The New Gay Stereotypes

Article by Maya Vukovska

From the derisive “limp wrist” to the offensive “all gay men are feminine”, they’ve heard it all. But gay people have learned not to take these nasty comments about them and their culture to heart. After all, the reality is that these stereotypes are often complete works of fiction. Yet, the stats cannot beat the tendency of some to view homosexuals as a monolith rather than as unique individuals. And while the old clichés are still in circulation, new ones have come into existence. They are intended to be frivolous and harmless, but some people find them equally problematic as the old ones.

Redefining the gay menagerie

Bears, otters, cubs… We all know these classic animal archetypes, but some, including a certain bearded TikToker, who defines himself as queer, “but in a different, based way”, are suggesting brand new gay categories. One video suggest dubbing old, experienced gays as “eagles”, the shy ones - “turtles”, “meerkats” are the sassy gays who are always looking around instead of paying attention to conversations, and the sluttiest among the gays are “dolphins”. He gives an animal also to the twinks, because he presumes that they are tired of being called the slang for a British prostitute. So now, twinks are foxes. The video gathered 1.4 million views and hundreds of thousands of likes. But we wonder, maybe it's time to abandon these animal analogies entirely and just accept that gay people are human?

The unachievable “Perfect 5”

A meme saying “No gay has all five” swept Twitter a couple of years ago. The original idea was to list five attributes that are imperative for success, but impossible for a gay guy to achieve. And these are: а job, a good relationship with the father, a neurotypical brain, an ability to top, and a driver’s license. Now, the meme does sound witty and insightful, but as it turned out it also carried the potential to encourage judgemental reactions. Soon after it went viral, Tweeters started not only copying it but also giving it new spins, some of which were really spiteful. For example, a person wrote: “No gay person has a father who loves them, a mother who loves them, a god who loves them, and a valid human experience.” If this is not hurtful and malicious I don’t know what is!

Gays always walk quickly

This new stereotype relates to urbanity and anxiety. Gays who grew up in small, homophobic places where they felt too visible had to walk quickly in order to avoid hostile looks - imaginary or real ones. Moving to a big city offered them the anonymity they had craved in their younger years, but instead of strolling casually, they’ve kept a quick pace. But there could be another, very simple explanation: gay men are just good at being efficient in big cities and anyone who resides in New York, Boston, etc. know well that walking quickly is an urban skill that a newbie has to pick up if they want to survive.

Ice, ice, baby, baby

What’s with gay men and their iced coffee? It seems like a bond for life that no man can ever cut. On the surface, this fairly new stereotype seem to lack specific logic, yet it persists. Food is gendered, and beverages are gendered even more. And while beer and bourbon are for big, hard-working, masculine guys, iced coffee isn’t seen as a macho drink. That perception has a lot to do with the way you consume it - you sip it through a straw, and that’s "girlish." I mean, if you’re a bartender try to offer a straw to a straight (looking) male customer, and wait for his reaction. Despite its seeming innocence, many gay men are frowning upon the iced coffee stereotype, because they refuse to accept that some drink that gives lactose-intolerant people diarrhea is considered a token of gay culture. Personally, I have more gay friends who are espresso-snobs than ice-coffee sluts! In the end, here’s my advice: Any time you feel the urge to drop a gay joke, maybe stop and think about reinforcing harmful stereotypes isn't a good look!