Great article. And nice confessional nostalgia style, the hankky codes were sweet. The first toy website I built back in 1995/6 had a section describing each code, and instructions how, and how to enjoy. Gay men for the most part are so specific and easy to deal with sexually, it's amazing to think about negotiating bathhouses and backrooms.
Gay digital life also had NBCS codes, often used as signature lines, back from the days of usenet.
(As I read the CMU article, I knew all the 9 men, sex with six, and 4 are dead - I'm so old)
I look forward to reading more. Our world today has so many gay men trapped in a honeypot - they've given up on sex, friendship, going out, gay social life, camp humor, gay art, and liberation for apps which consume their time in exchange for nothing. In doing so they've ceded the flag, pride parades, gay rights, and gay kids to malignant forces. I hope they snap out of it as you have.
The dilution and disappearance of much of gay culture and knowledge is, I think, one of the strange and sad side effects of mainstream acceptance. Without the need to join a real community, there is no continuation of received knowledge. This must be how Jewish-American grandparents felt in the mid-20th century - knowing that the next generation would be more safe and more accepted than ever, but that language and culture would disappear forever.
That's a good point. My Mom always felt cheated that her immigrant parents and grandparents refused to teach her Yiddish--partially because they wanted the kids to be Americans and speak English and partially because they didn't want the kids to know what they were saying about them! I think there's a difference between assimilation and homogenization. This is where the idea of "cultural appropriation" comes in--appropriation means theft, and I agree with the notion that one culture can steal another culture's food or modes of dress etc... the adoption of these things by those not from the specific cultural background in question is inevitable in an increasingly interconnected world.
Great article. And nice confessional nostalgia style, the hankky codes were sweet. The first toy website I built back in 1995/6 had a section describing each code, and instructions how, and how to enjoy. Gay men for the most part are so specific and easy to deal with sexually, it's amazing to think about negotiating bathhouses and backrooms.
Gay digital life also had NBCS codes, often used as signature lines, back from the days of usenet.
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/scotts/ftp/bulgarians/bear-code.html
I am: B6 f d++ g+ s+ m+(+) e++ r p
(As I read the CMU article, I knew all the 9 men, sex with six, and 4 are dead - I'm so old)
I look forward to reading more. Our world today has so many gay men trapped in a honeypot - they've given up on sex, friendship, going out, gay social life, camp humor, gay art, and liberation for apps which consume their time in exchange for nothing. In doing so they've ceded the flag, pride parades, gay rights, and gay kids to malignant forces. I hope they snap out of it as you have.
The dilution and disappearance of much of gay culture and knowledge is, I think, one of the strange and sad side effects of mainstream acceptance. Without the need to join a real community, there is no continuation of received knowledge. This must be how Jewish-American grandparents felt in the mid-20th century - knowing that the next generation would be more safe and more accepted than ever, but that language and culture would disappear forever.
That's a good point. My Mom always felt cheated that her immigrant parents and grandparents refused to teach her Yiddish--partially because they wanted the kids to be Americans and speak English and partially because they didn't want the kids to know what they were saying about them! I think there's a difference between assimilation and homogenization. This is where the idea of "cultural appropriation" comes in--appropriation means theft, and I agree with the notion that one culture can steal another culture's food or modes of dress etc... the adoption of these things by those not from the specific cultural background in question is inevitable in an increasingly interconnected world.
Perhaps we will never see the return of quality theater criticism without a 21st century lavender scare. 😂
Well, first we could use some quality theater....
The two feed one another. Jagged Little Pill got positive reviews. Positive reviews!!! As did 1776. Baffling.
PS I'm reminded of Dorothy Parker's answer when asked for a definition of horticulture: You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.
Yeah. There's no objectivity there.