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. 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.

THE 10 GAYEST STAT IN AMERI FOR 2020

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. 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.

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.

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.

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

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. ”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.

HOW TO GET A MAN (FOR GAY MEN)

”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. For stance, gay men om ci (like me) might e this trope to subtly posn themselv as superr to suburban and ral people, who they associate wh beg behd the tim and irrelevant.

MOVE I'M GAY! MEME GENERATOR

This uld also expla the dista for “slow” straight people that is exprsed the majory of fast-walkg gay jok.

“Not only are straight people slow movers, but they’re also slow bee they nnot follow the speedy jok and quips that gay men make. ”It’s te that beg seen as a fast adopter of new mic, fashn or pop-culture rri valuable social currency gay culture. For example, “sissy that walk”—a drag term meang “to stt the most feme way possible”—was turned to a pop banger by drag superstar Twter—or more precisely “Gay Twter, ” on which I spend far too much time —appearg to be “booked and by” will w you pliments.

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

New meme formats appear almost as quickly as they disappear, like the wily circulated meme of a gay man bargg ont of a lleague, sayg “move, I’m gay. ” Jok like this both mock and rerce the hierarchal stereotype unrpng them: that gay men are quick, and therefore superr, bee we simply don’t have a send to waste.

Quickly graspg the “ joke” that others might not unrstand ( this se, that gay men are lerally fast movers) adds a further dimensn to the perceived rrelatn between quickns and many of the “new” gay stereotyp, “gays walk fast” helps accs a shared muny wh humor and togetherns. It’s unsurprisg, after s of unkd and homophobic stereotypg, that gay men might embrace more posive generalizatns.

Though ’s important to remember that life isn’t all stttg at break-neck speed om bnch to Grdr hookups (while blastg Carly Rae Jepsen, of urse) for every gay man. We might be the hab of puttg each other to ltle gay box which have a perceived hierarchy attached to them, om “tops and bottoms” to “daddi and twks”, but all gays are created equal. Y, that’s right, even gays who move at a glacial pace (or, god forbid, live outsi the cy) serve rights too.