Plan, eh?

I was kinda hoping that Straight Plan for the Queer Man would turn out to be well-dressed straight men helping gay slobs dress like sophisticated adults. But no, it’s about teaching femme boys to act all tough and slovenly.

Hate to surprise anyone here, but most gay men, and in fact most straight men who are in any way different from the masculine ideal represented in the show (stubbly, barbequing, workbooted, messy-homed, sweatshirt-loving) know how to do this. It’s called “surviving high school.”

I’m always amazed at the way that discourse in this country is dumbed down. People don’t understand the difference between sex and gender, and they don’t understand the difference between sociocultural affiliation and race. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is fun because you get to see people make snarky comments about men with poor grooming habits, and then at the end they get lots of pretty things and you get to imagine how your life would be if you had ten grand to blow on a new living room set and a year’s worth of back waxing. The gayness isn’t really the appeal– it’s the word people attach to the appeal, I guess. But “What Not to Wear” started the whole thing, and they’re not explicitly gay.

A special hello to my readers in Provo– apparently you’re almost 10% of my traffic this month.