Sam Elltt rips gay them 'The Power of the Dog'

Contents:

• GAY COWBOY
• GAY COWBOYS QUOT & SAYGS
• SAM ELLTT RIPS GAY THEM ‘POWER OF THE DOG,’ LLS A ‘PIECE OF S – – T’
• THE REAL GAY WBOYS
• GAY COWBOY
• WHAT KD OF GAY COWBOY ARE YOU
• WHAT KD OF GAY COWBOY ARE YOU
• GAY WBOYS? ‘POWER OF THE DOG’ DO NOT STAND ALONE GOG THERE

GAY COWBOY

Ask anyone who’s seen Brokeback Mounta (2005) to characterize the film three words, and you’re almost certa to hear some variatn of “gay wboy love-story. Detractors, largely spearhead by right-wg and relig groups, quickly and fervently emed the film’s pictn of a homosexual uple immoral, evince of an attempt to femize men, and even anti-Amerin. In many s, crics honed on the two leads ’ occupatns as wboys, challengg the existence of a “gay wboy” Amerin history.

” Other crics acced filmmakers of phg an “agenda” onto Amerins, wh one wrg that “Hollywood screenwrers and producers thk that ’s their duty to teach Ameri that homosexual nduct and cross-drsg are normal behavrs that should be affirmed Amerin culture. The beliefs, though objectively bafflg, beg tertg qutns: Was homosexualy ever accepted Ameri’s past?

Supported by sendary sourc, I will argue that this myth is rooted homoerotic relatnships, a reflectn of historil fact.

GAY COWBOYS QUOT & SAYGS

In light of this ntentn, I will explore the reali of homosexualy and homosocialy amongst wboys the Old Wt, argug that they were accepted and monplace. ” While Cooper do not tail explic sex between the two, their relatnship is unmistakably homosocial. In this way, Cooper has embedd an acknowledgement of same-sex love the very heart of Amerin myth, directly ntrastg claims that homosexualy is an unnatural and/or morn ventn.

Furthermore, the homosocialy scribed Cooper’s work is not purely imagative, but actually reflective of historil rerds ditg the prence of homoerotic relatnships among wboys the ontier wt, keepg wh Cooper’s assertn that the stori were spired by tal he had been told by actual wboys.

SAM ELLTT RIPS GAY THEM ‘POWER OF THE DOG,’ LLS A ‘PIECE OF S – – T’

“Homoerotic iendships prerve privilege and ensure survival a hostile wilrns” (Packard 15). Homosexualy was an act, not an orientatn. This is also nsistent wh fdgs like those Aled Ksey’s notor 1948 study, Sexual Behavr the Human Male, which reported the hight equenci of homosexual timacy to be among men ral farmg muni; probably, Ksey nclud, much like their pneer forebearers the ontier wt.

Ined, Ksey’s ntentn reflects primary source material ditg homosexual relatnships among ontier wboys.

THE REAL GAY WBOYS

One such source, a limerick that allus to homosexual timacy between wboys, was found by historian Clifford Wtermeier and published his 1976 say “The Cowboy and Sex. This suggts not only the prence of homosexual timacy the ontier wt, but also a greater culture of sexual ambiguy.

Historilly, the wboy was able to engage homosexual sex while matag his masculy and stat. Homosocialy was re to muny wboy culture, allowg men to nnect wh others whout societal retributn (Packard 3, 7).

The term “sexual vert” was veloped to refer to the people and was ed terchangeably wh “homosexual” (Boag 5).

GAY COWBOY

Concurrently, the ncept of “sexual versn/homosexualy” evolved direct ntrast to “heterosexualy. ” From the start, homosexualy was fed as nately “unnatural, ” and therefore sexually viant. Moreover, the e of “sexual vert, ” homosexualy beme herently lked to effemacy.

As Peter Boag explas, “to intify a homoerotic re s myth about the supremacy of whe Amerin masculy is to imply that Amerin dienc want their ontiersman to practice nonnormative sir as part of their rol natn-buildg” (12). In other words, if there is somethg natnal about the wboy and if there is somethg homoerotic about the partnerships he forms the wilrns, then there is somethg homoerotic about Amerin natnal inty. This would be somethg seemgly ntradictory to the rercement of homosexualy as Other and anathema to the Amerin/mascule ials the wboy was supposed to reprent.

WHAT KD OF GAY COWBOY ARE YOU

In forcg the dience to regnize a eper nnectn between the two protagonists, one that may reflect feelgs held by many other Amerin men, the dience is pelled to acknowledge the artificial boundary between homosocial and homoerotic that is imposed by homophobia and rerced by the Hollywood Cowboy.

As Eric Patterson ncurs, “By lotg love between men wh the inographic system of landspe, clothg, and activi that are fundamental to the Wtern, Brokeback Mounta oblig rears and dienc to beg to regnize how the Amerin natnal fantasy of Wtern adventure and particularly the ialized wboy hero have distorted history and endorsed a homophobic nstctn of masculy” (117).

The mythos of the Amerin Old Wt, wh s ra of ggedns, danger and adventure, has appealed to many people over the years, cludg gay men. While they don't have que as many stereotypil gay associatns as sailors and leather-clad bikers, wboys are neverthels an important part of macho gay male inography.

WHAT KD OF GAY COWBOY ARE YOU

This trope vers gay or bisexual men who are Wtern-flavored characters (ranchers, ttle hands, roo performer, and untry sgers) or jt fans of the genre. This is almost always a flavor of Manly Gay.

His over-hyped sexualy ed the books to be rated appropriate for mors to read, even though the only ditn he was gay was through certa nuendos and implitns.

In the 2000 seri, Hex fac off agast a Gay Cowboy who go on a Roarg Rampage of Revenge agast the town where his partner was killed. A b of Deliberate Valu Dissonance the New 52 All-Star Wtern, where Hex, transported to the Prent Day, tak offence at beg lled a wboy, claimg that they're all gay. One arc of Garth Ennis's "Marvel Knights" seri of The Punisher featured a gay sheriff a morn-day Wtern story.

GAY WBOYS? ‘POWER OF THE DOG’ DO NOT STAND ALONE GOG THERE

3:10 to Yuma (2007), where Charlie "Prcs" is almost outright stated to be gay (pecially for his boss, Ben Wa). Fanon explas Ben himself to be gay as well, though the film only shows him as attracted to women (he sleeps wh one).

Brokeback Mounta is famo for beg the "gay wboy movie", even though they're actually bisexual shepherds. The two major gay male characters the Canadian die film Wilby Wonrful are both fans of Wterns.

Also popular Spaghetti Wterns wh the Sissy Villa type: Django Kill, Sabata and The Grand Duel have flamboyantly gay baddi. A Cowboys and Idts, Earl's bt iend is Jimbo, who is the stereotypil Texan wboy mechanic, only that he's gay and there's a subplot throughout the film of him tryg to get a date.