musical group Village People, as well as Al Parker, Richard Locke, Jack Wrangler, and other porn stars. The combination of inexpensive, comfortable streetwear, with an emphasis on masculine attributes, yielded a gay look that was considered erotic and easy, yet suitable for non-gay venues. This enhanced LGBT recognition and facilitated the community's emergence from the closet in the late 20th century. Concept Men who use this label might feel the need to maintain their sense of masculinity as well as 'looking the part'. Men could take parts of the appearance that they found attractive and that worked for them. For many men, the look was an outward sign of their freedom from social dicta and a celebration of their personal masculinity. Some fetishize the style while others find the appearance a sign of liberation, countering the homophobic stereotype that generalizes all gay men as effeminate. With an influx of young gay people who felt free to express their sexual desires, a culture of idolizing masculinity emerged with rugged working-class men seen as one of the ideals, even if many of those men were actually middle-class professionals. There was a period when the "clone look" was limited to the Castro District of San Francisco, but that period could not have been more than a few weeks. The emergence of the NYC-based gay monthly magazines in the mid-to-late 1970s (such as Mandate, Playguy, and Honcho) had much to do with inspiring the clone look in locations other than the Castro District. The magazines were filled with images of clones, both in feature spreads and advertisements. Gay porn films of the era also advanced the look. The look continued to evolve through the 1980s and beyond, effectively influencing the rise of the bear culture, which expanded on the concept, converting mustaches to beards, emphasizing masculine body language as well as appearance, and embracing ex-footballer husky-to-chubby physiques. This contrasted with the more common subcultural spin-off of the Castro clone phenomenon, the twink evolution which led to the slightly more sleek gym-and-diet-induced, slim musculature prized among gay urban men. This began in the mid-to-late 1980s, with men sporting fashions and hairstyles inspired by popular actors such as Rob Lowe and Don Johnson, as well as pop rock stars such as George Michael and Simon Le Bon. Criticism One of those who criticised the Castro clones was the gay singer Sylvester, who asserted that such clones