Why are the arts so gay?

[Zolitair]

As a straight male that is involved in arts all his life i call this total bullshit!!!
I am in Music and have a lot of friends and colleagues in art. Yes there are a lot of free spirited people in the arts section but, at least those who i have met, the percentance of gay people is normal like all sections. I have met a lot of bi people, most of them women in the arts but only a few gay, men and women.

Please do not make assumptions.... there are gay, bi and straight people in all sections.

 

[leftwantingmore]

I have been a musician for 58 years. It takes all kinds of people from all persuasions, preferences, genders and orientations.

 

[Sunnyade]

I have been a musician for 58 years. It takes all kinds of people from all persuasions, preferences, genders and orientations.

Easier to be openly Gay or whatever in an environment where people are more accepting, less judgemental?

 

[Phatfeet]

Why is it that the proportion of gays in the arts always seems to be greater than in the general population? What is it about a same-sex orientation that correlates with artistic inclinations?

Even gay athletes seem to gravitate to sports involving some element of artistic expression, like gymnastics or figure skating.

Despite knowing the original poster is a troll just stirring up strife for some sick, demented reasoning, I will reply, but rather for the more refined forum members on here that will be reading this.

The biggest thing is, the arts: no matter if it is the visual, literary or performing arts does not work in that way.

Art… is just appreciated on an individual scale. What appeals to you, may not appeal to me, and it does not matter. What matters is; you may like a painting, a poem, a book or a play and buy these for your home, and if something famous, a lithograph or reproduction. Or go to the theater, local or on Broadway. Or catch a movie, or even a concert whether it be your niece in a choir or you being a "Swifty" at a Taylor Swift concert.

The arts have NOTHING to do with your preferred gender. It is whatever you appreciate and why the arts are so powerful and motivating, both in days of antiquity and now. It is a mankind sort of thing and not gender-oriented.

 

[Phatfeet]

Straight guys are only interested in cars, sports and lawn care.

I am extremely disappointed by this post from you.

While clearly the original post was a troll just starting strife, this was extremely disappointing to read. Really? Such an absolute statement, and obviously being nowhere near accurate.

To be fair, this reply is just as ignorant as the original poster, just on the entire other side of the scale.

I think it was just a quick post made in haste, and am sure you truly do not believe this bigotry, but you should consider having it deleted. You are above making posts like this.

 

[leftwantingmore]

I am extremely disappointed by this post from you.

While clearly the original post was a troll just starting strife, this was extremely disappointing to read. Really? Such an absolute statement, and obviously being nowhere near accurate.

To be fair, this reply is just as ignorant as the original poster, just on the entire other side of the scale.

I think it was just a quick post made in haste, and am sure you truly do not believe this bigotry, but you should consider having it deleted. You are above making posts like this.

I could not agree more. BillyWarlus should know better. That is the reaction the troll was looking for. The troll said that "all art is lies", I asked for proof. I only got silence. I am a non-heterosexual and I always ask for proof when I see a blanket statement like that. I know BW was pissed.

 

[whiteasianlvr]

The arts often provide a space where talent is appreciated for what it is. Rather than a collective effort or ascribed to one's manhood, I.e. team sports, an artist excels in an often more individualized arena where he often competes against himself. While sportsmen who make exorbitant salaries bring unique skill sets as well, our respect for them is what they bring to the team and to the fight. I think the arts tends to be a safer area for gay men who may better compete in a less testosterone driven arena.

 

[bobb64]

I could not agree more. BillyWarlus should know better. That is the reaction the troll was looking for. The troll said that "all art is lies", I asked for proof. I only got silence. I am a non-heterosexual and I always ask for proof when I see a blanket statement like that. I know BW was pissed.

if you look at other threads billywalrus has commented on he answers like that alot.

 

[Wilson23]

Despite knowing the original poster is a troll just stirring up strife for some sick, demented reasoning

Arrant nonsense. The question posed in the OP is one I have always sincerely wondered about. It might not be true but it is something "everybody knows" -- wouldn't any of you be perplexed, to hear of such thing as a straight male fashion designer? Even straight male ballet dancers are kinda weird, and I have known some.

 

[Wilson23]

Also worth mentioning is that this is a strictly male stereotype. No one ever asks, why are there so many lesbians in the arts?

