LGBT
Related: About this forumMy Opinion: We Are More Than a Single Stereotype
There goes another walking stereotype, my friend Sam said as he pointed out the window at a young man dressed in short shorts and a mesh tank top, happily swishing down the sidewalk. Could he be any gayer? he asked before adding, Flamboyant queens like that ruin it for the rest of us. Why cant these guys just be normal?
His words completely caught me by surprise. I was unsure what my friends definition of normal could be. After all, Sam regularly spends more money on skincare products than food, quotes lines from Designing Women in casual conversation, and has lived in San Franciscos Castro district (A.K.A. one of the gayest places on the planet) for nearly 10 years. There are a number of things about my friend that could easily fall into the stereotype category, and yet, he had no problem assessing a perfect strangers level of gayness as unacceptable.
Sams comments rattled around in my brain for days after we said goodbye that afternoon. Not only because his words were harsh, but because they reflected a double-standard upheld by a growing number of people in our community. Its OK to be gay as long as you arent too gay. Because that would make you a stereotype.
Of course, its understandable that some gay men would fear being labeled the dreaded s-word. After all, the idea that were nothing more than a bunch of limp-wristed, screaming queens who spend our days obsessing over fashion trends and show tunes are stereotypes that have served to reduce our community to a single note. However, one of the reasons our community is so wonderful is the fact that we are these stereotypes and so much more.
http://www.gay.net/politics/2012/09/14/my-opinion-we-are-more-single-stereotype
These are my sentiments exactly. Being so diverse is our greatest asset!
a geek named Bob
(2,715 posts)on the culture/subculture you hang out in...
All the gay men I know, as a young man, obsessed on fencing techniques, and building catapults...
Different cultures, different stereotypes...
DonViejo
(60,536 posts)Remind your friend it was the "flamboyant queens" that started the modern day gay rights movement in 1969; the Stonewall riots.
William769
(55,147 posts)Was not my friend.
Welcome to DU!
xchrom
(108,903 posts)I've Had gay people call me that to my face.
William769
(55,147 posts)whether it be sipping tea with my pinky up high, or chugging a beer with some of my redneck friends to screeching high pitched voice when a hot dude walks past me. I have on occasion done drag and really let my hair down at Disney Wolrd! To me, all this is normal. What is not normal IMHO is people trying to tell me what is normal.
P.S. I have only used a small sampling to get my point across here.
P.S.S. I believe in the Army slogan "Be all that you can be!"
xchrom
(108,903 posts)flannel shirt stereotype --
i don't think i've ever been accused of being 'butch', though... i wonder why?
joeybee -- you shut up right now...
William769
(55,147 posts)Back in the 90's when our MCC decided to to move out of sharing space with another Church and buy our own Church (which by the way was a Baptist Church) and our congregation was told to act "normal" when both congregations met.
Let's just say that was my debut as being someone being all that he could be!
xchrom
(108,903 posts)msongs
(67,413 posts)William769
(55,147 posts)As would Neil Patrick Harris who will be 40 in less than a year. These are just off the top of my head.
You need to define "Gay media" a little better. News? Print? Video?
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Sir Ian McKellen was 49 when he came out to the gen pop...Ian is nearly invisible in the world, of course.
George Takei, another man who is just not heard of in the press. George is 75.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)I actually started a thread here in GLBT about it once - last year, I think it was.
As a follow up to that thread (since I was unable to find it, even after doing a search), my friend later explained to me that even though he works with straight people (as most of us do) who claim to be accepting of gay people, "I'm not going to come out to them because they really are NOT accepting or understanding; they think they are, but they just aren't."
Now THAT I agree with to some extent, more or less - but yes, there is truth in that. And when you come from a society that is deeply homophobic, you are probably more likely, as a gay person, to subscribe to the notion that gay people can be "too gay" - "too gay" for what is the question in my mind - To get dates? No. To have friends? No. To be attractive? No.
I think when people say some gay people are "too gay", what they are really saying is 'I wish I could be as openly gay as they are, but the social pressure to which I'm subjected demanding a certain stereotypical gender conformity is much greater.'
William769
(55,147 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)pinto
(106,886 posts)I think one thing outside of family and friends, among others, that was a key in being gay is OK for me was the shared aspect, that understanding.