James Finn
Apr 15, 2021

--

It's all so arbitrarily cultural. In Russia, for example, pink is a traditionally masculine color, or at an least appropriate color for straight men to swan around in. Look up photos of the notoriously homophobic Vladimir Putin and note how often he flaunts a pink shirt. But Russian has a specific word for light or pastel blue (goloboi) that is so associated with being gay or effeminate that it's a gay slur and even a synonym for gay. You won't see Putin wearing that color.

--

--

James Finn
James Finn

Written by James Finn

James Finn is an LGBTQ columnist, a former Air Force intelligence analyst, an alumnus of Act Up NY, and an agented but unpublished novelist.

No responses yet