Gay men of the '70s are remembered for hirsute fac and sktight jeans; their brothers of the '90s were partial to bangs and stubble. How will the gay "look" of the 2010s be remembered?
Contents:
- OP-ED: THE GAY CLON EVERYONE KNOWS
- POLIL-ENOMIC NSTCTN OF GAY MALE CLONE INTY
- CLONG FASHN: UNIFORM GAY IMAG MALE APPAREL
- FROM THE “HOMOSEXUAL CLONE” TO THE “AIDS CLONE”: THE IMPACT OF AIDS ON THE BODY OF THE GAY MALE
- GAY HISTORY: SEND THE CLON
- GAY HISTORY: REMAKG THE CASTRO CLONE
OP-ED: THE GAY CLON EVERYONE KNOWS
* gay clone *
But when one particular look cropped up the post-Stonewall gay scene of the 1970s, was so popular—and so distct—that the guys who sported were dismissed as “clon. )And while the nickname was ially pejorative, the clone perd marked perhaps the first time that gay men prented themselv wh a queer-signalg uniform that was a direct rponse to societal stereotyp.
“The clone was a reactn to thgs you would see movi of gay men beg flty and nelly, ” says John Calendo, a wrer who lived LA and New York Cy throughout the 70s and 80s, and worked as an edor at the clone-cubatg sk mags Blueboy and In Touch for Men.
POLIL-ENOMIC NSTCTN OF GAY MALE CLONE INTY
Social Constctn is an ill-fed approach, lackg specificy and poorly sued for solvg problems of the real world. A ncrete analysis of negative aspects of the Gay Clone Liftyle, wh a particular foc upon the premier gay clone dg, "poppers" (or nre halants), is ntraste … * gay clone *
He pots to the gay mstrel stereotyp the 1967 film The Producers, along wh the timid-lookg guys on the illtrated vers of gay pulp books wh nam like All the Sad Young Men. (Not to mentn the 1964 article Life magaze lled “Homosexualy Ameri, ” which scribed a “sad and often sordid world. ”) “That’s the kd of imagery”—backwards stereotyp that basilly villaized queer people—“that a lot of my generatn who beme the clone people grew up wh the ccible of the 60s, ” Calendo ntu, when the civil rights and gay liberatn movements were expandg ias of equaly and eedom.
CLONG FASHN: UNIFORM GAY IMAG MALE APPAREL
« Du “clone homosexuel” “clone du SIDA” : l'impact du SIDA sur le rps l'homme gay ». Cet article analyse l'impact dévastatr qu'a le SIDA sur le rps l'homme gay, en partant la figure du « clone homosexuel » telle qu'elle t décre par Mart Leve, selon qui la glorifitn du rps qui éta urante dans l quartiers gays avant le SIDA éta une forme subversive nstctn intaire. A pee quelqu anné pl tard, l'écriva David Feberg met dos à dos cette figure et celle du « clone du SIDA » et montre à quel pot le rps l'homme gay et la manière dont il t envisagé ont changé. Quand il s'ag décrire la doulr c jn rps qui mrent du SIDA, l mots semblent manquer : à mure que l rps périclent et disparaissent, le risque t grand perdre son inté. C't là que l'écrure prend le relai : la pathographie pt être nsidérée me une façon préserver son inté. * gay clone *
Drsg like a clone, he says, was a rejectn of those olr gay ’s not so easy to ppot precisely who origated the clone ial, guys who were alive at the time ually brg up Al Parker, an adult film star turned producer and director who worked om the 70s to the early 90s. (Parker would eventually bee an advote for gay rights and safe sex, producg only safe-sex films before he passed away om plitns due to AIDS 1992. It was like, Oh that’s somethg wh a ltle work I uld atta, and I thk that’s why beme so quickly absorbed to the gay muny.
“When I thk back on havg lived through the time, was like gay guys were pg om this stereotype that was jt culted to the culture of sissi and faggots, ” says Woodff.
“The clone look was certaly about a whe gay man’s rponse and engagement wh those archetyp, ” says Ben Barry, the an of the school of fashn at the New School’s Parsons School of Dign, whose rearch foc on fashn’s relatnship to masculy, sexualy, and the body. ”)Prentg as mascule public was physilly safer for gay guys, but the clone stume pulled double duty, Barry says, tweakg tradnal masculy while also signalg to other queer folks.
FROM THE “HOMOSEXUAL CLONE” TO THE “AIDS CLONE”: THE IMPACT OF AIDS ON THE BODY OF THE GAY MALE
Levis 501 jeans. Sk tight. Sand down at the kne and crotch for that perfectly worn- look. Third button unbuttoned to create a b of allure. T-shirt, also sk tight. A Levis snap-ont plaid. That was the uniform of the Castro clone, the gay fashn in spawned the 70s that -- wh surprisgly mor… * gay clone *
“There’s this munal thg happeng right now where people are more open that they’re trans and non-bary or bisexual and not jt on the spectm of beg straight, gay, male, female.
I've certaly read about Ana Bryant's pie to the face and Barney Frank's youthful(ish) discretns, but what really gets me to a time warp k-hole are the now-disntued personals and advertisements for bars, clubs, and "spas"; you get to see how gay men really prented themselv and what the often-warped standard of bety the issue is om the '60s, the featured guys are smooth, mcled, and whe (diversy wasn't our strong su back then). )There is certaly a clone "look" that still permeat gay male culture; specific styl that intify someone as a rd-rryg homosexual, whether that's the tentn or not. Sce I haven't been to a gay bar six months (too much effort), I cid to pese -- our sister se and arber of gayville -- to see what the predomant gay look is the attentn was pulled strongly and swiftly toward "The 30 Sexit Gay Sex Scen Film" (unlike fashn, men never change).
GAY HISTORY: SEND THE CLON
One of my favore movi of all time, 2011's Weekend, almost tops the list (sorry) and that movie not only ptured the morn gay male experience a te, betiful, and searg way, also got the "look" jt right. Ma characters Rsell and Glen are thoughtful and distctive, but physilly they're clon; their refully librated scff and poma-assisted hair is at every gay dive bar om Edburgh to Williamsburg.
GAY HISTORY: REMAKG THE CASTRO CLONE
Looks was to the ' soclogil searchg next took me to the gay bars of our time: iPhone apps. ) beg the Inter, cloth were not a huge mody, so I thought about draggg myself to a gay bar for an up-close look at clone fashn.
Sadly, I jt uldn't stomach the will to shower aga (hyper-cleanls beg a big part of gay clone culture), so I did the next bt thg, more like the most lazy: I Facebook-stalked my gay male iends. In honor of the realizatn of my samens, I snapped a photo: more than scff, poma, and polos, the selfie will likely be the endurg gay look of the BROVERMAN is a lumnist for The Advote and the edor chief of Out Traveler.