Does the world need more male models or more occupational therapists?

The story of Julian Fantechi is an instructive one. Julian is an occupational therapist who now works full time at a public school in Queens, and has been working inside the school system for six years. Julian is also a male model. He has been in print ads for Saks and LG cell phones, and promos for A&E. He’s also been in Playgirl three times, most recently as a cover model.

Seven months (and fourteen days) after his cover debut, the New York Daily News ran a story about Fantechi, and a flurry of media coverage followed. Any controversy should have been dampened when it was revealed that before posing in Playgirl Fantechi asked his union rep whether it was okay, and was told that as long as he didn’t point out that he worked for the city, he should be fine. But this is about sex (sort of) and kids, so the controversy is baked in.

The instruction comes when you take a close look at all the coverage. Then you begin to notice some interesting things.

For starters, you have to head to 247Gay.com for the real scoop, which is that while Fantechi wasn’t fired by the school, he was dumped by his modeling agent who thought he was going in a direction too “adult” for the high standards of Mega Muscle Management. The irony of this wasn’t lost on a former Mega Muscle admin assistant who was quoted in the piece:

"The truly ironic thing is that Julian would get dropped from Mega Muscle for all the pornography, but the school district has no issues with it at all - guess they really need teachers!"

Another lesson we can learn from the media coverage of this story (which isn’t a new one) is that when it comes to sex controversies, you don’t really have to back up what you’re saying. Almost all the reports refer to parents who are angry and calling for Fantechi’s resignation. Yet most of the quotes from parents are either positive or neutral, and the only actual quotes from parents who complain aren’t attributed with a name.

Finally I’m amazed by the diligence with which all the media are avoiding the issue of homophobia. It’s well known that Playgirl is a publication “read” primarily by men, and Fantechi has appeared on gay porn sites. Regardless of how Fantechi himself identifies, the association here is one of “gayness” and the lack of mention of this speaks volumes.

Read more – New York Daily News: Go to the head of the crass (via Sextv)

Read more – 247Gay.com: Nude Educator Terminated by Management