Gay cowboys
For some reason, a comment from Graeme triggered a memory in me. Shortly after after the crushing reality of Bush's 2004 inauguration had sunk in, I was, probably like so many of you in deep despair.
One day in that time period before the blog, I was bemoaning the organization of the Right, and how they had coupled the "new" religion with country music to create a false American mythology, kinda like Disney's Main Street. I was riffing with my friend WildBill on how difficult that self induced delusion of being "true Americans" would be to dislodge figuring that there was no real way to separate the right from their religious base, but that maybe the false 50's western mythos of the cowboy could be punctured.
And, then it came to me. Gay cowboys. If the image of the cowboy could be appropriated by the gay culture, god fearing homophobes would abandon its trappings and fetishisms and would return to just being hicks. It would take away their moral claim to the heart of America.
Now, I have to say, this was all well before Brokeback Mountain, and I had completely forgotten about it until I read Graeme's comment so similar to mine almost a year ago. There has been a pretty strong reaction on the right to Brokeback Mountain, and I wonder if some of that is not coming out of a threat to identity. I don't really know why this came to mind, but it made me chuckle.
As an aside, I do live down here in Texas, and there are indeed grown men who dress up like cowboys, at least their perception of what cowboys would wear, and they walk around like that. Nobody makes fun of these grown men walking around in the adult equivalent of a children's costume. They go to work in their hat and boots, and on their Saturday night's out they wear the bolo tie. It's a small segment of the population in Houston, bigger in Dallas, but it's there. Grown men. Walking around dressed as cowboys. Lived here all my life and it still blows my mind.
Probably the worst fight I ever got into was when I walked up to a couple of these guys in a bar and asked them if they got to dress like cowboys, did I get to dress like a pirate. Wham!
(And by the way, never do an image search for gay cowboys if you want to put a picture on a blog post!!!!!! Lesson learned.)
One day in that time period before the blog, I was bemoaning the organization of the Right, and how they had coupled the "new" religion with country music to create a false American mythology, kinda like Disney's Main Street. I was riffing with my friend WildBill on how difficult that self induced delusion of being "true Americans" would be to dislodge figuring that there was no real way to separate the right from their religious base, but that maybe the false 50's western mythos of the cowboy could be punctured.
And, then it came to me. Gay cowboys. If the image of the cowboy could be appropriated by the gay culture, god fearing homophobes would abandon its trappings and fetishisms and would return to just being hicks. It would take away their moral claim to the heart of America.
Now, I have to say, this was all well before Brokeback Mountain, and I had completely forgotten about it until I read Graeme's comment so similar to mine almost a year ago. There has been a pretty strong reaction on the right to Brokeback Mountain, and I wonder if some of that is not coming out of a threat to identity. I don't really know why this came to mind, but it made me chuckle.
As an aside, I do live down here in Texas, and there are indeed grown men who dress up like cowboys, at least their perception of what cowboys would wear, and they walk around like that. Nobody makes fun of these grown men walking around in the adult equivalent of a children's costume. They go to work in their hat and boots, and on their Saturday night's out they wear the bolo tie. It's a small segment of the population in Houston, bigger in Dallas, but it's there. Grown men. Walking around dressed as cowboys. Lived here all my life and it still blows my mind.
Probably the worst fight I ever got into was when I walked up to a couple of these guys in a bar and asked them if they got to dress like cowboys, did I get to dress like a pirate. Wham!
(And by the way, never do an image search for gay cowboys if you want to put a picture on a blog post!!!!!! Lesson learned.)
posted by mikevotes at
4:44 PM
3 Comments:
I think you are on to something. I have also always wondered why they get a pass when they play dress up everyday. We have a few cowboys up here as well. I always thought they were uber gay
By
Graeme, at 12:35 AM
I just can't believe gay cowboys didn't get more comments.
Sometimes, I just don't know how it works. I put something up, thinking it'll get people going and nothing. I throw something up that's nothing, and people go nuts. I just don't have a feel for the room, I guess.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 10:39 PM
I share your confusion. What also makes me wonder is how different the society reacts to women crossdressers versus males who do the same thing.
Last week, I rode an elevator with a woman who was wearing (I kid you not here!) a blue pinstriped suit, brown brogues, a white shirt with collar and a red-and-blue striped silk tie. When I began to laugh, she asked what I found funny. I told her that I found crossdressers amusing, no matter their gender and what they were dressing as. She STOMPED outta the elevator as if I had said something bizarre.
I guess she didn't have a mirror.
By
Anonymous, at 10:11 AM
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