There is an interesting example of the distinction prisoner6655321 makes between interior designers and interior decorators. In his book Open Secret: Gay Hollywood 1928-1998, David Ehrenstein writes that while most of the art directors at Hollywood studios were straight, most of the set decorators were gay. Art direction is the architectural work of designing sets. Set decorators dressed the sets with furniture, wallpaper, carpets, curtains, props, etc.
Whoops! Wrong author, wrong book! I meant Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969 by William J. Mann.
That would also describe urban planning, a profession that is considered very closely related to architecture. Planning is “gay friendly,” in that urban planners as a whole tend to be fairly liberal and open-minded, but it’s not a “gay profession” like interior design. There’s certainly a higher percentage of gays in urban planning than in … oh, civil engineering, but planning is far from a “gay ghetto.”
Another profession related to architecture and urban planning, landscape architecture, isn’t considered “gay” either, despite some elements that would seem stereotypically very appealing to gays; design-oriented, and dealing with plants and flowers. Every landscape architect I know is married.
Interior design, in its infancy, wouldn’tve been called interior design. You need to stretch back further than the 1950s, because we’re talking about impressions that’ve been around for much much longer.
Did people in the 1800s make the distinction between “interior decorators” and “interior designers”? Did they, in fact, really consider themselves as having either? Not from everything I’ve read, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. You had the architect who built the place and possibly painted it, then you had the wife, or if they were rich, the artists who decorated the insides and pulled in furnishings.
The simple fact is that you’re insisting gay men have some special trait that makes them more sensitive to this area of employment, and yet you fall into the same trap as most of society…
There’s nothing inherently feminine about improving what is there (interior decorating). There is a certain talent, but its not unique at all to gay men and women as we see more these days. On TV, for example, I see more straight men every time I flip it on.
Bullshit.
I’ve shopped with straight men at Pier One, Bed Bath and Beyond(oh, the things we saw in the BEYOND) and even IKEA.
Wow.
They were just secure. And your comments aren’t based on fact but are incredibly stereotypical.
**elmwood **,
Yep. You’re absolutely right. Thank you for emphasizing my point. Lanscape Architecture, nor Urban Planning deal with elements that women stereotypically are interested in. Sure some gay men would most certainly enjoy the profession. The differences between gay men are more different between being gay and being straight. But since gay men appreciate the feminine moreso than straight men (who want it in thier lives but don’t try to emulate it) it seems likely to me that they would enjoy a job that has some feminity to it more. Maybe I’m just allowing my ignorance to show through again so I apologize if I’m offending any of you. I’m just pointing out a theory contrary to the other theories posted so far.
Priam,
You may be right. Honestly, I don’t have any specific knowledge about Interior Design History. So I don’t blame you for doubting every word I say. However I do know Architectural History, especially around the turn of the century. (That’s when my favorite Architect (Gaudi) was working full throttle and it’s the period of history that most influences today’s Architecture.) All of what I say are my impressions I get from my knowledge of Architectural History. Maybe I’ll ask my Interior Designer friend.
Anyway, there might not be anything inherently feminine about improving what is there, On TV I see more and more shows like trading spaces. They started a sort of TV interior decorating revolution didn’t they? These shows all seem to have a gay interior decorator showing up. Home time and This Old House (which don’t have (flamingly) gay men on them) are construction related. They concentrate much less on the interiors. The only newer show that I haven’t seen any gay men on is Monster House. But I only watched it once. But every time I flip the channel and Trading Spaces is on or one of the other newer shows, there is a gay man over-flaunting is homosexuality.
I’m not judging, but I get the impression he’s just showing off.
I have to disagree with you that there is not a female quality that enjoys interior decorating. VERY VERY few of my male friends have a place that I would call stylish. Every place ANY of my (single) straight male friends have is either messy or it’s just a place to live. He might have a stereo, an X-Box, a big TV and some pictures on the wall. But he does NOT have throw cushions. He probably doesn’t have curtains. And he certainly doesn’t have potpourri. I don’t know about gay men’s places, but just about every girl I’ve ever known has all of those things. Seems feminine to me. I may not find potpourri in a gay man’s place, but I’ll just bet I find curtains and probably a design theme. I may find a theme at a straight friends house, but it’s probably just an IKEA theme.* If it’s not IKEA then it’s probably somthiing sterotypically male, like cars or gadgets. But the second a woman moves in, the place gets a “feminine” style. Is it a coincidence that gay men stylize their homes, women stylize their homes, and straight men don’t? Maybe, but I don’t think so.
Okay, you know my point. I’m not trying to say it’s right. I’m just putting it out there as a possible alternative to “I don’t want to be abused anymore so I’ll just work at a position that will accept me.” As a gay man, do you like the idea of putting a building together? Maybe not, maybe so. Some of my straight friends don’t like that either, so I know it’s not just being male that makes you like to build. But do some of your gay friends like to build? My point is that whether we are conditioned or it’s somewhat genetic, men, even gay men (since most adult gay men were assumed to be straight when they were young) have a certain fascination with building. I may be wrong. But not knowing many gay men that’s my guess. Furthermore, most gay men have the advantage of having some style, in general. I know I’m right. It may be a stereotype, but that is one of the major stereotypes so it stands to reason that it’s based somewhat on fact. I don’t know if they get that style from the female perspective. And I don’t necessarily think that gay men understand the female perspective any more than straight men. Seems to me like they should understand it less, since they don’t go out on dates with them, nor do they spend the rest of their lives with one. But I could certainly be wrong. They do develop deep platonic friendships with Women.
I may be totally off my rocker. But this is all my opinion. Disagree with me, but that’s my answer to the OP. You have yours. I have mine. Maybe I’m not the best person to answer the question, since I’m not gay. But I am in Architecture. I work with Interior Designers, female and gay, and I have a straight male good friend who has a degree in Interior Design. So I think I have enough knowledge to put a reasonable theory out there.
*IKEA is a cheap cheaply made but stylish danish? home store that’s popular with college grads and people on a budget. I’m working on a movie poster theme. I get my poster frames from IKEA. Cheapest place I can find poster frames that large, about $15.
Astro I thought you were just a sandwich man. I had no idea you were into interior design.
Yes, you are judging.
Flaunting? Over-flaunting?
Whatever.
\
See, this is where you go wrong. Gay men do not “appreciate the feminine” more than straight men do. You’re just wrong about that, and since it’s the cornerstone of your entire thesis here I think you just need to give up on it.
Oh, whatever. I give up on it. 
For what it’s worth, when I was in art school (1989-1993), I couldn’t say with certainty that ANY of the Interior Design majors were gay, though there were more females majoring in it than men.
I talked to my Interior Design friend. He said that the first two Interior Designers ever were gay men. He said that Interior Design sprung up mostly from interior decorating but Architecture was a part of it. In the early period a lot of Architects did the interior design but because of the increasing emphasis on budget people specailizing in interiors became more popular.
So my assumed history is wrong, sort of.
He did confirm my definition of Interior Design though. He also said that a lot of Interior Designers don’t actually do Interior Design. They do interior decorating and call it interior design. Some of them happen to be on TV. He said that those people are ruining Interior Design for people like him, who practice true Interior Design.
Anyway. I might have been wrong a bit but I still think there’s a teeny bit of truth to what I said. But I could be wrong.
Enough from me on this subject.
This is a very interesting question. Also why do gay men become florists too?