Scott is a controversial classic, and an undeniable bator, through and through.
It’s been quite some time since we featured a masturbator on a Monday, and I thought Scott O’Hara might be just what we needed to open up some talk about bator behaviors and the gorgeous celebratory freedom that comes with exposure.
In the case of Scott O’Hara, that might perhaps be a poor choice of words on my part. Scott is legend in the gay porn universe, and a complicated figure in gay history and AIDS history particularly. An advocate for intentional seroconversion, Scott spoke and wrote openly and endlessly about his HIV status and his personal view that becoming positive was a blessing and a liberation from fear. I don’t consider it my place to shout down someone else’s experience, or to proclaim they are wrong once they’ve left the party. But I will disclaim that Scott’s views don’t echo my own, nor do I think they reflect where we are as a culture in 2020. But they were of a time and they informed his actions and sexual proclivities profoundly.
Scott passed away in 1998, at just 36 years old.
It won’t be the focus of today’s post, but it’s worth pointing out that stories like Scott’s – heavily influenced by the intersections of socially stigmatized sexual activities, lack of formal sexual health education, and the poorly understood, poorly managed HIV epidemic of the time – are likely why people still have wrong but solid ideas that pornography (and sex work, generally) is inextricably linked with disease, drug use, and downward spirals. The truth is that sex and sexuality are not inherently shameful or negative things, and being a lover of sexuality and model of sexual activity isn’t a path to certain destruction. It is the constructs meant to shame and control which create the destruction. Living free from those ideas and true to who and what we are is the only way we overcome them and can hope for better.
And Scott did that, full tilt. Dude was an unmistakably sexual being and it’s easy to see from solo photos and videos that he was the very definition of a masturbator. His body language, his focused gaze upon his erect penis, and his joyful and knowing expressions convey a depth of understanding about his physical being and physical pleasure that is enviable still today.
Scott appeared in a number of full length features for Vivid, Tiger, Faclon – just about every studio or director you can think of from the 80s and 90s. But the images we’ll look at today are from a photo shoot and video session he shot in the very early 90s for Old Reliable. They were published separately in both Male Insider and Inches magazines as typical hot naked guy spreads, with a paragraph or two of text explaining who Scott was and where to mail money to see more of him. Mag filler for the publications, and flagrant advertising for the Old Reliable mail order video business. The image reproduction in both publication left lots to be desired, and it’s a bit tough to even see why these particular photos were selected, when there are much better shots and more appealing layouts that could have made the cut.
The spread for Inches magazine was printed in their February 1991 edition featuring Randy Spears on the cover. It could just be this particular reproduction, or the way it was originally scanned, but it’s definitely the weaker of the two versions of these photos, making Scott look even younger than his 29 years.
It is easy to see though, the knowing grin and the effortless and unencumbered leg spread and boner love Scott coveys. If Bateworld had been a thing in 1991, Scott might have been their king.
This same photoshoot made its way into Male Insider around the same time, but with a small featurette about Scott, listing his dong at 10.5 inches (its size would jump from 8-11″, depending on the publication and how generous their writers were feeling that day). The image selection here is better, but the reproduction quality is still lacking and does a tremendous disservice to a dude with a batespread as enviable as Scott’s:
We are fortunate to have though – and the real reason I was excited to share about Scott – the actual photo reproductions of the full shoot, done to accompany a solo release set titled The Guy Next Door. The video featured Scott and five other Old Reliable dudes talking dirty in interviews and then jacking their dicks for the camera.
I’ve done my best to clean these images up a tiny bit so they might be loved for the artistry they convey as well as the uninhibited and inviting penis love of Scott O’Hara. I encourage you to view them full size to really get a sense of the penis pride on display here, and the almost gooned out nature of Scott’s contemplative gaze at his big dong. Since it’s a personal love of mine, I won’t let his autofellatio skills go unmentioned either.
Scott O’Hara, Penis Masturbator
Something we don’t cover here often, but about which I have been meaning to write forever, is the concept of liberation that comes with true exposure. Scott is a great model for that in these photos. You truly see all of his body – all of it! In a way that isn’t overly (ridiculously) posed, and that feels honest and free.
