the author of this thing i’m reading briefly gives her explanation for why leftist men call gay men “elitist and privileged,” and this is in 1984, just in case you thought that shit was new. the idea that gay men are somehow especially privileged has been a trendy radical hot take for ages, not just nowadays when people use our recent hard-won legal progress to tell themselves homophobia is over
#since at least the late 19th century and early 20th century gayness (especially in men) #has been seen as something bourgeois and decadent #depictions of gayness were either the dandy or the fop #who was rich and air headed and an idiot #or some type of slumlord coupled with a sex worker (obviously using crueler language) #when socialism/communism started coming to power in certain states in the 20th century #gayness (in men) was banned/made illegal on the grounds it was a western import derived from bourgeois sensibilities #Engels actually wrote to Marx once about the Homintern a (fake) organization of gay men whom he thought were going to take over and dismantle #the communist party from the inside out as a result of their deep seated love and really necessity for living bourgeois lifestyles #gay men have for decades (if not centuries) been caricatures of people - #seen as too stupid too undereducated too inundated with capital and bourgeois lifestyles to successfully #organize or understand deep seated political critiques not to mention a perceived inability to #be leaders in a political sense in a leftist society #the left still believes this wholeheartedly in a lot of ways #it’s clouded with language but depending on the academ? it’s incredibly #open especially if you know what to look for (tags via @cebeauserge)