Sean Harris on gay men: What do limp wrists have to do wh homosexualy?

Contents:

• A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY SIGNALG, OM HANKY S TO THAT 'WHAT GAY GUYS ARE ACTUALLY LIKE' VIO
• WHAT DO LIMP WRISTS HAVE TO DO WH GAY MEN?
• RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU'RE GAY

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY SIGNALG, OM HANKY S TO THAT 'WHAT GAY GUYS ARE ACTUALLY LIKE' VIO

Maybe you've seen the recent vio that purports to show "what actually happens when gay guys see other gay guys and straight people aren't around. " While I n't nfirm or ny the accuracy of the clip's subject matter (still wag on clearance om the Gay Agenda), I n say that s edy is rooted a rich history of signalg, flaggg, and other forms of non-verbal munitn between gay Pulls a CharlottvilleThe vio fds actors/edians Brian Jordan Alvarez, Stephen Guaro, and Mch Silpa nng to one another their apartment buildg's regnizg one another's gayns, and realizg they're a space utterly void of heterosexualy, the three men lnch to some light nway……'80s face-molg 101……talog at-hangg……and low-key Bernatte-ery……wh a llective "Bnch! " at the unrlyg tensn of the scene stems om the ia that the men are only ee—or perhaps safe—to unleash their purt gay selv the pany of others like them.

Halper wr How to be Gay. )The need to navigate one's inty through different social suatns, mixed wh the sire for regnn, has led gay men (and women, obvly, but this article is foced on the male si of this phenomenon) to velop subtle, often wordls methods of munitn wh others the of the systems have been historilly ed to broadst sexual sir, like the hanky , which saw s peak age the 1970s and '80s.

In Gay New York, Gee Chncey c red neckti as one of the major "fairy" signifiers of the 1890s, and the 1930s there was "practilly a homosexual monopoly" on dark brown and gray sue sho the 1930s.

WHAT DO LIMP WRISTS HAVE TO DO WH GAY MEN?

Physil mannerisms,, why do gay men ntue to create and cultivate the systems of mostly non-verbal munitn wh each other? I thk a lot of has to do wh the fact that gayns don't e wh hered physil tras or other visible intifiers on the body; we're forced to create our own. After enuragg fathers to “punch” sons who exhib stereotypilly gay behavr, North Carola pastor Sean Harris said on Tuday that he should have chosen different words.

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU'RE GAY

” Why do we associate a limp wrist wh male homosexualy? This had nothg to do wh homosexualy—the Romans didn’t nsir gay sex, per se, unmanly. In the 18th century, however, Europeans me to thk of homosexualy as a character tra rather than an ocsnal behavr, and gay sex beme the anthis of manls.

Durg this time, limp wrists me to signify not jt ill disciple, but var other supposed failur of manhood, such as homosexualy, exhibnism, and foppery.

) As the ornamentatn and leisure of urtly life fell out of favor wh men, a limp wrist—often wh the other hand placed on the hip an “I’m a Ltle Teapot” pose—me to symbolize the unmanly homosexual stereotype. Whatever s origs, the associatn of limp wrists wh male homosexualy was very well-tablished the Uned Stat by the begng of the 20th century.