Last night my friend Leigh was trying to put accurately in a sentence an observation she had on vanity and gay men. She came up with the following sentence: Vain men aren’t necessarily gay, but all gay men are vain. I immediately complained, saying that it’s a generalization and that not all gay men are vain. So she turned to me and said, “Well, you’re vain. So can you name me a gay guy who isn’t vain?”
I was stumped. I told her, “Wait. Wait. I’ll think of someone.”
It took me more than ten minutes to give a name, and although she kinda agreed with me (she knows the person though not as well as I do), upon reflection I thought it was unfair of me to name that person “unvain” since he really is very conscious of his preferred look, which is scruffy-rough.
Which brings me to you, dear viewers of The McVie Show: Do you know any gay man who is not vain? (Let’s just limit ourselves to those who are out. Closeted gays are a different species altogether.)
(For the grammar-police: Vain here is limited to mean “excessively proud of or concerned about one’s own appearance.” It does not mean “ineffectual or unsuccessful; futile” as in “a vain effort” nor “without real significance, value, or importance; baseless or worthless” as in “vain pageantry; vain display.”)
12 comments:
Nope, can't think of any. And I'm not limiting myself to just Pinoys. The expat gays here as well as the Khmer are all vain too. Leigh's probably right, you know.
On the flipside, I've met some straight men here (yes, they're really straight, good-looking men with girlfriends, and loves to have sex with women, and they're very comfortable with gays) who have the fashion sense of gay men.
It's mind-boggling, I tell you. They are not what people would call "metrosexual," not at all -- they are of a different definition all together. They don't spend their time on products and such, but they do have an eye for colour, textures and what looks good on them. So whenever I see them, their outfits are so well put-together without even trying! I know gay guys dress like they're trying too hard (tight shirts, jeans, too much product on hair, etc), but these guys don't even bother wearing those tight shirts -- they wear what's comfortable to them and the colours that flatter them.
And they're fucking nice people!
It's mind-boggling, I tell you....
NELZ: I think those guys with an eye for color, texture, what looks good together, etc. end up in design or as art directors. I noticed in the art dept of most agencies, straight guys outnumber gays. Yung mga bading naka-concentrate sa copy or sa accounts. Or production, in which case nasa supplier side sila. Ang mga bading sa client side, mas marami sa kanlia ay closeta, ahahaha!
my other comment didn't get through:
I said that in my choir (the Vancouver Lesbian and Gay choir), there ARE guys who are not vain / fashion-conscious. They are out, but they dress just like regular guys (meaning regular unfabulous). However, you may need to qualify your question: these guys are like 40years old and above. The younger guys ARE vain. I guess the level of vanity decreases when a gay person grows older?
Nelz! I'm already 40 turning 41 this year! Hahaha.
I know a gya guy who's not vain. He's actually very kadire because he sweats a lot and he smells really bad.
question: how do you tell a weird gay person (who's only a friend by association) that he needs to "smell gay" kahit minsan lang?
JOEL: Honey, you're still YOUNG. We're talking about 50+, 60+ year olds. ;-)
speaking of age: I just realized I'm turning 33 this year. LECH!
Hmmm. I kinda wonder what the next question will be... "Are all gay men effeminate and do they all lust after straight men?" Sorry, but the essentialism behind the question on gay men and vanity is kinda outdated. I, for one, am not vain.
Proudly gay,
and proudly not vain.
J: Owwws, really? Ahahahahaha!
THE AMATEUR MISANTHROPE: Oh my, you really take things here waaay too seriously. Don't. ;-)
excuse me J, at sino may sabi sa yong hindi ka vain? :-)
- Hope Centeno
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