Tuesday, October 12, 2010

That's Gay




For what it's worth, I seriously considered not posting this one. It's one of those subjects that you can't breach without offending someone. You can't really express your opinions about it without appearing homophobic or some sh*t. But I want to talk about it so…Oh well…f*ck it.

Is it just me, or do gay brothas seem to be getting…well, gayer?...and more plentiful, now that I think about it. I swear there are more flamboyant, gay, black men now than I can ever recall. And while I know it's not fair to search for a "reason why" to any and everything, I can't help but to wonder what's behind the surge. And I've come up with a few possible answers.

But before I get into that, let me make the obligatory statement: I'm not a homophobe. I have gay friends AND family, and I love them as much as my straight friends and family. I don't want to change them. I don't think they're abnormal. This is NOT a display of bigotry or heteronormativity. I'm just trying to understand.

If you know me, you've probably heard me say this before, but I can absolutely understand how a woman can be attracted to other women. It makes sense to me because women can see and acknowledge another woman's attractiveness and still be considered feminine. A woman can be turned on by another woman's sex appeal and still be considered feminine. And so it only makes sense that a woman can be attracted enough to another woman to engage in that other woman, physically, and still be considered feminine...by other women AND men. And even if that doesn't make her gay/lesbian (only curious, if not bisexual), it is more socially acceptable for a woman to have and express such desires physically. Thus is NOT the case for a male because if a male is attracted to other men, men don't consider him masculine. And I'd bet that women don't consider them masculine either. Which brings me to my first point:

1) Social acceptance: There used to be a certain degree of shame associated with being homosexual. That's a terrible thing, IMO, but that was the case. And so a homosexual male had more incentive to stay "in the closet" and less incentive to be "out". And those same men had even less incentive to be flamboyantly gay…particularly in the black community. Today, it is significantly more acceptable to be gay, even though there is still a bit of a stigma associated with the lifestyle. There are entire cities where it is visibly obvious that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle (Atlanta, I'm lookin' at YOU). I don't know that I've ever seen more flamboyantly gay black men in one place than I did the last time I was in Lenox Mall in Atlanta.

In addition to that, mainstream media has popularized (if not glamorized) homosexuality through television shows, movies and music. The publicly accessible homosexual male has come a long way, even from the early 90's and Pedro Zamora's "character" on The Real World San Francisco. The funniest sitcom on television in 2010 (Modern Family) features a gay male couple as two of the main characters, one of whom is played by an actual gay man. Before that, there was Will & Grace. And before that, there was Michael Boatman's character on Spin City…and so on.

2) We live in a "try-it" culture now that rivals the "free love" counterculture of the 1960's and 70's. Particularly when it comes to sex, it is stranger to NOT be willing to try different things than it is to be liberal (a complete turnabout from some previous generations). It appears that it's more conservative to be sexually liberal. This phenomenon does not limit itself to heterosexuality…or labels in general. For example, I know probably as many women who have at least made out with another woman as I do women who have only experimented with men. It only makes sense that this more acceptable brand of experimentation would sometimes result in a dude finding out that he likes taking dong up the ass (graphic, yeah?).

3) Again, particularly in the black community, there is a lack of male mentors in the home. How can I put this?...there are certain personality traits, mannerisms, dispositions common in children in general that we as a society define as or associate with femininity. There are several examples of this that I'll get into if asked, but the point is, when a male child exhibits these traits, an adult male (his father, traditionally) will likely attempt to "break him" from those habits. Call it a fear if you'd like, but the reason for this "breaking" is that the elder male assumes that by allowing this behavior to continue, the young male may end up viewed as less masculine than his peers. Mind you, "less masculine" does not necessarily equal "gay". But…it's further down the gay path, so to speak. The elder male (in his mind) is trying to embed his own understanding of male social acceptance into the child's mind, and thus (presumably) steering him towards a more masculine existence. In general, this steering works, IMO. Why? Because man make men, and thus men define manhood.

