Hollywood has long known gays make perfect “walkers”: arm candy for a girl in need of a red carpet date. And now high schoolers have discovered the value of a Gay Best Friend, according to a riveting new column in Teen Vogue!
“A few years ago, all the popular, pretty girls were walking hand in hand with a preppy jock,” says some random teen the magazine quotes. “Now you’ll see them in hallways with a Mulberry bag on one arm and a Johnny Weir look-alike on the other.” They all want Chris Colfer to be their GBF!
But beware, ladies. Having a gay in your lives might destroy your chances to meeting Mr. Right (whatever that means inside high school dating circles), according to the subliminal message I took away from this:
Maggie,* a seventeen-year-old Bostonian, found that since becoming so close to her GBF, she spends less time with her straight guy friends. “It’s nice because I don’t have to stress about Kevin* developing feelings for me,” she says. “Pretty much every time I’ve formed a bond with a straight guy, he ended up being attracted to me, and I would wind up hurting him when he found out I didn’t feel the same way.”
She has even noticed that she’s been dating less and less. “At this point in my life, I’ve realized that I’m not that interested in having a serious romantic relationship with a guy. I’m too young, and I just want to have fun.” Maggie also appreciates Kevin’s honesty, adding: “I can always count on him to tell me the truth, even when he knows that I don’t want to hear it.” In her case, that includes dispensing both fashion guidance (like telling her that she doesn’t actually look cute in that orange Marc by Marc Jacobs poncho) and serious life advice (he was the only one who had the courage to tell her she looked too thin a year ago).
Gay best friends: The new Polly Pocket?
Just remember the ultimate rule of GBFs, tween and teen gals: There will come a time when you’re going to have to start asking about their romantic interests and their sex lives. And there will also come a time where, no, we cannot go to the movies with you because we have a frickin’ hot date and, yes, it’s with your ex-boyfriend.
WTF?
Ask us about our romantic lives? What world are you living in? Gay men are perceived as a fashionable accessory and far too many of them are happy to play ol’ Steppin Swish, further fueling the stereotypes. You can’t uphold it with one limp wrist and admonish it with the other.
Yet Another
@WTF?:
Lighten up.
fredo777
I have to say, I also have an issue with gay men being seen as trendy accessories for women like a small dog in a tote bag.
I have female friends but I would never + have never allowed them to trot me around like a new scarf. I’ve also turned down offers from girls I didn’t even know who just wanted a “gay friend to go shopping with so bad”. Um…no.
Satsuma
What? The gentlemen I’m good friends with are generally sweet, smart, and snappy dressers too– the gay ones and the straight ones alike. I’d hate to miss out on my fabulous straight friends just because I don’t trust them to understand boundaries, just like I’d hate to miss out on my awesome gay friends because they don’t always want to go shopping. Not to say that I wouldn’t love being friends with with Kurt (fictional status aside), but to befriend someone because of sexual orientation seems so patronizing.
tonic.
Why does anyone care if their friends are gay or straight? I like to hang out with cool people…their gender and sexual persuasion are irrelevant.
Bobby
That was a VERY cute article, but poignant too…I never undersestimate the groundwork laid out in high school. This acceptance, almost encouragment to be gay by our FEMALE STRAIGHT FRIENDS is a huge, huge pillar of strength in the future for the gay community. Often, that popular female friends turns in to the popular gay advocate. When a gay kid is in high school walking the halls by himself, he’s just a f*g to immature brats. When he’s walking the halls with Heather who defends him when gay bashed, suddenly others take notice and reevaluate their own actions. No one in high school knows who they are and the “populars” dictate it all..might as well have them dictate a positive message of acceptance than not. Especially knowing if this generation is so welcoming and open from such an early age, it’s a positive sign for the future!
Boystown Boy
Its a security thing for the gay man. If your best friends with the girl the football team wants to date, you know they’re not going to jump you after the game.
me
did it ever occur to you that perhaps some of us don’t feel used by these women and that we genuinely cherish their friendship? speak for yourself for once.
and also try not to play the victim quite so much. it’s getting old. people don’t take our whining seriously anymore.
Sexy Rexy
I remember girls in HS always telling me their most intimate secrets, and this was way before I came out. “There is something about you, SR, that makes me wanna confide in you”. One girl said. She told me in detail about her periods, pregnancy, and how large her BF’s dick was. I was pretty much only interested in the latter.
Julie
Male homosexuality is on the rise, ladies. By the time you turn 18, there will be no straight men left.
This means no dates, no sex, and no babies.
Mwahahaha. Another example of females screwing themselves over.