Pot 89: The Gay Ear | The Pot

Contents:

• 5 FACTS BEHD THE "GAY" EAR
• WHICH EAR IS THE GAY EARRG? WHICH EAR IS THE STRAIGHT EAR?
• HISTORY AND HYPOCRISY: WHAT THE "GAY" EAR PIERCG MEANS 2022
• WHICH EAR IS THE GAY EAR? IT’S THE LEFT, HERE’S WHY!
• WHAT IS THE GAY SI FOR EARRGS?
• WHAT AND WHY IS THE GAY EAR THE ?
• POT 89: THE GAY EAR

5 FACTS BEHD THE "GAY" EAR

Now ’s nsired a fad that has bee passe, but at one time, people really ed as a tell-tale sign of whether a young man was gay or not. This trend didn't clu women the gay ear fad bee, most Wtern cultur sce the 1950s, has generally been a cultural norm for femal to have their ears pierced. The practice of ear piercg history began to thread through hippie muni first and then through the gay muny.

Some straight people also enjoyed the trend and tablished that the left earlobe signified that they were not gay, even though they were a man wh a sgle pierced ear. Though some people preferred to have both ears pierced, the LGBT muny quickly cid that if a man had one ear pierced, namely the right one, on the earlobe, was a vert signal that he was gay. Sce beg gay isn’t jt herently somethg visible om someone’s looks, the LGBTQ+ muny of centuri past spent a good amount of time lookg for specific styl or trends to allow people wh the muny to show other people that they were gay and proud of .

In some societi where beg gay was eher owned upon or illegal and punishable, LGBTQ+ members would choose subtle methods of monstratg their sexualy.

WHICH EAR IS THE GAY EARRG? WHICH EAR IS THE STRAIGHT EAR?

Over the centuri, among different societi, any good historian n pot to a few different methods of gay signalg.

However, the subtle methods did ocsnally suffer when gay dividuals eher wanted a more prehensive monstratn of their gay pri or when straight people found out about the trend. By the 1990s, the fn of the gay ear had bee so nfg that most people jt shgged off the ia and cid that any man who had any part of his ears pierced mt be queer. However, as punk rock culture me more promently onto the scene, enough men began havg their ears pierced that people cid to move on om the ia of a “gay ear” entirely.

HISTORY AND HYPOCRISY: WHAT THE "GAY" EAR PIERCG MEANS 2022

While the ia of a gay ear, or anythg really that’s a tell of someone's sexualy seems lghable today, was once an tegral part of LGBTQ+ culture. The ia of gay signalg hasn't stopped, pecially plac and cultur where people n't be as vol about their sexualy as they might want to be. Wh people of all sexual orientatns havg one or both ears, beme impossible to e an earrg to tell if a man was gay.

WHICH EAR IS THE GAY EAR? IT’S THE LEFT, HERE’S WHY!

But hasn't disappeared entirely -- you n fd plenty of fom posts onle om men askg which is the gay ear before gettg a piercg! The "gay earrg" wasn't the only thg ed for signalg that one was gay, although 's probably the most famo one. Now that piercgs have bee much more mastream, gettg a piercg the "gay ear" isn't the clear ditor that once was.

WHAT IS THE GAY SI FOR EARRGS?

Men of all sexual orientatns now have pierced ears, and not everyone follows (or knows about) the history of the right ear as the "gay ear. That said, if you're gay, gettg a right-ear piercg n be a kd of homage to the history of g a gay earrg for signalg.

As you might already know, one of the advantag of an ear piercg (whether 's on the "gay ear" or not) is that 's very easy to re for pared to most other piercg typ.

If you've nsired gog for a gay earrg (or really, any ear piercg at all), we hope that you now have the rmatn you need to choose the right jewelry and piercg type.

WHAT AND WHY IS THE GAY EAR THE ?

Pre-Y2K (and beyond), 's been socially unrstood that wearg one earrg on the right ear means someone is gay; the left, straight.

Dpe recent data and celebri supportg otherwise, the magogic proverb "Left is right and right is wrong" has been a whisper placed upon gay and straight men (and their piercers) for s.

It's te, though, that "droppg a hairp" - the precursor to signalg (a way to drop a subtle ht to someone that you, too, were gay) - was both harmful and helpful. And the "Café Dis" episo of "The Office, " Kelly n be seen piercg Andy a cutaway as he asks: "Are you sure that's not the gay ear?

POT 89: THE GAY EAR

Coleman and Theo Sandfort discs the fact that straight Rsian men would often mark their first sexual act wh women by piercg their right ear as a way to ward off unwanted advanc om gay men. "In llege, Phil Oakey (The Human League) had both of his ears pierced, which really threw people for a loop bee he was straight spe givg off the gayt vibe the world. He rocks the "gay earrg" on the regular - and on purpose, a signature style cue he refers to as his "gag du jour" on Instagram - rarely optg for a subtle ht of gold but a more-is-more approach.

Today's isms, like no-makp makp and tantourg, don't force to relive the bt of the worst; rather, they remd that the journey of fg a "personal" style is as fe as dog the dish: you're never really Salem, the "gay ear piercg" is a smaller yet ccial part of a bigger picture.

This dat back to a kky time the 1980s, where wearg earrgs on the left ear dited that the person wearg them was homosexual, and wearg them on the right dited that they were heterosexual. Therefore we n say that when a heterosexual get’s a piercg on their left ear then, simply means that the ear which is pierced is the “gay ear”. Durg this time, was not great to be publicly intified as LGBTQIA and neher was there any real social or legal verage for people who belonged to the gay ear tegory.