Shorn: Toys to Men ★★★★★
Here's the Video teaser for the book:
For the first time in history, a ground breaking book
Shorn: Toys to Men written by Dennis Milam Bensie, addresses the cutting of men's hair fetish. Not only does
Shorn delve into Dennis' insatiable desire to cut men's hair, he also addresses the psychological impact the fetish had on him and others. Dennis rightfully proclaims, "One man cutting another man's hair is one of the few times two adult men can touch and it is socially acceptable."
Shorn reads as if Dennis is telling the reader a story they haven't heard before, thus making it for interesting reading especially where he discusses his inner most feelings and secrets about men's hair. It is a very moving portrayal taking us from his childhood and focusing on the little nuances that caused his insatiable irresistible desire to cut hair, starting with handmade string haired dolls, to Barbie doll heads, then to men, thus the title
Shorn: Toys to Men.
Many gay men can identify with the anguish young Dennis goes through during the school years of being humiliated, bullied, being called sissy, unable to throw a ball or walk like a man.
Shorn is Dennis' journey into self-discovery and the discovery that he is not alone and there are others out there who, like Dennis are, " . . . extremely turned on by any man who had a beautiful head of hair. Men with little or no hair were of no sexual interest." Dennis goes on to say, "If I saw a guy comb his hair, I was in heaven." Who didn't when they see a beautiful head of hair? However, this is the first time we are reading about it.
Most men's hair fetishists identify with Dennis' statement, "I was setting up a pattern of selecting my sex partners based on how attractive I was to their hair . . . however, it was doubtful that I'd still find a guy attractive if he was bald, and I would be too embarrassed to date a guy whose head I had shaved." It is statements like this that make
Shorn: Toys to Men a phenomenal novel. Dennis goes on to say, "I had become accustomed to fantasizing about cutting guy's hair while I masturbated. It seemed likely that I would become sexually aroused while cutting a guy's hair," a fantasy many can identify with. Later in the novel, Dennis does just what he fantasized about. At one point, Dennis reiterates hair first then the rest of the body. When he had sex with a mustached guy, he writes, "I was like a wild animal playing with his mustache . . . it was almost like his penis didn't count." Again, reiterating hair first, body second.
Where some would fantasize about shearing another guy, Dennis actually does it. At one point, Dennis was asked by a hustler, "Why do you want to cut my hair?" Dennis replies, "I get sexually excited cutting men's hair. I would get very turned on if I could buzz your head while we have sex." Later, his haircutting fixation turns to where Dennis is the one humiliating his pray by cutting their hair, a turnaround from his childhood days when he was the one being humiliated. "There was absolutely nothing I could do to get rid of my haircutting impulse." As an added bonus,
Shorn includes numerous before and after photographs of the cuts, generally of past shoulder length hair being shorn completely.
Reading about Dennis' adventures became almost an obsession with wanting to discover what he would do next. This lead to a fast captivating read, finding myself not wanting to put this magnificent book down because of the momentum and wanting to know what happens next. Many of the things Dennis brings to light in
Shorn, a hair fetishist can truly identify with, and has probably gone through some of the same anguish, gratification, trials and tribulations that
Shorn exposes.
It is little wonder on how fantastic a book
Shorn: Toys to Men is and that it is on its way of becoming a classic novel, as is already a stage play called
The Cut, which premiered on January 14, 2011, at Seattle's Open Circle Theater in Belltown. It wouldn't surprise me to see Shorn turned into a movie as it contains many of the elements of the hero's journey which would make it a blockbuster. Below is a short clip from the play.
Reviewed by: MensHair.org Updated: 15-APR-2019
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