It's A Man's Man's World, Baby

Currently Listening To :: Bhangra Knights :: Bhangra Knights vs. Husan

Sydney Mardi Gras. Crossover appeal. Queer as Folk. Kylie Minogue. Metrosexuality. Ian Thorpe. Now, Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. It seems that everywhere you look, Queer Culture and femininity amongst men is becoming more and more prevelant.

This all reminds me about how I felt when I first started to write for Faan Magazine. Just from those early days of getting involved in the broader Asian culture in Sydney, talking about what it means to be Asian and Australian at the same time, the whole surge in popularity of Asian culture that extended just beyond food. It suddenly hit me that being "Asian" was suddenly a whole lot cooler than it used to be.

Right now, I'm get a similar vibe with the gay community in general. With the huge success of the TV show "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy", metrosexual and homosexual men are rejoicing; it's never been cooler to stray from the straight and narrow for want of a better analogy. The ability to link two cultures that have for so long been at supposed opposite ends of the spectrum is a stroke of genius. It's now okay for straight men to be more feminine than ever before. At the same time, queer men now have something to offer straight men besides bearing the brunt of homophobic jokes; the ability to increase their chances of impressing women. All in one fell swoop.

It's a win-win situation really.

I wonder if queer guys actually watch the show; being a form of quasi-reality TV (which most reality TV arguably is) I also wonder if they find it offensively stereotypical or they can relate to various members of the Fab 5?

Bringing it back to the "Atlas Syndrome" I mentioned in my last post, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's never been harder to be a man these days, be it gay or straight. While I know nothing about pressures queer men feel, throw femininity into the mix and we have the definition of what it is the be a modern (straight) man in crisis. It'd be interesting to find out if gay men feel the same societal pressure that we do. However, coming from a minority culture, I guess I'm lucky in a way that I don't feel the full brunt of societal expectations on my shoulders; being an outsider is a blessing and a curse.

So while I haven't formed a rigorous moisturising facial regime, admittedly the idea of moisturising has become less feminine. Or perhaps it's me who's become MORE feminine? OR, perhaps we're just maturing as a human race as a whole (with men finally realising it's okay to go shopping, have some "me" time and spoil themselves).

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.