One of the pre-bedtime things I like to do is go onto Pinterest and do a keyword search for "gay" plus some other keyword. Sometimes I'll search for gay Wicca (hot male witches). Sometimes I'll search for gay Beltane. Last year there were no pins for "gay" and "Beltane," but I just double-checked and I'd say the Boolean logic for the results has changed: if Pinterest can't find pins that are both "gay" AND "Beltane" it will default to "gay" OR "Beltane." Interspersed between Goddess quotes and (presumably straight) Maypole dances and hand-fastings are shirtless studs posing against trees with leaves, flowers and antlers.
This isn't what I'm looking for.
The other night I did an elemental search. "Gay" and "Earth" didn't really turn up a unified set of pictures, although there was a run on John Barrowman, the actor who plays Captain Jack Harkness. "Gay" and "Air" wasn't too much better; there were a few hot male angels, but what came up the most was the Enola Gay. "Gay" and "Water" resulted in screen after screen of merguys; I should have known. "Gay" and "Fire" came in second place for most homogeneous search: hot firemen (rescue me!).
I'm not exactly looking for hot, bare-chested guys in merman tails or half-clad firemen (although they are easy on the eyes). That's the fantasy. I'm not even looking for two guys kissing or some stud with his hand suggestively hovering over his groin. Apparently this (oh, and anime) is what the collective conscious of Pinterest thinks is gay.
What this has taught me is that Pinterest isn't the best place to look for a statement on gay male identity.
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