In The Ladies' Room: Gay Face
I know. Gay Face? What is Gay Face?
The thing with Gay Face isn’t that someone necessarily fulfills certain stereotypes about gays and lesbians, it’s just facial features on a certain person that, for whatever reason, make them look gay. No matter what they are wearing, or what their hair looks like, you don’t need to look past their face to for your gaydar to go off. I feel like a lot of times, at least for me, once I realized Gay Face was a thing, it was always the intangible that made me decide that yes, this person is gay.
For the sake of trying to bring the Gay Face phenomenon to the rest of us queers, I’ve decided to provide a few examples. As to not place any unwanted labels on any celebrities, I’m only using out celebrities.
For the men:
Nathan Lane
John Ameachi
That’s my completely unscientific analysis of a potential phenomenon. Agree? Completely disagree and think I’m being a streotypical jerk (I promise, while I think this is real, it’s not like I go around stereotyping based on what they look like)? Have other examples? Leave them in the comments!
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i’ve never really thought about the lesbian side of gay face aside from the butch no makeup wearing obvious (Anne Heche) and the Stout KD Lange style. I guess Jodie Foster does kind of have gay face. For the male examples i think i would have maybe thrown Clay Gaiken out there and maybe Harvey Firestein (sp?) instead of or in addition to Nathan Lane? So many good gay face examples i can think of. I don’t think NPH has gay face, he’s so hot!
oh, and i’m sooooo offended! Gay face is totally real!
not sure if i agree with john ameachi, but i see your neil patrick harris and raise you a clay aiken http://tinyurl.com/yb2usmb and derek hough http://tinyurl.com/ykzomma
:)
edit: since “gaykin” was already mentioned, how about la roux? http://tinyurl.com/y86co45 i like the inclusion of lady gay face because it totally exists.
Gay face is real:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=something-queer-about-that-face
Good topic! I agree Gay Face is a real thing:
Kate Moening: http://media.photobucket.com/image/kate%20moening/pixvirtual/us005/W9UXYqAckRFJ.jpg
David Alan Grier: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nndb.com/people/428/000025353/david-alan-grier.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nndb.com/people/428/000025353/&usg=__yVK3uKpTCUy0Si8yyCYAUK58Iig=&h=310&w=250&sz=13&hl=en&start=5&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Oj2NsE09vi9FnM:&tbnh=117&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddavid%2Balan%2Bgrier%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1
Side note: I’m not claiming these people are gay…just that they have gay face.
I think there’s such a thing as “gayface” but, as with any correlation, it’s imperfect.
Not all gays have gayface (NPH does not have gayface, at least not next to, say, Lance Bass), and not all people with gayface are gay (nobody famous comes to mind, but I’ve encountered plenty of cases).
what about ex-gay face?
I invented the term “Gay Face” at least 4 years ago. Actually comment threads for The New Gay and Towleroad are two of the very first places where I used the term publicly about 2 years ago.
There are two kinds of Gay Face:
1. Naturally occuring or biological (NGF) – see that kid from Glee, Clay Aiken, Zac Efron, Steven Cojucaru, Ted Haggard, Adam Lambert, Johnny Weir.
2. Acquired Gay Face (AGF) – manic eyes, scrunched up forehead muscles, creepy wide smile. The guy (always a guy) who’s face is unnecessarily hyper-expressive to the point of just being weird. The old Blade photos were literally a catalogue of AGF. For current examples consult the Metro Weekly Scene photos posted every week on their website. Or just go to any Gay bar. That aloof, hot looking guy with the calculated scowl posing across the room will, at any moment, turn to his friends and revert to AGF. Watching his manic face contort repeatedly will give you a headache.
Either way these are almost as good as Gaydar at judging Gayness. Especially AGF. As a matter of fact the ability to detect AGF is probably 95% of Gaydar. Only a faggot would have AGF.
re: g – “what about ex-gay face?”
There is no such thing as “ex-gay face”. There is only Gay Face. Cuz whether out, closeted, fuckedup or not, it’s all Gay all the time.
Malcolm Gladwell talked about this in his book “blink.” A scientist he interviewed was able to infer that men of a certain Papua New Guinean tribe engaged in homosexual acts, just by looking at their faces. It has something to do with the subtle details of facial expressions.
@markdc, the ONLY thing you “invented” is taking credit for coining a phrase that you most surely did NOT create/ “INVENT”. “Gay Face” was, at the very least, used in an article in 2005… http://pen15club.net/?p=70 that went into hilarious depth the very subject of “Gay Face”. I suggest, in future, you do your research, before blowhardedly and douchebaggedly plagerizing someone elses creative literary juices! OH, and “eff you!”
John Ritter always had gayface and he was as hetero as they come.
Thanks Jens for pointing that out! I read part II of that article http://pen15club.net./?p=258 and that MARKDC a-hole almost quoted it verbatim and then took credit for writing it. Douchebag is right!
All I know is I didn’t read about Gayface online somewhere. I made that term up myself. Deal.
Actually, my first use of the term “Gayface” goes back to 2005. I have friends who can prove it.
I also invented “Gaytard” and “Gay Accent”.
I am especially proud of all three.
@markdc, OK, sh’mon, cite it and prove it “PUNK!” And was that before? Or after? You INVENTED Liquid Paper and Post-it Notes? Additionally, you should be “especially proud” you’re a lying queen!
AND BTW, “gaytard” isn’t something I’d be stepping up and taking credit for unless I was a 13 year old wanker in a elementary school playground or a devotee of Perez Hilton.
Sal Mineo sure had fag face!
Charles Nelson Reilly! NUFF SAID!!!
Jake Pavelka from The Bachelor! Every facial expression the guy makes screams “my medicine chest is full of Clinique for Men and butt plugs”.
MarkDC our resident Algonquin Round Table humorist is especially proud he thought up GAYTARDED! RIOTOUS LAUGHTER! I’d honestly be more especially proud having stolen it from someone(I’m crying laughing)than claiming to have hatched that DOA bon mot. Best laugh I’ve had this weekend, that, and Liza’s appearance on HSC.
Charles Nelson was HILARIOUS on the Match Game! Along with that foul mouthed mascufemme Brett Somers. You never knew who had the vagina and who packed the weiner.
Let’s revisit the most gay face interview EVER! http://nymag.com/news/features/32120/
I’d say what Mark did INVENT is a new form of writing called,,,, “gaygiarism”. PS – Mark, feel “especially proud” to steal that term from me.
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