In Urban Aboriginals, author Geoff Mains attempts to tie all homosexual "leathermen" into an international network of tribes bound together by a "common mythos that defines masculinity," providing "a format for self-identification." He tells us that you don't have to wear leather to be a leatherman, but goes on to say that "leather is no affectation; it is an expression of the soul."

He outlines rules and regulations for tribe membership, explains rituals and symbols and the demands by the tribe for total commitment. He writes of the equality that exists within the tribe and tells us it is acquired not only by voluntarily choosing to be submissive or dominant but also by voluntarily varying the choice so that the pain and joy of both "roles" is learned. In this way responsibility is also developed among the membership. He says, "for leathermen identity is a shifting kaleidoscope of paths and patterns that coexist beneath the common uniform and that are rooted in true individuality a subculture in which the austerity of image reflects a purification by constant shattering all else bears the taint of easy security."

He takes the reader into the practice of sexual fantasies of leathermen and endlessly attempts to give them some significance in the evolution of humanity. He writes "unlike either idle or masturbatory fantasies, actualization provides bonding, assurance and contrast."

He writes of the dangerous effects of stress in humans and puts forth the idea that leathermen are contributing to the mental health of humanity by setting an example through meditation and the quiet concentration needed to relax the bowels.

He keeps trying to make a case for what he considers a big breakthrough in that, through the experimentation of leatherman, man will come to understand his early animal instincts and will learn to balance these instincts with those of his human side. In that way humanity will be rewarded.

I applaud Geoff Mains for living his life in a way that reveals big human problems. He says he is searching for the mythos of "masculinity". He may not have used that term when he was growing up, but wasn't the mythos of both "masculinity" and "femininity" part of the reason he chose to lead a homosexual lifestyle? Falling in love with someone of the same gender is a very independent act. It opens the door to the unknown and once the rigid automatic ways of relating are revealed as formless and insubstantial men come face to face with their own inability to be influential or important to other men. Rather than set out on an exciting lifelong course of learning, some men employ the "I quit" mechanism at this point and use a psychologically adolescent life-style to support rigid fun-loving permissiveness; perversion and addiction are given higher status than self-development. This behavior, like the tip of an iceberg, is highly visible in the monolithic homosexual world. But other men like Geoff Mains soon grow dissatisfied and resume their search for independence.

The leather world has appeal to many like Geoff because it does seem to offer an opportunity to explore the "masculinity mythos" in a bigger way. Just like in the monolithic homosexual world, many men will not be able to stand the stress of learning how to be important or influential in the lives of other men. Leathermen as described in Urban Aboriginals shun the use of such conventional methods as career success, accumulation of wealth or trivia information but substitute highly sophisticated fantasies and elaborate conventional actions to become important or influential in the lives of each other. Again it is another variation of the "I quit" mechanism. The immediacy of fun-loving permissiveness again elevates perversity and addiction to a higher status than self-development.

The use of fantasy and celebrative play acting is used often by children. The healthy child knows when play is over and work begins. When he sits down at the dinner table he knows he's not with Superman and Wonder Woman. But after the stress of the real life situation is over he has access to his fantasy world to rest up for the next encounter. Parents and other child-rearing professionals remain ignorant of the need for a healthy resting place in the personality during adolescence. With puberty the teenager has access to more independent masturbatory fantasies for rest but again he must fight off the pressure from all those professionals whose knowledge and know-how is limited to those things which maintain rigid family protection and successful social role playing. As a result, a healthy resting compartment doesn't become real and man does not develop the ability to see clearly the difference between reality where problems can be viewed as a human phenomenon and the world of magic and miracles where problems are banished.

This is evident in Geoff Mains present leather world. Great stress is built up in exploring the "masculine mythos". To continue the exploration men need the perfect world of fantasy to find independent rest. To use fantasy in attempts at serious communication not only results in dehumanizing the situation, but a tool that is essential for resting the personality is lost.

When Geoff Mains wrote about man learning to understand his early animal instincts through the experiments of leathermen I hoped he would discuss submission and dominance and how civilization has obscured man's real nature. The primitive species didn't employ fantasy in their interaction; they had full access to rest by conforming to their submissive or dominant nature in an automatic way as imposed by their gender. The process of becoming civilized has made man's life more complex. It is the understanding of this complexity that Geoff Mains is working so hard to reach and it seems to underlie his attraction to the leather-world. The human species is still very primitive when it comes to understanding himself psychologically. By his own experiences, if not conceptually, the author knows that submission and dominance cannot be counted on to be automatically conferred by gender in the mature male and female. The very creative forces involved in becoming civilized have overridden gender and qualities of submission and dominance are encompassed in both males and females. For those who can stand the strain, the choice of living a homosexual lifestyle supports this truth. The human problems associated with trying to force females into automatic submission and males into automatic dominance also support this truth. As more men like Geoff Mains recognize that they can independently search for what is true by learning to explore the meaning of continuity in submission and more men like his mate who might learn to independently search for what is right by experimenting in the meaning of integrity of dominance the more all men will be able to find real value in living.

While the book is presented as an understanding of the leatherman and his world, it is really about the author's search for his own psychological identity. Unfortunately, the author has brought an overload of feeling to the project and a romantic fog has obscured what he really knows. He left a world where men are kept stabilized by ritualized rewards for conformity, by promises of a better world after death or by threats of punishment or ostracism. Searching for a way out of this seduced and intimidated environment is potentially exhausting, and men who undertake this psychological exploration never have to ask for validation. The beauty and goodness generated by their search for an independent life style will be beacons enough to those other dissatisfied men seeking to take charge of their own mental health. Men encounter many failures along this uncharted path and it's necessary to learn how to step back from overstimulation and rest if exhaustion is to be minimized. Very slowly men can learn to have relationships where duty has been displaced by altruistic service and affection by heroic loyalty. The "I quit" mechanism is something that each man needs to locate in himself. The variations are many, ranging from ivory tower or hill top living as a way of life to running down the street killing total strangers. When men cease to hope and have faith that they can continue to develop the means to communicate to others in an important or influential way, they will use some variation of the mechanism. Often they resort to sanctimony or smugness All men quit at times. When psychological rest is unattainable and exhaustion is about to overtake the personality it can be very important to use the "I quit" mechanism to protect your mental health.