It Is The Cause!

"It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul:
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!
It is the cause...."

I begin this post with a passage, excerpted from Shakespeare's Othello -- just before he kills Desdemona, to introduce the movie "Stage Beauty" (Billy Crudup / Claire Danes), in which this scene features prominantly. In this (dare I say it) "fabulous" film, Crudup plays the real life Ned Kynaston -- although the film makes no claims of historical accuracy.

You see, in the [early] 17th century, it was forbidden for women to "act" on the stage, so all the women's parts were played by men. The beautiful Kynaston was very convincing in his portrayals and became a star playing such roles. Having been bred and trained from a young boy for these roles, he was quite confused about his sexuality. When Charles II proclaimed in 1662 that women could finally play women onstage, (and that women's roles, in fact, had to be played by women), it changed the face of the English theater and left Kynaston unable [at first] to adjust to playing men's roles. (He did eventually make the adjustment and even married.)

Which brings me to my next point. Transvestites are not necessarily homosexual. Many people, as well as the gay (LGBT) community, lump all non-heteros together in the same category. Many transvestites are straight, with hetero-sexual lifestyles and proclivities. These "cross-dressers", (be it for professional or personal reasons), just like to dress up as women.

All this to segue to the topic of men ...masculinity in men, to be precise. Being a gay Black man, I'm well aware of the need to be "macho". The African-American community (and surely other ethnicities as well) have a narrowly defined concept of what a "man" is ...and how he should behave. There's even a rather large subculture of Black men who refuse to admit their homosexuality (or bisexuality, if you'd rather), and just have sex with other men on the "Down Low" ...just "kicking it" with the guys. They then return to their wives and girlfriends totally convinced that they're straight and firmly ensconced in their heterosexuality.

This concept of acceptable male behavior has been bred in all of us, and consciously or not, we do "value" the jock over the sissy. Even in the gay culture there are a large number of gay men who claim to have come to terms with their [homo] sexuality but then still describe themselves as "straight acting".

One of the bigger fears of the "straight" man is being called or thought of as being a "fag", and many men expend a lot of time and energy to counter this perception. For all of the hassles that come with being a gay man, this is a non-issue. You wanna buy that pink shirt? Do it! You admit to loving that "chick flick"? So what! The cologne you wear is a little too floral? No biggie! And when somebody "alludes" to your being "light in the loafers", you simply respond with, "So, what's your point."

BTW: The movie "Stage Beauty" will have even more significance if, like me, you're a fan of Shakespeare's Othello.

If you do like Shakespeare's Othello [on film], I highly recommend the Kenneth Branagh production in which the valorous-but-misled Othello is brilliantly portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, and Branagh is deliciously evil as the malicious, conniving Iago.

In this production, Irene Jacobs delivers an exceptional performance. She brings a vulnerability to the ill-fated Desdemona, which so illuminates the sheer misfortune of the character as I've not seen in any other portrayal.

Quote of the Week: "Put out the light, and then put out the light."