Rubber

In the gay fetish scene, latex and rubber gear, and the men who love wearing it: catsuits, hoods, gloves and a lot of shine.

In the gay fetish scene, rubber means latex and rubber gear, and a rubber guy, or rubberman, is a man who is into wearing it, seeing it and feeling it on someone else. Full catsuits, rubber jeans, chest harnesses, gloves, hoods, waders, sometimes a gas mask: shiny, tight, often black, and smelling unmistakably of rubber and the silicone polish that keeps it gleaming.

For rubber men it is all about the senses. The way it clings and shows every curve, the squeak, the heat, the sweat underneath, the shine under club lights. Some wear it for a night out, some for sex, and some feel more themselves in a catsuit than in a suit. It is one of the classic "gear" tribes of gay fetish life, next to leather, sportswear and the skinhead look.

Where it comes from

Rubber fetishism is not a gay invention, but gay men gave it a vocabulary of their own. Green's Dictionary of Slang records rubber queen, "a rubber fetishist", in Bruce Rodgers's 1972 glossary of gay slang, The Queens' Vernacular, with a note that conservative gay men used it as a put-down. Today's rubbermen use the word with pride, and they have their own clubs, contests and nights in many big cities, often as the shinier cousin of the leather bar crowd.

Rubber, leather and the rest

Rubber and leather overlap a lot, and plenty of men wear both, but they have different personalities. Leather is about tradition, rank and the old bar culture of the leather daddy. Rubber is shinier, more sci-fi, more about the second skin. Pups often wear rubber or neoprene hoods and suits, and the skinhead scene shares the boots and the masculine look. In porn, rubber is a staple of fetish porn.

The practical side

Latex is not easy clothing. Getting into it takes lubricant or dressing aid, keeping it shiny takes polish, and keeping it alive takes washing and careful storage away from sunlight and metal. Anyone with a latex allergy should stay away from it and look at neoprene or PVC instead, which give a similar look.

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