Laurie says:

This week’s photo is Tommi Avicolli Mecca from Familiar Men:Book of Nudes.

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And this is his text from the book:

Learning to Walk

Papa was determined to teach me to be a man. I was anything but. In my Italian-immigrant neighborhood in South Philadelphia in the early 60s, acting like a man was important for someone born with male genitals.
There were many responsibilities that went along with having those few extra inches of flesh hanging from your groin. I wasn’t sure what those responsibilities were, but from watching my brothers and their friends, I knew they included: hanging on corners in a teeshirt with the sleeves rolled up; using “yo” when greeting another male; staring at women’s breasts and saying “madon” (short for “Madonna mia”) when they were especially large; using brylcreme to straighten my curly hair; and tossing a ball to other guys while standing in the middle of the street dodging cars.
I resisted being indoctrinated into manhood as long as I could, instead playing with dolls and jumping rope with the girls. I had never been in a fist fight or even carried a knife. On my street that was an accomplishment in and of itself.
One hot summer afternoon Papa decided to give me a lesson in manhood. We were sitting outside on the front steps.
“First you gotta learn how to walk like a man,” he said. I had no idea what he was talking about. What was wrong with the way I walked?
“C’mon, walk,” Papa said.
I started to walk.
“No, not like that.” What the hell was he talking about? How was I supposed to walk? Was there a gene I was missing: neanderthal x57?
By now a crowd of curious neighbors had gathered on their steps nearby. It was bad enough that I was enduring this ordeal, but did I have to have an audience, too? To make matters worse, along came Joey Venturi, the bully. Just what he needs is more ammunition to use against me at school, I thought.
“C’mon, do it again,” Papa said.
I shook my head.
“Whatsamatter, you wanna act like a girl all your life?”
Joey elbowed his friend and they started laughing.
“Papa!”
“Walk!”
I couldn’t stand it anymore. I suddenly leaped at Joey and started punching him in the stomach and chest. I had no idea what I was doing except that it felt good. Joey was so startled, he just stood there and took the punches.
Papa grabbed me. “What the hell’re you doing?” He was mad.
“I’m doing what you told me to do.”
It was the last lesson I ever got from Papa.