“An Ethical Male” I discovered in my early 20s is an anagram of my given name”
What’s in a name?
The journey to self-acceptance is never easy or linear, and the concept of masculinity has been particularly challenging. This lead to an exploration of sexuality and gender identity that has been the subject of personal art + design for years.
”An Ethical Male”, I discovered in my early 20s, is an anagram of my given name while my full initials are “M.A.N”. Undoubtedly, these were unconscious naming decisions on my parents’ part, and yet, they have been a constant reminder of the struggle to accept queer identity while grappling with toxic notions of what it means to “be a man,” and general norms of masculinity. Oscillating between feeling both masculine & feminine—the concept of “gender” became an idea to deconstruct.
The questions became: In a patriarchal, white supremacist-based society where conventions of gender and sexuality were instituted as a means of oppression… what does it mean to identify as “masculine” or “feminine”? to identify as “male” or “female”? to identify as a “man” or a “woman”? to identify as queer? to identify as none OR some OR all of the above—and still be considered ethical ? Freedom to explore and remix these concepts will be the basis of An Ethical Male Studio’s work.
- Michael Natale, Designer & Owner
Our Values
+ Norm Disrupting + Sex Positive + Queer Positive + Awareness of Othering + Anti-Racist + Intersectional + Accessible + Pro-Demilitarization + Pro-Immigration
+ Uplifting the Community + Charitable + Quality Design + Mental Health Advocacy + Gender Fuck + A Fucking Party
+ other shit
Visual Inspiration
There are many subjects we’re interested in exploring in our designs and hope to work with local queer artists as the studio expands... buuuut until then—our initial inspiration draws from band merch; ‘70s aesthetics; the male physique (among other sexes and genders); queer history; pop-media (music, film, magazines, photography, etc), and home town of Toronto, Canada.