Meetg Your First Gay Friend | GQ

Contents:

• FRIENDSHIP TROUBLE: AN EXAMATN OF THE GAY BT FRIEND INTY AMERIN CONSUMER CULTURE
• THE TROPE OF THE ‘GAY BT FRIEND’ MOVI AND TELEVISN, EXPLAED
• HOW TO FD YOUR GAY BT FRIEND
• MEETG YOUR FIRST GAY FRIEND
• LARRY HAWORTH'S LIST: GAY PORN TUBE
• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY

FRIENDSHIP TROUBLE: AN EXAMATN OF THE GAY BT FRIEND INTY AMERIN CONSUMER CULTURE

Related: Bt Gay Movi Streamg on NetflixTo make sure the movi liver all the passn, fatuatn, urtship and flirtatn you may be cravg, our remendatns only clu movi where romantic relatnships are ont-and-center—which means such LGBTQ+ gems as, say, Can You Ever Five Me? Fire Island (2022)Pri and Prejudice leans to pri Spa Night and Driveways director Andrew Ahn's magnificent rom- (wrten by star Joel Kim Booster) that loosely adapts Jane Aten for gay mec.

THE TROPE OF THE ‘GAY BT FRIEND’ MOVI AND TELEVISN, EXPLAED

Love, Simon (2018)You may never fd a film more quietly revolutnary than Love, Simon, the first-ever Hollywood stud-released picture centered on a gay teen.

The ubiquy of the gay bt iend inty and the potential effects may have on gay men make this inty a ccial se for amic quiry, yet remas largely unexplored.

HOW TO FD YOUR GAY BT FRIEND

This study seeks to addrs this void by offerg an analysis of the gay bt iend through an examatn of the quali that nstute the gay bt iend inty as is prented Amerin nsumer culture. The quali are ascertaed through an analysis of popular Amerin televisn shows and movi featurg gay bt iend characters—Will & Grace, Ugly Betty, Glee, Sex and the Cy, Burlque, The Devil Wears Prada, and Sex and the Cy 2. This say propos five tegori through which one n unrstand the quali of the gay bt iend inty: socenomic stat, the body, personal relatnships, behavr, and lack of agency.

The tegori nstct the gay bt iend inty as one that is pletely modified and sentialized and that, although touted as an ditn of creasg acceptance of gay people, nstut ltle more than a new form of opprsn.

Contemporary culture has bee saturated wh the gay bt iend; the July, 2010 issue of Teen Vogue pots out “the mt-have ems [for a fashnable teenage girl] clud a Proenza Schouler tie-dyed top, a shnken ary jack, neon bright chunky bracelets, and … a gay bt iend” (Talbot, 2010, page number). Ined, the gay bt iend n even be found on the shelv of booksellers natnwi Terrance Dean’s (2010) book, Straight om Your Gay Bt Friend: The Straight-Up Tth About Relatnships, Work, and Havg a Fabulo Life.

MEETG YOUR FIRST GAY FRIEND

Though the reprentatns of the gay bt iend are fictnal, the pervasivens of the inty poss as one wh the potential to affect the lived experience of real people a myriad of ways.

One potential effect of this inty is the perpetuatn of the opprsive cultural unrstandg of gay men as eful for style advice, terr sign, sassy ments, their abily to cut hair, and ltle else. In addn to ntributg to the margalizatn of gay men as a whole, this uld further margalize gay men who do not fill the role of the gay bt iend if the inty be signifintly more accepted than other gay inti. This should not e as a surprise, though, as gay culture has been heavily modified nsumer culture, the system where lkag between rourc, material and symbolic, and meangs, lived experience, and inty are created, mataed, and negotiated by markets (Arnould, 2010).

LARRY HAWORTH'S LIST: GAY PORN TUBE

For example, gay street culture spired much of The Gap’s style (Berlant & Freeman, 1993), and Lady Gaga draws heavily on the gay cultural tradn of drag. This is exemplified Bravo’s h seri Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which promot gayns as a mody that n improve one’s life and shows viewers where gayns n be bought (Kooijman, 2005). Addnally, the targetg of the gay muny by “ol hunters, ” agents who would document aspects of gay culture and pch the aspects to pani lookg to make their products and advertisg “oler” (Kle, 1999), illtrat the high mody value of gayns.

Prev rearch has foced on heterosexual women who beiend gay men (Buckley, 2008; Maland, 1991; Moon, 1995; Thompson, 2004), the relatnships between gay bt iends and heterosexual women (Comer & Ldsey, 2007; Shepperd, Coyle, & Hegarty, 2010), and whether media reprentatns of gay men are posive or negative (Hart, 2004; Kooijman, 2005). This study seeks to addrs this void by offerg an analysis of the gay bt iend through an examatn of the quali that nstute the gay bt iend inty as is nstcted Amerin nsumer culture.

Often fillg the role of villa, they functn as a foil for another male character whose heteronormativy is secured through juxtaposn wh the homosexual character. However, the gay bt iend characters more ser genr, such as drama and satire, reta some tragic elements, which are not shared by their suatn edy unterparts. As his female iend’s sikick, the suatnal edy’s gay bt iend’s behavr elics lghter om the dience, obscurg the social stctur supportg homophobia by divertg the dience’s attentn om the stctur to his il behavr (Gray, Jon, & Thompson, 2009).

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY

Bee the gay bt iend character is not nfed to one genre, and gay bt iend characters om different genr share many attribut— is both possible and necsary for an analysis of the gay bt iend to clu characters om multiple genr. In addn to boastg high viewership, the televisn shows and movi span the time perd over which the gay bt iend rose to promence, which allows the vtigator to observe the chang the nstctn of the gay bt iend inty over time.