Watch and Discuss: "Why Terminators Transport Naked"

I LOVED it! That was just too funny!

And seriously, was the guy any more flamboyant than the reality TV gays on all those design shows? I don't think so.

Clearly someone at A.E. needs to write an article about masculinity and femininity and the representation of gay men because every single post seems to bring out comments that are blatantly mean towards any sign that a gay man in a movie/tv show isn't hyper masculine.

Yes, I understand that there is a history of portraying gay men as ONLY queenie (with lots of negative reprecussions)  but I think that practice as the norm is "history"  The backlash hatred against not-traditionally masculine depictons of gay men just seems so freeflowing and unchecked that it approaches homophobic and is completely insensitive to the broad range of gender expression that exists for gay men across the spectrum.

There are loads and loads of images of gay men in film and tv NOW who aren't even remotely queenie.  There is definitely more balance shown in visual media than in any other time in history.

Yet, I recall a very nasty post about the lovely gay couple presented on "The Secret Life of Teenagers" that to this day confuses and depresses me.

Are we really so worried about conformity and assimilation that we (as gay people) have convinced ourselves that anything that strays from traditional ideas of masculine/feminine behavior must be rooted out of gay communities and ridiculed?

I find it strange that no one seems to think the persistent verbal bashing by gay men about other gay men who aren't butch as the day is long is wrong or problematic or an issue for us as a community?

Yes, it is hard to see yourself as "gay" if you think being gay means you HAVE to be flamboyant and you don't happen to see yourself that way.  But the same is true if you think being "gay" means you HAVE to be musclebound, beautiful and making 6 figures (and you happen not to be).

There will always be stereotypes but the extent to which "outsiders" of a particular community "believe" the stereotype isn't stagnant.  

We all struggle with stereotypes (which change from decade to decade) about who we are and how we should be as gay people.  But it shouldn't give us license to eat our own.

I  work with a lot of young gay men and they are just a likely to be queenie as they are not and no one under 30 seems to think one way of being is better than the other unless they happen to live in a community where they feel the need to be closeted

I just don't get the overt hated.   Just because "you" (whomever "you" may be) don't happen to be particularly "femme" doesn't mean you get to wipe everyone who doesn't fit within your framework off the gay map.

"Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common." (Dorothy Parker)

In Will & Grace, Ugly Betty, and the "queeny" guys on the various reality shows, we're laughing WITH them, not at them. They may be swishy, but there's a knowingness and depth to their swishyness. We recognize them and they are not portrayed, really, in a negative way.

This skit, however, has its roots in frat-boy homophobia. The swishy queen is seen not as human being of depth and feeling, but as a scheming, slightly villianous gay guy, who delights in getting men naked for his own lustful desires. The cyborgs are cognizant enough to recognize this and draw away from him in terror and the other straight guys are appalled and disgusted.

I think it's very offensive.

Tim Teeman, in the UK's TimesOnline, discusses the rise in homophobic humor in British programing, and it's a wonderful commentary in the line between what is funny and what is offensive:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article5841504.ece

Heck, I'm sure that every gay guy wishes he could be in the same situation this guy is. The authority over a bunch of hot cyborgs? If you didn't think that idea is appealing I think you'd be the one that needs to turn in your gay card. It's nearly opposite of the gay dog video last time, because that is one scene where you wouldn't want to be part of.

It's funny because it's an exaggeration of the truth. We all secretly would love to look at hot naked men every day, but our social norms prevent us from doing so (yet!).