Lesbians and folk music? Gay men and dance music?

Cafe Society
1

The gay station on Sirius, late at night, features dance music. A while ago, there was a pirate radio staton in Cleveland catering to gays, which played mostly dance music. My gay intern loves dance and techno music*. Meanwhile, head to a “womyn’s music festival,” and most of what you’ll hear on stage is folk music.

Maybe my perceptions are wrong, but it seems as if a disproportionately large number of gay men like dance, at least compared to the population as a whole. Lesbian woman seem to prefer folk more so than straight women. The intern, nor could my gay and lesbian friends, explain it; it’s just what they listen to, as if they’re hardwired for certain tastes in music, they explain. I know there’s going to be exceptions, buy why are these preferences so prevalent among the gay and lesbian community?

2

WAG Stereotypes here: The majority of gay men I’ve known have been clothes horses, and going out to the dance bars gives them the opportunity to show off their stuff. The majority of gay women I’ve known have been fairly quiet, centered, “hippie”-type people, who were more interested in the words than the music.

3

I guess I’m your exception. Dance music is just… meh.

4

Because that’s what other gay and lesbian people listen to.

5

Another queer registering his dislike for tha dance music.

6

It’s not that gay men like dance music. It’s that straight men actively reject it, because

Do I really have to spell it out?

Straight men can’t dance.

7

Obviously, neither gender nor sexual preference determines musical preference, but here’s my thought regarding the apparent pattern mentioned in the OP:

Perhaps Gay men who like dance music are noticed because gay men + dance music = guys dancing together! For the most part, you’re ONLY going to find gay guys dancing together in gay clubs, so there is an association made between gay guys and dance clubs. (Gay guys who like music but whose musical choice is not conducive to dancing don’t have to congregate in order to enjoy themselves, so no one notices them.) Also, it was illegal for gay men to dance together until quite recently, so I think dancing together is a rare and joyful opportunity to say “We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re having a great time, dammit!” After that, I suspect it just became a cultural thing. If you’re a gay guy, and you’re looking for other gay guys, where else are you going to go but to somewhere you know they’ll be?

Folk music? Well, what can I say? Im a dyke, and I hate it. BUT, once upon a time, when lesbians never saw themselves openly represented in music, in books, or anywhere else in society (except, occasionally, as pathetic and/or dangerous freaks), and they wanted to tell their OWN story in music, folk music was a natural choice. It tells a story, and it is very low tech. All you need is a guitar, if that. And, again, it became a tradition. (FWIW, there have been and are plenty of lesbian punk and rock bands, albeit not in the Top 40.)

At the risk of being accused of sexism, it makes sense: guys expressing themselves with their primarily with their bodies, gals expressing themselves primarily with their words. The fact that the guys are gay guys and the gals are lesbians doesn’t make a difference.

Please don’t bother to point out that women (or womyn, or wimmin, if you prefer) also love their bodies, and also love to dance, and that men are also capable of expressing themselves with heartfelt lyrics (and not just on Broadway). I know. I’m just talking about one possible explanation for how certain things became associated with certain groups.

8

As a Gay man, I think there is some truth to what you are saying.

I have been to many a Gay festival and in the section where there is dance music, you will find 95 percent Gay, shirtless men dancing like there was no tomorrow.

At the other corner of the festival grounds, there is the stage with Lesbian folk singers…but also Lesbian poets.

That said, my SO and I hate to dance, although we don’t mind watching the others guys dancing (duh) and like most of the music. But a few Lesbian singers, can actually grab the attention of some of the guys and I see a few listening.

However, the vast majority of Gays and Lesbians at those festivals don’t go to either the dance or folk song fests…if you want to see the real meld, go to the Country and Western tent and watch both men and women line dancing…or go to the food area…or near the beer tents.

West Hollywood has lots of dance bars, and lots of guys go there…but on any given night, over half the bar never gets out there and shakes their booty, but again…the view is nice of those who do. And having gone to the Palms (a Lesbian bar in West Hollywood) I have seen a lot of women dancing to the same music the boys are dancing to down the street.

9

This is an important point - gay clubs predate dance music. They were a necessary way of getting around the repression (legal & cultural) of the time. Dance music also had origins in nightclubs, both gay and straight. So I guess it was a happy coincidence that led to them meeting, and both being able to move towards the mainstream at similar times.

10

No, no, no. It’s completely hard-wired, as the OP suggests.

I must be the exception that proves the rule, or else a hopeless self-loathing closet case, becuase I (as well as every gay man I’ve ever been attracted to) hates dancing and dance music. And my favorite bands are Led Zeppelin, Soul Coughing, and the Pixies, and I own every Indigo Girls album.

11

Aha! Clearly that makes you a lesbian.

12

This may sound incredibly naiive, but it’s more a WAG out looking for support or a smack-down. Could this be a contributing factor in the popularity of disco back in the '70’s?

The reason I wonder is the timing during the sexual revolution. Women were mostly liberated sexually by then, and it was just a matter of time for gays to assert themselves. Added to that, a lot of groups (Village People, Bee-Gees, etc) were less than, well, masculine. And what is dance/techno today other than modern disco?

Does that idea have any grounding, or am I way off base here?

13

I wish! Lesbians get all the hot men!

Wait, that’s not it…