This thread reminded me of something I’ve noticed: fairly often someone that seems (or is) gay will be described in mainstream media as “flamboyant.” Now, in some cases they are “given to ostentatious or audacious display,” but in others they either aren’t if they are, it has no bearing on the story. One of the most obvious I can recall was on a Border’s listening station for Queen’s Greatest Hits, they say something to the effect of “led by flamboyant frontman Freddie Mercury.”
As the title asks, has “flamboyant” come to be a synonym for “gay”?
I can’t say, but my father was once introduced to a fairly well-known actor. He shook the actor’s hand, looked him right in the eye, spoke briefly to him and later declared definitively
“He’s not gay, he’s just theatrical.”
I think flamboyancy has become a trait of some gay men, but I would say the two are definitely different. I could imagine a proud and loud straight guy driving around in his midlife-crisis convertible, getting out, putting on his sunglasses and strutting to the clubhouse of a country club where he brags and guffaws about his stock options… That could be interpreted as flamboyant, but he wouldn’t be considered gay. He’d just be a stupid pompous asshat.
Main Entry: 1**flam·boy·ant **
Pronunciation: -&nt
Function: adjective
Etymology: French, from present participle of flamboyer to flame, from Old French, from flambe
Date: 1832
1 often capitalized : characterized by waving curves suggesting flames <flamboyant tracery> <flamboyant architecture>
2 : marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behavior
-
flam·boy·ant·ly adverb
So its safe to say that being flamboyant doesnt mean youre gay.
It pretty much means you “act” like a flaming homo.
I can assure you that only an utter idiot would presume that flamboyance means that one will “‘act’ like a flaming homo”. I can and have been simultaneously quite masculine and quite flamboyant.
Tooling down the road in a roaring convertable with a nearly-topless babe in the passenger seat, a backseat full of primo tequila, while letting the whole neighborhood indulge in your love of Sammy Hagar is thoroughly flamboyant.
I used to have an old Battlestar Galactic trading card with Starbuck on it. On the back, he was described as flamboyant. Starbuck was a womanizer.
weell i guess some people cant read the small print
2 : marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behavior
Blasting Sammy Hagar to your neighborhood isnt colorful or flamboyant. Its annoying and crass.
Dogface, I don’t think that’s a common usage of the word anymore. I really do think it’s synonymous with flaming.
Gay folks can be flamboyant.
Flamboyant folks can be gay.
Flamboyant folks aren’t necessarily gay.
Gay folks aren’t necessarily flamboyant.
Well, if you’d ever seen Queen in concert at Madison Square Garden, and watched a bare-chested Freddy Mercury sashaying around the stage with a pink feather boa, saying “I love New York… it’s soooo tacky,” you’d know what flamboyant means!
From what I’ve heard, though, while Mercury WAS gay full-time, he was only flamboyant on stage. Off-stage, supposedly, he was a much more shy, reserved and private person.
As is referring to people as “flaming homos” or acting like same…
gotta be accurate.
I never refered to anyone as flaming homos. I said that they acted like flaming homos. That doesnt mean they are flaming homos. Not all gays act like flaming homos either.
For the G rated version, go read Kalhoun post above. Its is quite succinct. Mine was more colorful. Crass mayhaps but colorful.
<ends with a flourish>
ok that was gay… :dubious:
I’ve heard Brian Molko referred to as “Placebo’s flamboyant frontman.” Now, he is flamboyant, definitely. The man wears more eyeliner than I do and positively drips with glitter. And he is bisexual. But I don’t know whether “flamboyant” really means “gay” when applied to him, as he’s apparently much more into girls than guys.
Maybe “flamboyant” is a reference to people who aren’t afraid of fitting the gay sterotype?
Ah, excuse me. I had not realized that you were a complete bigot, utterly running your life by stupidity, ignorance and prejudice. I shall remember this whenever I read your further posts.
ooookay…
:rolleyes:
While this doesn’t answer the OP, the rise of the term “gay” in the 1920’s in the US possibly had something to do with some homosexuals who were “flamboyant.” The terms “faggot” and “queen” appear to have developed around the same time to refer to gays who were rather ostentatious in their dress and manner.
Everything old is new again. Only reversed.
Fine. For the sake of accuracy and trying hard to remember that this is not the Pit, use of the term “flaming homo” in a discussion of or relating to homosexuality is annoying and crass and you did in fact refer to a segment of the gay population as “flaming homos” by use of the term. So quit being a jerk, say you’re sorry and knock it the fuck off.
well now, pardon my sincere confusion. Here are my exact words:
*So its safe to say that being flamboyant doesnt mean youre gay.
It pretty much means you “act” like a flaming homo.
*
tell me again where in there did I refer to any of the gay population? If you examine the phrase closely you can almost see its origins. Flaming Homo=Flamboyant homosexual. 2 words that are distinct and separate and not synonomous with each other.
Just because you act a certain way doesnt mean that is what you are, which is the gist of the OP. I have nothing to apologize for.
X~Slayer(ALE
I think the agression is based less on your point and more on your phrasing. “Flaming homo” was not the most ideal way to go about phrasing yourself.
Ah That makes more sense. While I may understand the negative connotations of the phrase, again if you look at it theres hardly anything really negative about the phrase. I hear this particular phrase among the gay community and on television (Will and Grace) often times in a light mood. Its certainly not anything that any self respecting homosexual man would feel overly insulted over. Its mostly a problem with the in-betweeners. Those who havent decided which side of the sexual fence they are on and are ashamed of what they think they are.
I believe I debated this position in this forum about the word “nigger”. While that word certainly has deep negative meanings, the black community continue to use it amongst themselves. The word itself is not evil (much like the phrase in question). It is the context with which it is used that should be in question. These are just words. In and of themselves they are harmless. It is when it is used as a weapon of aggression that we must fight against.