The tth behd Twter’s favore stereotype about gay men, as explaed by GQ ntributor Louis Stapl.
Contents:
WHY DO GAY MEN WALK SO FAST?
* gay walking speed *
Growg up, people would often tell me that I “walked gay. ” 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.
Historilly, gay stereotyp have been even ls kd. 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. Inevably, gay people beg active onle (Twter gays, I’m lookg at you) has ed new stereotyp to emerge.
From “gays n’t drive” to “gays love iced ffee, ” new on seem to appear every day. Earlier this year, Vice wrer Jam Greig attempted to fact-check the “new gay stereotyp. ” GQ wrer Alim Kheraj also vtigated the gay love of iced ffee.
WHY DO GAY MEN WALK SO FAST?
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. If “walkg gay” really is a thg, seems that many gay people perceive speed to be a part of that.
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.