Today, a significant number of young men that we see between the ages of 15 and 30 were raised without that steering. In fact, there are a significant number of men in that age range who had the exact opposite of that steering. The "opposite" was likely in the form of the young males contracting a more feminine steering from mother, aunties, and sisters who may have inadvertently nurtured the "less masculine" behaviors I spoke about in the previous paragraph. The results: More (or at least more visible) effeminate males.

(Aside: I've noticed on the re-read that I can't even describe these guys as "men" in my writing…I've referred to them as "males"…evident of my own acceptance of a certain degree of the heteronormative construct.)

Anyway, those are a few of my initial thoughts. Obviously there's more to it than that. Again, this is not me saying (flamboyant) homosexuality among males (particularly black males) is right or wrong. I'm just presenting the topic. What do you guys think? Do you think there are more gay brothas out there than there used to be, or am I just imagining things? Do gay guys seem a bit gayer these days? Do you think the 3 reasons presented make sense?

8 comments:

  1. Well there def does seem to be more gays out there but I don't know if that's really the case. It might just be that since it seems to be more accepted that the people that would normally stay in the closet don't feel the need to do so any longer. In fact you are looked at as abnormal if you don't really agree with the lifestyle choice. IMO it's your life do what you want; but also allow me to have my own opinions about it and respect them as I respect your lifestyle choice. I think there are lots of things going on in addition to some of the reasons you gave. Also Atlanta is one of the gayest places ever, lol! You def see more openly gay men than straight guys there. It's crazy, lol! Anyway I loved it and you definitely have offended someone, but don't we always? Doesn't really matter what you say...somebody isn't going to like it, lol!

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  2. I have a friend who says it's something in the water -- literally. She believes the water is full of estrogen, causing more men to embody feminine traits.

    While I think that is a bit far-fetched, I do believe the number of males who prefer their own has dramatically increased and it's almost become chic to be fond to the penis... sigh.

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  3. Lol, I hate when people think there are MORE gay people in Atlanta. We have as many as any other metropolitan city. Perhaps we're more tolerant and you see a stronger, more confident gay group here than you would normally, but maybe that's not so bad.

    I don't pretend to understand all that goes into men that dress as women or women that dress as men, but I do believe that a competent adult of sound-mind should make their own decisions and govern their life as they see fit, barring any harm to society.

    So all that goes to say, if you get off prancing down the street in a tu-tu and lemon yellow pumps and your name is Steve...go for it, honey, two snaps in a twist!

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  4. @ Birdie: What do you mean when you say "..but also allow me to have my own opinions about it and respect them..."? Are you saying that those people should allow you to voice your opinion about their lifestyle?

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  5. @ Mr. Smart Guy: I hope there's nothing in the water. I mean, damn, not that there's anything wrong with being gay, but I wouldn't want folks turning gay because of something they drank.

    But you're right. It does seem to be "in-style".

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  6. @ Brittni: C'mon, Brit, you have to admit there does seem to be more folks of the alternative lifestyle per square mile in Atlanta. lol But I agree...that's not so bad.

    I do wonder what differences there will be in society (if any) if the so-called trend continues. Assuming there will be more openly gay men, how will women compensate for what will be a shrinking of the straight men pool? Will women become bi or lesbian? Will it become EVEN HARDER for straight men to settle down since they'll have access to an even larger surplus of women? Will polygamy become popular?

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  7. I definitely feel like there are more gay folks around these days. Mr. Smart Guy might be right about there being something in the water...or food. ALOT of these chemicals may not be estrogen, but there are several chemicals we eat or use everyday that mimic the effects of estrogen in our body, like tea tree oil, lavender, and some of the steroids used to make chicken $3 a bucket.

    Lol what if this whole gay thing ends up being an epidemic, like smallpox or polio, where people thought it was just something that happens, but we later find out there were chemicals that were making people gay. How crazy would THAT be?! lol

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  8. You shouldn't be able to buy a bucket of anything for $3, man. Think about it...a bucket of pennies is worth more than $3.

    And the epidemic you're talking about would be quite insane.

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