Masculinity and Homosexuality

Perry talked about how in the OC, being called gay is meant as an insult to the male characters' masculinity. I know I talk about homosexuality a lot in my blog posts, but I guess that's just because it's what stands out to me the most in the media. In my paper I talked about how the show "True Blood" is an allegory for the gay rights movement. In the show, there is a gay character named Lafayette. Lafayette does not fit this gay-men-are-all-effeminate stereotype that the men in the OC are so afraid of. On the contrary, Lafayette is one of the most masculine men in the show, despite the fact that he often cross-dresses, wears make-up and earrings, and peppers his speech with words like "sweetness" and "hot cakes."

Here are a few videos showing what Lafayette is like







As you can see in these videos, Lafayette is an effeminate character, but he still gives off an air of masculinity. He is extremely comfortable with his sexuality, to the point where his being gay is a minor part of his character, second to his drug dealing and prostitution. Lafayette is the exact opposite of the gay man that the OC men fear of being labeled as. He is more masculine than those men could ever hope to be.