"OMG!!! I think he's gay!!!" - part 1
Unless you've been living under a rock for quite some time now, you may have caught on to a sad phenomenon that has been affecting men for a while. What is it, you ask? Well, there seems to be a great big gay panic brought on anytime a man has interest in something other than beer, sports, violence, or quick and easy sex. For example, note that in recent column at Salon, a letter writer tells us of her friend, who apparently loves accusing her dates of being gay. Why? Because they're into aromatherapy or shopping for antique lead crystal. If that wasn't enough, they also like seeing a "stereotypically feminine female" in a negligee in addition to a home-cooked meal and wine. Wow...I dunno about you, but that sounds better than having some thug wanting to live a life right out of a gangsta rap album, complete with the hatred of men, women, and 'softness' that comes with that territory. Not that such hatred is going to be 'gay' anytime soon...Just when you thought it was safe to think of art and aesthetics as things that mostly straight men have spent several centuries creating, here comes 2 Blowhards to ask why the topic of art is considered so gay in America (though the way the great big gay panic would have it, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a worldwide concern), complete with a theory involving the last 300 years of American history. While it does cover enough good ground, there's a few things they miss that are fortunately picked up by a writer at Our Word and Welcome to It. Particularly, a post influenced by the one linked to above.
One great point referenced in both blog posts is that all this accusation of men doing unusual things because they're gay (for this day and age, anyway) may very well be part of an attempt at creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Another point I find good is the need to reclaim these things, which we have been robbed of. Not that either post elaborated on exactly why straight men are supposed to run away from anything society slaps the 'gay' or 'feminine' label across, but I plan on getting to this myself in part 2 of what may be a new series of posts here. I don't know when you should expect it, but it'll most likely come after my current living arrangement is less crowded than it is now and I can actually focus on making posts more often.
Labels: annoyances, posted in windows
posted by el-chozo-loco @ 12:37 PM
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