In Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang we had a butch gay detective. With Brokeback Mountain, we have butch gay cowboys. And on Desperate Housewives, we have butch gay teenagers.
Three portrayals of butch gay guys? Yeehaw! If this was Time Magazine, that would be more than enough to declare a full-fledged media "trend!"
I have mixed feelings about media portrayals of butch gay guys. On one hand, I'm all for anything that upends the stereotypes of GLBT folks. On the other hand, the implication of the previous sentence is that there is something negative about non-butch gay guys. After all, no one cares about media stereotypes that are positive, right? I mean, Jewish people don't exactly complain to the networks when television shows have them encouraging their kids to "get an education."
On the other other hand, straight people can relate more to non-effeminate gay characters. And anything that gets them to take us and our issues more seriously is a good thing for the gay community, even for our effeminate members.
Right?
Or maybe not. Maybe offering butch gay guy media role models is just another way of selling out to the majority, of conforming to arbitrary standards of what it means to be a man -- a variation on fashion magazines offering only light-skinned blacks.
I'm so confused. But let's face it, this is a confusing subject.
Full disclosure: I'm a pretty masculine gay guy. Of course, I've seen other guys call themselves "pretty masculine," and if they were any lighter in the loafers, they'd be hanging from the ceiling like possums.
But I really am masculine. Or at least I think I am. Maybe I'm fooling myself. Hey, I'm not claiming I'm Vin Diesel!
Essay continues at my blog,
The Big Gay Picture.