By Dear Straight People,
One of your kind recently told me that the way she differentiates gay men from the straight ones is by looking at the number of selfies he takes.
If he takes more selfies than me, I automatically assume that he is gay.
That line was the start of a very interesting conversation that really got both of us thinking. Yes, I’m well aware that her statement is based on a stereotype that doesn’t apply to every gay man out there blah blah blah but as a gay man myself, I can’t help but agree with her that gay men do seem to take a lot more selfies than their straight counterparts. I mean sure, everyone, and I mean everyone with a camera phone has taken selfies at one point or another. In fact, selfies have become so prevalent in our modern culture that someone actually made a hit song about it!
While there is nothing wrong with taking selfies, the question of why gay men take so many selfies is an interesting question to ponder over.
And no, it’s not because our gay genes make us naturally more narcissistic than straight men
Nor is it because we all suffer from low self-esteem
The reason why I think gay men take so many selfies is because we are judged heavily by our online personas!
You see, gay men don’t really have the luxury of meeting other gay men in real life. For a lot of us, the only way we get to interact with and meet other gay men is through online avenues. And because of that, online profiles matter a lot more to a gay man than they would to a straight dude. First impressions count a lot and for gay men, the first impression that other gay men form of us is usually highly dependent on our online personas. If we don’t have a nice picture of ourselves on our social media profiles, no one is going to want to talk to us. So in an effort to improve our online profiles, we perfect the art of taking selfies and spam our masterpieces on our social media platforms.
The result of all of that is that it creates a culture of selfie taking. For many gay men, their social circles tend to comprise primarily of only gay men. So when the majority of their friends flood their social media feed with countless selfies, it becomes a social norm for the gay community. Thus, what straight people may deem to be too many selfies is actually considered pretty normal to gay men.
For many straight men however, the only people in their social circle taking selfies are girls and so, taking selfies is often perceived to be a feminine thing. Since most straight men are so protective of their masculinity, many of them rarely take selfies.
So there you have it. The answer to why gay men take too many selfies is because our social environment encourages us to do so!
So now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go practice my selfie taking skills to up my selfie game.
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