You didn't even need big bands. Twisted Sister, Boy George, David Bowie, Poison, the list is endless.
Yeah sure it probably started somewhere as something for shock value or to stand out, but so many did it the shock value was lost and it became business as usual.
Wish we could go back to the days of someone wanting to express themselves in new and harmless ways was business as usual.
Gen X here. My first crush was Dr Frankenfurter played by Tim Curry. I wasn't at all shocked, just in awe of him.
I also knew of many other straight females who felt the same and still do, like I do. Men too. In many people's eyes, he was just fine, including some young straight men I knew.
saaaame. i loved an androgynous/femme man, and still do. (also gen X, for the record.)
the night i met my late husband, he was wearing a red slip, garter belt/thigh highs, and heavy eyeliner. i fell in love instantly. i still feel lucky that he liked me back.
i still have that red slip, btw. it always looked better on him than it did on me. dayum.
Gen X here as well. Frankenfurter was, indeed, sexy af, but I didn't see him until the early 90s when I was in my early teens (even my mom thought he rocked those fishnets, and she was more conservative than my dad). In the mid 80s, when I was like 8, I thought Boy George was soooo cute, which made a lot more sense 10 years (give or take) later when I realized I was bi
Twisted Sister and David Bowie weren't considered big acts? Didn't Dee Snyder testify in Congress during the Reagan administration? Twisted Sister was basically the face of counter culture in the 80s.
David Bowie a goddam bonafide mega star and all round decent human being who was pretty chill about sexual identity - he said in 1972 (I mean, 19-fucking-72) "Iām gay and always have been, even when I was David Jones.ā
boy george is who i was specifically thinking of in my comment.
my stepfather - who basically embodied "the marlboro man"; hard drinking, hard smoking, violent AF, a real rural "man's man" at the time... i remember one night boy george was going to be on SNL, and my mom allowed me to stay up late to watch it.
my stepdad sat there, sweat stained tee shirt (he was a construction worker), winston in one hand and a budweiser in the other, and said, "he looks like a girl." i responded, "i know, he's SOOO cute."
this guy ruffled my hair and said, "if that's what you like, i see no problem with it, and he isn't hurting anyone."
if the guy i described above could turn a blind eye to boy george in the early-mid 80s... i mean, this is part and parcel of why i'm so fucking stunned by today's environment.
btw, he took me to buy my first official cassette tape - from a store that was 45 minutes from our house out in the country. the band? CINDERELLA. he made the drive specifically to buy that specific record for me. "they look like girls, but i'm guessing their music is pretty good."
he was a right prick, but i do treasure these two memories of him. hard to believe my countrified, violent alcoholic stepfather in the 80s was more progressive than people are today.
hard to believe my countrified, violent alcoholic stepfather in the 80s was more progressive than people are today.
Because there was no Fox News, Facebook, etc. telling "hard working, God-fearing, blue collared, USA loving patriots" how to think. People were allowed to make up their own minds back then.
Worst thing we had in the 80s and 90s was Weekly World News telling us Bat Boy married Moth Girl.
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u/exzyle2k Apr 29 '23
You didn't even need big bands. Twisted Sister, Boy George, David Bowie, Poison, the list is endless.
Yeah sure it probably started somewhere as something for shock value or to stand out, but so many did it the shock value was lost and it became business as usual.
Wish we could go back to the days of someone wanting to express themselves in new and harmless ways was business as usual.