Destructive Attitudes
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But I fear that some of the rhetoric in your article (not to mention the monstrous cover drawing) will have the (I hope unintended) effect of circulating yet again a familiar story about gay men: that we’re a separate species characterized by an unwitting but inescapable tendency toward self-destruction.
How else to describe phrases like “the depth of the obsession [with the body beautiful] in gay culture” or “the infatuation in gay culture with muscle mass” (an infatuation understood as prior to its marketing)? Just as sure as the fact that the muscular ideal is circulating widely in (some parts of) gay culture is the fact that “gay culture” didn’t come up with this ideal or “obsession” or “infatuation” instinctively or on its own. Surely “straight culture” can claim some of the credit for producing a situation in which the appearance of strength, virility, and a certain brand of stereotypical masculinity are felt to be ideal and even necessary. To put this more strongly (so to speak): beat us up enough times, call us weaklings and sissies every once in a while, and some of us may just decide to start lifting weights.
Justin Hayford replies:
