I know that it’s frustrating to be stereotyped by Hollywood and the general population. When people make certain assumptions about you, and those assumptions are false, it’s annoying. And we all need to see ourselves represented in books and movies, and when nearly all of those who are supposed to represent us are of a particular type, it can be disappointing, and it can make us feel isolated, like no one really understands us.
But the thing I’ve noticed is this: males in our society are bullied into a gender box. And I mean males of all sexual orientations. If we step out of the box we face criticism, and sometimes violence and discrimination. One of the ways this “boy code” is enforced is by making males afraid of being thought of as being less than masculine. The bullies will emasculate us if we don’t buy into and live up to their code of conduct. They will label us as inferior males and unworthy of respect. One of the things that is outside this code of conduct is homosexuality, but it’s not the only thing outside the accepted code.
If we are to break the boy code, and patriarchy and the idea that traditionally masculine heterosexual men are superior, I think we need to break all of it, not just the parts that are inconvenient for certain individuals. And I don’t see how we as GBT men can break the boy code if so many of us continue to be afraid of being associated with the sissy boys, who, let’s face it, are often gay.
No comments:
Post a Comment