I just saw this video and I'm not certain but I think I hate everything about it.
I don't get it. Gay is already such a harsh label and puts people into such a narrow margin in the way they are expected to act and behave. So why then, do gay people coin terms like "twink" or "bear" to go ahead and further label people based on their physical appearances? Those labels are really stupid. Where did they come from and why do people think they are a part of gay language? Like who decided any of this? Do people actually say "woof" at a guy they think is hot?
I hate things that separate gay from everything else, so I guess I hate "gay culture", it's such an arbitrary term...gay preferences have existed in every country since the beginning of time. So how all of a sudden do the behaviour and language of a minority of gay people somehow make a "culture" that other gay people are expected to know and care about?
i don't like them either but you shouldn't hate that people reference them or follow them. if it's what people want to do then i don't care. as long as there isn't any homophobia towards them then whatever.
i respect people's choice of lifestyle, even if they perpetuate stereotypes that harm others that live those lifestyles.
But how many gays would be different if they didn't confirm to the societal expectations of "gay culture". If people actually said or did these things because they wanted to that's cool. I don't have a problem with how people act but I feel as though they say or do these things to feel solidary with other gays and not feel alone. But they express sexuality instead of individuality.
I only say this kind of **** when texting or online but never irl.
I mean we all say "shade", "drag" and "stan" etc...but those terms come from really niche communities. So to say they represent something as incredibly broad as gay people to me, is incorrect.
I agree with the OP. These arbitrary labels literally marginalized an already marginalized community. At the same time, gay hate, saying you hate 90% of gays is just not cool. If someone decides to be a part of gay culture, cool, if not, that's cool too. But, hating people who participate in it just makes it worse. If you dislike individual people, fine, but don't hate people who already go through enough s***.
I agree with the OP. These arbitrary labels literally marginalized an already marginalized community. At the same time, gay hate, saying you hate 90% of gays is just not cool. If someone decides to be a part of gay culture, cool, if not, that's cool too. But, hating people who participate in it just makes it worse. If you dislike individual people, fine, but don't hate people who already go through enough s***.
I call people twinks, but it's not because of their sexuality. I call straight AND gay people twinks - I don't use it because I think they're gay . And I've never heard anyone use the word 'twink' just because they thought a person was gay, either. I just say it if a person is extremely skinny/small/or both.
Also, I didn't know others used the word "bear" to describe people
I agree with the OP. These arbitrary labels literally marginalized an already marginalized community. At the same time, gay hate, saying you hate 90% of gays is just not cool. If someone decides to be a part of gay culture, cool, if not, that's cool too. But, hating people who participate in it just makes it worse. If you dislike individual people, fine, but don't hate people who already go through enough s***.
Yeah. I do agree with this. This is well said.
Like I don't hate the gay people I just hate "forced culture" and I get frustrated sometimes when I see it in the media.
There is more to gay culture than white twinks on youtube taking a wrecking ball to "gay slang".
And the divisions that you're pressed about come about from mainstream society's exclusion of gay people for the longest time. Because gay people (their habits and desires specifically) were suppressed from mainstream culture, they developed their own in the shadows on the gay ghettos and dark bars where they could find the company of those they felt kinship with - whether than kinship was based on visual (masculine appearing, leather, twink), ethnic (self-explanatory) or subcultural (music or interest-based, fetish, etc) similarities.
So just because you have zero understanding of the historical context of such "labels" and cultures you feel the need to complain about them as they're expressed in youtube videos by children so far removed from the hardships and difficulties that previous generations of LGBT engaged on a daily basis just to be themselves, find love and secure the rights to be visible and proud in a society that hated or ignored them. Realize that we're able to exercise a varying degree of freedom as queer individuals because of the efforts of the women and men whose cultures and subcultures you're dismissing out of ignorance.
While I do realize that the context for those divisionary labels is different now then before, they still serve the purpose of bringing people with similar interests and backgrounds together. It's not perfect, no, but that's how it is.
. And I've never heard anyone use the word 'twink' just because they thought a person was gay, either. I just say it if a person is extremely skinny/small/or both. 