Hollywood opens up to gays, but will stars e out? | World news | The Guardian

Contents:

• ‘GAY GLASS CEILG’: WHY MORE FEME MEN GET PASSED OVER FOR LEARSHIP ROL
• HOLLYWOOD OPENS UP TO GAYS, BUT WILL STARS E OUT?

‘GAY GLASS CEILG’: WHY MORE FEME MEN GET PASSED OVER FOR LEARSHIP ROL

Gay and heterosexual men prefer mascule-prentg men learship posns over those emed more feme, acrdg to a Universy of Sydney study, suggtg that gay men themselv are “plic” penalisg “feme-prentg members of their own muny” Gerrard, the study’s lead thor, told Guardian Atralia: “In society there is a strong associatn between gayns and femy and many gay men grow up wh an unnsc ia that gayns is bad, so they may nscly or unnscly supprs feme tras. ”In the study – published the journal Sex Rol – rearchers asked 256 Atralian men (half who are gay, and half who are heterosexual) to select a gay man to reprent Sydney a mock tourism mpaign. They were shown vios of six gay, whe male actors performg the same short script two ways: wh their body language and voice adjted to appear more feme and wh their performance livered a more tradnally mascule style.

The study found that participants, cludg gay men, were signifintly more likely to st a mascule-prentg actor than a feme actor. The rearch suggts that spe beg part of the same mory group, gay men may be “plic” bias agast feme-prentg gay men om reachg higher-stat adds to growg rearch about gay men’s “tramory” bias agast feme-prentg men, whereas mascule quali, behavurs and appearanc are regard as more favourable. Gerrard, who recently played the lead role Amerin Psycho: The Mil at the Sydney Opera Hoe, was spired to vtigate gay men’s prejudice towards feme-prentg men after his experienc as an actor.

He is ncerned that media pictns of gay men are not tly reprentative of the wir gay muny and are creasgly mascule nature, wh gay rol often given to straight men – such as Daniel Craig Netflix’s Glass Onn: A Kniv Out Jamie Hakim is a lecturer culture and media at Kg’s College London and rearch queer timacy digal spac. He regnis this mascule bias gay muni, which n be found on apps such as Grdr and Instagram. “There is a persistence gay culture of eroticisg particular forms of masculy … It n e lots of anxiety and a sense of failure for those who don’t feel they match a certa image, ” he self-image, mascule bias may have wir implitns for gay men the workplace.

HOLLYWOOD OPENS UP TO GAYS, BUT WILL STARS E OUT?

The Universy of Sydney study referenc the “gay glass ceilg effect” for those who appear more feme, which may mean they are passed over for more senr Anne, the CEO of Diversy Council Atralia, says she is “not surprised” by the fdgs. But she adds: “It’s not jt gay men who stand to lose by not actg tradnally mascule ways.

”She says while gay men may be able to change their behavurs to act more mascule ways, women are often penalised for actg a more mascule way. “Prr to transng, I lived as a queer man and I saw gay men told to ‘tone down’ or that they drsed ‘too gay to be taken serly’ at work, ” she livg as a trans woman, she regnis the penalti placed on women who act assertively the workplace and as a member of a mory wh very ltle visible reprentatn the workplace, “everythg I do is seen as reprentg my trans inty too”. Mascule bias is prent among gay and straight men, acrdg to new rearch, and ’s havg an effect on feme men’s reers.

In 1934 Louis B Mayer, the tocratic head of MGM studs, told Hollywood's first openly gay actor, William Ha, that he would have to get married if he wanted to ntue the movi. " Ha's ntract was torn up and his reer was 70 years later no stud chief would dare behave that way, might well be openly gay himself, and might be producg one of the 38 new films wh gay and lbianthem that are currently the pipele. That is the ncln of a special "Gay Hollywood" supplement published this week by Variety, the entertament dtry's daily gay performers and activists say many actors are still reluctant to e out bee of the perceived mercial fact that a growg number of senr executiv are openly gay has led Variety to nclu that the "gay glass ceilg" is slowly vanishg.