty, we all deserve a little escape into fantasy.” FROCK is a print publication which sets it apart from online-only mags and allows it to sidestep the censorship issues involved in the major social network platforms like Insta and FB. (See Queerguru’s interview with him on the occasion of volume 1’s publication.

The cover art for both is a fabulous collage of the inside features, and it feels nicely old school, whilst at the same time being cutting-edge, featuring the most contemporary porn/sex workers and artists, alongside well-established deities such as Lypsinka (this issue) and Joey Arias (Vol 1).  There’s a refreshing and sexy diversity on display here, from the charismatically kinky Sir Malice – BDSM Master and cisman of color – to transmen Leo and Ari, model and porn star respectively.

When you open with Sandy Devastation, a rapping drag anarchist, you know you’re in safe hands. She looks like a mohawked Divine on acid carrying an enormous inflatable dick. What’s not to like?

There’s a terrific feature on Major Wood, elder statesmen of leather and fetish and guru of all things kinky. His interview is fascinating as he talks about his rich and varied life, arriving in New York at the age of 19 and going cruising in the old meatpacking district, being taken care of by older leathermen. And it’s not every interviewer can get away with a question like, “What’s your relationship with your penis like?”

As you’d expect, the photographs are spectacularly succulent, whether it’s the out-and-out glamour of the Dragon Sisters, Brandi Ahzionae, or Lypsinka, to the edgy sleaze of Caged Jock and rubber gimp, Jack Hellwing. There’s a feature on dildos and sex toys with photos that seem to shine salaciously. With links to several films starring the people featured, Frock is not just a magazine but a whole universe of smut and glorious depravity. Enter if you dare. 

https://www.frocktheworld.com/

Review by Jonathan Kemp

Queerguru London Contributing Editor Jonathan Kemp writes fiction and non-fiction and teaches creative writing at Middlesex University. He is the author of two novels – London Triptych (2010), which won the 2011 Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award, and Ghosting (2015) – and the short-story collection Twentysix. (2011, all published by Myriad Editions). Non-fiction works include The Penetrated Male (2012) and Homotopia?: Gay Identity, Sameness and the Politics of Desire (2015, both Punctum Books).