Drawg on the work of Didier Eribon and his theorizatn of the nstctn of gay male subjectivy, this article exam different "texts," broadly fed, that grapple specifilly wh straight men attemptg to reprent male homosexualy: Norman Mailer's say, "The Homosexual Villa"; t …
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STRAIGHT EYE FOR THE GAY GUY: POSG QUEERNS
Somehow, the origal “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” premiered on Bravo two s ago this month, prentg five gay men – each specializg a specific liftyle area – as they scend upon a (ually) heterosexual male subject need of some support, whether was wh clothg choic, groomg, anizatn or perhaps an unrlyg issue around self nfince. It was a novel take on the makeover ncept, not only terms of beg one of the first monstroly succsful programs the then-nascent realm of realy TV, but also one of the first tl to feature not one – but five – gay people as the leads.
(For ntext, had only been five years sce the s “Ellen” got nceled, shortly after the ma character played by Ellen DeGener me out as gay. Krsley agreed, sayg, “We meet people all the time who are probably their thirti now, who say, ‘I me om a very nservative fay, we were very relig, “Gay” was not somethg that was ever spoken about our home, and your show allowed to at least have that nversatn, if not make easier for me to e out. He add that of urse, isn’t only gay people who approach them wh spiratnal msag, and that at the time the origal show aired, the st saw how their visibily as gay people wh a larger straight world was beg received firsthand.
“For many people, we were the first real, live, real life gay people that they actually enuntered, ” Krsley observed. You’re the first gay person I met!