Why Do Gay Men Walk So Fast? | GQ

Contents:

• WHY DO GAY MEN WALK SO FAST?
• THE 10 GAYEST STAT IN AMERI FOR 2020
• STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS
• HOW TO GET A MAN (FOR GAY MEN)
• MOVE I'M GAY! MEME GENERATOR
• I’M 43 – BUT I’M MA TO FEEL LIKE A DOSR BY YOUNGER GAY MEN

WHY DO GAY MEN WALK SO FAST?

” I ed to wonr how puttg one foot ont of the other uld seem gay, but I heard so equently that I accepted as tth.

THE 10 GAYEST STAT IN AMERI FOR 2020

To fd out what else was gay, I looked to popular-culture, where I saw gay men mostly adherg to a fairly one-dimensnal set of stereotyp: fashnable, wty, effemate. Yet today’s gay men aren’t as reliant on reprentatns crafted by others, wh social media helpg to mocratize storytellg by providg a platform for people to share their experienc.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS

Both found the accuracy of the new trop difficult to prove, but explored their plex and often ntradictory that sense, the new(ish) stereotype that “gay men walk fast” is no different.

HOW TO GET A MAN (FOR GAY MEN)

On Twter, one person wr: “Straight people, look behd you, chanc are there's a gay person tryg to get past bee you're movg at an extremely glacial pace. ” Others joke that gays n halve the journey time timate on most travel apps, or suggt that gay men walk fast “to flee the straights” bee “they learned to walk to the beat of ‘Womanizer’ by Brney Spears. To create “gay walkg lan” bee gay men supposedly walk so a fast walker, I’ve fely been there: that moment when you’re walkg through a public place, listeng to “Jump” by Madonna, and the (prumably heterosexual) public n’t seen to hurry up and get out of your way.

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But beyond my personal experience, and the admtedly pretty lazy humor of “gays walk fast” jok, is there any tth to the stereotype? There’s never been a scientific study parg gay walkg speed wh straight men of a siar age and physil ndn.

Gay men the Uned Kgdom, for example, are 30% ls likely to own a r when pared to the average populatn, ditg that they’re more acctomed to walkg. “If gay men feel self-nsc or fear attack, they uld walk quickly to get away om perceived risks orr to feel safe aga, ” she explas.

“I lived Sydney for 20 years and there were a lot of nfint walkers Oxford Street, one of Sydney's gay areas, as this was a ‘safe’ area for people. Psychologist Ian MacRae agre that walkg speed and style n be affected by eher posive or negative emotns, but also says that gay men are statistilly predisposed to walkg fast.

I’M 43 – BUT I’M MA TO FEEL LIKE A DOSR BY YOUNGER GAY MEN

”MacRae tells me that walkg fast might be a method for gay men to give a “visual cue” of their physil fns and attractivens, and that there’s a genred element to how we perceive sexualy that may fluence walkg speed. ”Regardls of whether gay men really do walk fast, there are psychologil reasons why many of want to embrace the ia that we do. I often worry that fdg some of the newer gay trop funny –mostly, if I’m hont, bee many of them apply to me– mak me sufferably self-absorbed.

”Benno Gammerl, a lecturer on Goldsmhs Universy’s MA Queer History London, thks that “gay’s walk fast” is rooted stereotyp of urban gay life.

“Velocy and petivens is a part of that: a sense of urban life beg quick, and that a gay man has to be quicker than all the rt. ”Gammerl explas that is no cince that someone like me feels reprented by the stereotyp and helps to spread them, bee young, urban-dwellg gay men are central to society’s mappg of what gay men are like. “In many gay bgraphi we see the ia that opportuni were missed youth, so gay adults don’t want to miss a thg.