There is a sense of real freedom in the idea of being completely seen. That you no longer have hidden parts, or things to conceal, or unknowns by which to be embarrassed. When one is able to be completely naked and unconcerned with holding their naked body in strategic ways to get those IG angles just right, without shame or discomfort, it opens a door to real connection and shared experience. Scott’s images look inviting and exciting because he is present in them and showing and displaying his body and his pleasure without an obvious performance. He isn’t trying to make his arms look bigger or his butt look rounder or his penis appear more imposing. He is simply present and uninhibited. That’s what bate is all about; being and witnessing.
There is a video (not from Old Reliable) on PornHub of Scott masturbating, too. But it’s not from this shoot and is actually a few years deeper into his porn career. The quality is what it is for the era, but it’s still worth a peek to see him in action and see how connected to his beautiful cock he truly is:
We could do with more of this kind of penis energy these days. Go out there and be the bate you want to see in the world, brothers.
-t
This tribute to bate heritage is awesome…and the work of old reliable in particular…a body of work that has always been at the core of bator culture…I also like the way you describe the unfortunate linkage of porn, sex work and disease. The true disease in my experience and after years of being around is the shame and self hatred we have around our sexual/erotic identities….sex workers have long been akin to sacred workers for me in that very real sense that men and women can be lured into the light and expose their deepest truest selves in liberation, even if for a minute…
Thanks for your work! I am loving these!
Hey bro! Thank you so much for these thoughtful and kind comments! You’re really making my day here, and it’s really uplifting to know you’re taking something away from what we shared. I hope you’re hanging in, brother.
-t
I met Scott in San Francisco in the early Nineties. He was intense. The sexual energy around him was palpable. He was friendly and seemed delighted that I recognized him.
Thank you so much for sharing that, William! There is such a strange unreality for me, sometimes, in talking about these figures. In one way they are legend and I have been idolizing and admiring them as such for a long time. And then on another, they’re really just guys! Right? They’re just people. Hearing about folks who have an authentic connection to their people-ness is very cool.
Thanks for taking the time to comment – it really means a lot 🙂
-t
As always, a great piece of writing celebrating both past and present masturbation. Thank you as always for your work, especially in celebrating the bate culture.
Aww, James! So glad to hear from you. And so glad you enjoyed this. I worry when I pull in serious or real information that folks will be put off. That all they want is a video and some “oh yeah, he’s so hot look how hot he is!” commentary to go with. It’s very cool that you appreciate the whole package. I hope you’re well.
-t
He kinda looked a little like Sawyer (Calhoun Sawyer) in some of those angles. Very hot — thanks for sharing!
Haha! Maybe! If I squint!
Thanks for commenting.
-t
I loved seeing this piece pop up in my email! O’Hara was an important figure in gay sexual culture – for his politics as much as his huge dong! – and deserves the recognition that your essay offers. Your observations about the OR photo spread (pun intended) are particularly perceptive, in terms of recognizing a fellow bator from his natural ease with masturbating and exposure during the shoot – nailed it! You might know that Scott founded and edited a brilliant magazine called “Steam” about gay sexual culture in the 90s…It was in Steam that he wrote about his decision to stop using condoms. If memory serves, he was primarily expressing condom fatigue, re-balancing the human need for “natural” sex against safety, and rejecting the idea that the HIV+ person is always responsible for their partner’s safety. In making these points, which became widely acknowledged, he was revolutionary. I would not say that Scott advocated “intentional seroconversion,” but rather an intentional decision not to use condoms. Feeling liberated after becoming positive – free of the tyranny of fear around staying negative and dread about having natural sex – is not the same as advocating seroversion. Perhaps he wrote differently about this elsewhere – if so, I would love to know the source – but I thought these clarifications to your excellent essay might be helpful.
– dancnkd on BW
Wow, thank you so much for such a thoughtful comment, Alex. You didn’t ask, but I’m always so blown away by the meaningful and (often very) helpful comments people leave here. It really feels different from so many other online comment spaces and for that I’m very grateful.
My references to Scott’s philosophies and thoughts about seroconverting and whether he meant intentional or not come from a couple of his writings that are referenced on his Wikipedia page. It might be that we won’t know fully what his full meaning ultimately was (and it may have shifted even over the last part of his life), but at one point he spoke about admiring intentional SC. That was how I got to ‘advocating’ in my writing. But that might be too strong a term – he might have admired it, but not pushed it as a preferable course of action.
Again – so grateful for your readership and your interest in discussing the nuance of stuff like this. It really makes all of this worthwhile for me. <3
-t