Fake Fags
The other day I was watching a couple of guys on the volley ball court acting totally gay with each other. They were talking with a lisp, fawning on each other, and throwing around the phrase “FABulous honey!” The thing is, they weren’t gay.
This isn’t anything new. I see guys from about middle school age on up through recent college graduate age acting gay without being gay. They’re the same old straight guys who don’t like clothes shopping, have a questionable sense of style, and would be offended if a stranger in a bar teased them about their sexuality leaning. So what gives?
I decided to ask my straight friend Alex.
“Alex, why do you think it is that straight guys sometimes act gay together?”
“To be funny.”
Okay, yeah, I guess, but that didn’t satisfy me. Girls don’t act lesbian together unless they really are lesbian, or drunk.
So then I consulted my Brazilian friend, Silas (straight, but speaks a love language).
“Silas, do guys in Brazil act gay together?”
“Yes, humor is one of Brazil’s greatest strengths.”
“But do they do this because it’s funny, or because of something else?”
“They only do it because of humor. Guys can express their emotions here and not worry about it, so what other reasons would there be? I mean, here guys kiss each other and aren’t called gay. It’s common to see two old guys kissing on the cheek.”
I thought Silas’s answer was pretty telling. I told my friend Meagan about what Silas said, and she ran with it.
“I think that two straight guys acting gay together is one way that they can show just friendly emotions for each other, not be called gay, and be funny all in one. It’s a win-win situation.”
I think that’s true. Is American culture turning the boys of Generation Y into fake fags?
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In the NT the effeminate are condemned. I always wondered what that meant. Maybe it meant men who refuse to be manly. But I am ignorant in those sorts of areas.
I think you are witnessing a society trying to find an emotional default button to deal with what they find repulsive. Soon we will not be allowed to comment on homosexuality, except approvingly, without going to jail. If you were not so busy with school, I would recommend a great book, Why Societies Need Dissent. While not Christian or
anti-gay, it addresses the disastrous consequences of stifling free speech.
I think you’re on to something. It’s not just humor. I’ve done it, and it is MAINLY humor. I think it’s also a reaction to the whole stigma in US culture of guys showing affection (of any level,) for each other.
It used to be… say late 1800’s and early 1900’s that platonic love between men was not uncommon. Watch a few early films/silent films and you’ll see what I mean. At some point we collectively decided that it wasn’t becoming or masculine. I think as homosexuality is becoming more accepted, that showing affection for a fellow male is as well. I’d wager this is just an intermediate step.
Yes. (Damn’t feminazis and their gay as friends/queer eye shows… It’s like when whitey stole the brother’s music and started up with Jazz. I’m looking at you, Benny Goodman!)
//And yes, I’m joking. However, this is a rather complicated issue, and for me to put out an easy answer would be an overall disservice to the conversation. However, the answer in many cases is yes, at least from the conservative perspective, because often straight males are demonized as being unable to work with their emotions because they don’t display them, violent, and chauvinist if they try to define male and female roles. (As a guy who grew up in a household full of estrogen — 5 ladies, 2 boys — I know of whence I speak.) Then, of course, there’s the fear that being courteous to a lady could be construed as hitting on her — because obviously straight males can’t properly handle their sex drives — and that trying to be nice to a little girl automatically means you’re a sexual predator. As such, the easy out is to act gay so people don’t think you drag your knuckles through the ground, as if not liking women suddenly made you more enlightened. (Insert NAMBLA joke here.) Before, not liking women simply meant you were trying to avoid cooties. Then you grew up and started liking girls. And of course, humor is always the easy out. Just remember that to every joke there’s a seed of truth. A more honest out would be to actually take the time to understand yourself, something most people — not just men — don’t take the time in doing.
But that’s just one way of seeing it all. As I said, this can be a very, very complicated issue. In fact, I spent a week in college in an ethics class talking about this very thing. Quite interesting conversation.//
I’m not sure that the feminist revolution did a whole lot of good. When was the height of it? Mid-90s? Weren’t men and women both given the same job opportunities by then? Also, people are still just as biased after that happened, and now males are treated worse than ever. Maybe someday we’ll find a happy medium.
Oh wait, I’m a pessimist. It’s a hopeless situation.