"Be Masculine" Explores What Defines Gay Male Masculinity (NSFW)

Photos by Erik Carter

It's the 21st century and a lot has changed in terms of understanding gender roles in today's society. Specifically, many are still learning such roles in the LGBTQ community, and it's beautiful to see more people accepting others for who they are as individuals. With this, New York photography Erik Carter has a project in the works titled, "Be Masculine", which explores what defines gay male masculinity. Through portraits and interviews, he's seeking to push boundaries to start a larger conversation about what masculinity means today.

In an exclusive interview with the Huffington Post, Carter elaborates on the current and future ambition for the project as a whole. And all in all, he wants to reveal that masculinity is not as simple as it's standard definition, and can actually be defined differently from individual perspectives.

The photos below are the first set of the ongoing project, and consists of men who live in New York City who identify as gay. Each intimate portrait shows diversity, and definitely broadens the narrow view of what many consider to be "masculine". Take a look and let us know what you think, also find more on Carter's Tumblr and Instagram.

[Via HuffingtonPost]