Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue etc - why are they regarded as gay icons? Is there some sort of criteria?
How does someone become a gay icon?
- Thread starter Miss Chicken
- Start date
Not positive, but I am pretty sure being fabulous is like one of the top two criteria.
A
Amaris
Guest
If I were to hazard a guess, it would be a woman of great classical femininity and beauty, who represents glamor and styling of the bygone Hollywood silver screen and theater era.
I have been looking through the list of 50 most popular gay icons here
Your explanation doesn't explain why
David Beckham is in 6th place
Cary Grant is in 11th place
Barbie (the doll) is in 21st place (or maybe your explanation does work in this case)
or why Gordon Ramsay managed to scrap in in 50th place.
A
Amaris
Guest
Well, I'm just guessing. I'm not sure what comes together to make a "gay icon".
Well speaking for my people... well not all of them but maybe some of them... or maybe two of them... I think the idea of a "gay icon" is a little vague. A gay icon could be so many things because it means something a little different to each of us. The main criteria is being famous but there is one thing that people miss that is more important, the persona.
For example, lets take the most famous one, Judy Garland. She was talented, beautiful, ethereal, had loads of style, could command a room and was expertly groomed. She was also a personal mess with all the booze, drugs, men and mental issues. Those things captured our attention. We relate to her sense of dramatics and outer perfection. We also understand the personal chaos that she tried desperately to control and hide. And why? We are very much the same way. We create a persona to hide our own damage or fear.
But you can also take this a step further. Creating an icon is a coping mechanism. We use them to help tailor ourselves. You see, there are no real gay heroes or mentors. From childhood we are forced to live in a world that is built for someone else. Sometimes it is indifferent to us. Sometimes it beats us down. Sometimes it confuses the hell out of us. So to find a touchstone, something to look up to, we begin searching for someone that we can relate. And once we find them, we slap them on a pedestal and look to them for guidance when we need it. So basically, we make our own heroes, patched together from people who remind us of ourselves. (And for the record, mine was Cary Grant.)
Hopefully that makes sense.
(And I have no idea why David Beckham or Gordan Ramsey is even on that list. Maybe because David is so pretty and Gordan is such an arrogant bitch? We tend to be attracted to those things.)
For example, lets take the most famous one, Judy Garland. She was talented, beautiful, ethereal, had loads of style, could command a room and was expertly groomed. She was also a personal mess with all the booze, drugs, men and mental issues. Those things captured our attention. We relate to her sense of dramatics and outer perfection. We also understand the personal chaos that she tried desperately to control and hide. And why? We are very much the same way. We create a persona to hide our own damage or fear.
But you can also take this a step further. Creating an icon is a coping mechanism. We use them to help tailor ourselves. You see, there are no real gay heroes or mentors. From childhood we are forced to live in a world that is built for someone else. Sometimes it is indifferent to us. Sometimes it beats us down. Sometimes it confuses the hell out of us. So to find a touchstone, something to look up to, we begin searching for someone that we can relate. And once we find them, we slap them on a pedestal and look to them for guidance when we need it. So basically, we make our own heroes, patched together from people who remind us of ourselves. (And for the record, mine was Cary Grant.)
Hopefully that makes sense.
(And I have no idea why David Beckham or Gordan Ramsey is even on that list. Maybe because David is so pretty and Gordan is such an arrogant bitch? We tend to be attracted to those things.)
I'm trying my best.
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
Everyone's got a skill. 
Nardpuncher
Rear Admiral
I had a feeling quite a few years back that Fran Drescher would become a gay icon.
^Wasn't that just that nanny-character she played?
(If one image-searches David Beckham in bed one'll get a few pages of something akin to gay centrefold-soft-porn... I suppose that's at least part of the reason why he's on that list. - I mean, take a look at this image - boots, jeans, tighti-whities, the hair-cut, the I'm ready for you-pose... and tell me that isn't gay porn!)
I like what Astrosmurf said quite a lot, and think I pretty much agree with it. I would add, however, that -- in addition to the qualities our smurfiliscious friend listed -- a willingness to be friendly with and/or supportive of gay people is often a factor. I think this played into the popularity of, for instance, Judy Garland, Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant (though there were always rumors that he was, in fact, merely "one of us"), Dorothy Parker, and the list goes on.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Just my 2 cents worth.
I hate it when not one, but BOTH, the jokes I had in mind on reading the thread title get done by the time I reach a thread.
Bitches.
You're right. But there are also nude pics of him out there which he had taken for a magazine. Let's just say, he's really well hung. So, yeah, he's quite attractive to men and women alike, I suppose.
I hate it when not one, but BOTH, the jokes I had in mind on reading the thread title get done by the time I reach a thread.
Bitches.
In my book you already are a gay icon, my friend.
Damn you for making me look that up! And damn you for making me admit, "That is one impressive penis."
^ I hate to burst everyone's bubble but... that is a fake. Sorry. 
Is it wrong that I'm dissapointed?
^ Only if you think so. 
