Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (January 29, 2010)

IF ONLY THERE WERE A SPORT FOR MASCULINE MEN!
New York Magazine has an article about figure skating titled "The Less Flamboyant One" with the tease "Evan Lysacek may wear feathers, but he’s not Johnny Weir. Can his Olympic bid give male figure skating a more “mainstream” reputation?"

And things only go downhill from there.

The gist of the piece is that the rivalry between U.S. figure skaters Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir is best viewed through the prism of masculinity and how being more "masculine" is seen as better for the sport, an attitude best summed up by this quote in the article from Lysacek's grandmother:

Initially, Evan wanted to do hockey. He’s not flamboyant. His goal has always been to have dads watch him skate and then see that it’s okay for their sons to do this, too. Evan’s always wanted people to see it doesn’t have to be a feminine sport.

Because we all know nothing is worse than being seen as flamboyant or feminine. Ironic, that it's his grandmother talking this way. Of course, what's actually worse is being "gay" which we all know is what "flamboyant" really means.

This is "masculine" enough, but...

... this isn't.

The article says that at one point when Evan Morgenstein, the CEO of the PMG Sports agency, says “Evan clearly is someone who is not being tagged with the label of being gay. It’s just the opposite as a matter of fact: Women love him, and I think men love him and that’s just the way this world works, for better or for worse.”

How depressing is that? It's 2010 and not only are we still battling the idea that being gay is a bad thing, but even femininity is still seen as weak and less than. (For the record, I empathize with skaters of any orientation for the way their sport is mocked and how "male figure skater" is a punchline and punching bag wrapped up into one.)

I know some people dislike Weir for being so coy about his sexuality and for being as flamboyant as he is, but given the way the judges and potential sponsors behave, it's kind of hard to blame him. But he isn't the issue here.

Rather he's being used as a scapegoat by the skating powers that be as an excuse to reposition skating for more "mainstream" appeal where the big bucks are. After all, skating was seen as gay long before Johnny Weir came along.

Brian Orser, Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton

Instead of continuing to reinforce the notion that masculinity is always better than femininity and that the gay label is something to be avoided, I wish the traditional media would ask why our culture is so narrow-minded that athletics can only be seen through a prism that says artistry and performance is to be less valued than brute force. For the record, I bet Weir could run circles around 99% of American men when it comes to endurance and physical strength.

Perhaps I'm not being fair to everyone here. What about all those poor super straight butch guys out there looking for a way to express themselves? If only there were a sports league devoted to men interested in football or hockey or basketball. Is that too much to ask?

As long as we're butching up figure skating, why not borrow a little bit from hockey. Let's give the skaters hockey sticks, and between triple lutzes and double salchows, they can attack each other, tripping and hitting the other skaters and maybe even drawing some blood. You know, like real men.

Weir vs Lysacek, the way God intended it!
Fighting with hockey sticks!

Next page! Putting it in perspective with pictures!