Whatever that means, it means something. Like that artistic sensitivity is an essentially female thing, and one has more or less of it depending on how feminine is one's nature. Which, if true, would be a very important fact of human psychology.

 

[Wilson23]

And what is it about show tunes?!

I could sing you at least fifty!

 

[Phatfeet]

Arrant nonsense. The question posed in the OP is one I have always sincerely wondered about. It might not be true but it is something "everybody knows" -- wouldn't any of you be perplexed, to hear of such thing as a straight male fashion designer? Even straight male ballet dancers are kinda weird, and I have known some.

This is Circulatory Reasoning and it falls short miserably.

Circulatory Reasoning is failed logic because it is like saying, “my mechanic is always scamming me because when I take my car in for servicing, he finds five other things wrong with it”.

That is a false premise because it the particular facts that were left out that would cause a much different conclusion if considered. The fact the vehicle had 200,000 miles on it and was worn out was the true treason the mechanic found many problems, not because he was greedy.

The analogy holds true here, because you are concluding wrongly as well.

Give a free art class at a college and poll the people who show up and you will find the vast majority are heterosexual mothers, fathers, and children who just love to draw and paint. Or go to a symphony and poll those in the orchestra itself or in the audience and the majority will be heterosexual in nature. Or those engaged in the performing arts? Again, the majority enjoying the footlights will be heterosexual in nature.

How can I be so sure? The Law of Large Numbers. In society, the ratio of heterosexuality to homosexuality is 98 to 2.

The reason you believe otherwise is because of Cognitive Bias. There is a two percent chance the Goalie in Hockey is homosexual, just as there is a ninety-eight percent chance the Figure Skater is heterosexual. But this holds true to anyone in society. You do not feel that way because one wears padding and is bulked up and looks formidable, where the other wears a tight-fitting leotard. In other words, one fits the narrative of what you feel a masculine man should look like, while the other does not.

In other words, they look homosexual to you, so you conclude they must be, and that simply is not true. That is proved by your statement, "Even straight male ballet dancers are kinda weird, and I have known some". That just shows your narcissistic personality because "weird" is very subjective and being defined only by you.

Incidentally, @BillyWalrus comment is the same, but is showing Cognitive Bias from the opposing side.

 

[Wilson23]

This is Circulatory Reasoning and it falls short miserably.

The word is "circular."

 

[leftwantingmore]

@Phatfeet, damn well said. 100% correct!

 

[nostuff]

Why is it that the proportion of gays in the arts always seems to be greater than in the general population? What is it about a same-sex orientation that correlates with artistic inclinations?

Even gay athletes seem to gravitate to sports involving some element of artistic expression, like gymnastics or figure skating.

Your question assumes that the arts attract a higher proportion of gays than those represented in the general population. Maybe that's true, perhaps not. I would ask what evidence supports the assumption.

I'm not aware of any such evidence, based on objective statistical analysis, and that makes me suspect the assumption is based on little more than centuries of stereotyping and bigotry.

Or to pose a counter question: Why does the NFL attract a higher proportion of gays than those represented in the general population?

The impulse, I'm sure, is to dismiss my counter question as flawed, because everybody knows football players are, by definition, masculine and straight. Or is that just an assumption, based on a stereotype?

Gotta run and pick up my new ballet slippers. Or was it my cleats?

 

[Sounding22]

Your question assumes that the arts attract a higher proportion of gays than those represented in the general population. Maybe that's true, perhaps not. I would ask what evidence supports the assumption.

I'm not aware of any such evidence, based on objective statistical analysis, and that makes me suspect the assumption is based on little more than centuries of stereotyping and bigotry.

Or to pose a counter question: Why does the NFL attract a higher proportion of gays than those represented in the general population?

The impulse, I'm sure, is to dismiss my counter question as flawed, because everybody knows football players are, by definition, masculine and straight. Or is that just an assumption, based on a stereotype?

Gotta run and pick up my new ballet slippers. Or was it my cleats?

You’ll find most that appreciate the arts no matter what form are a little out there, look at so many musicians and not just classical but brilliant writers/composers etc. plus the other arts.
There are many gays, straights and out there’s like the one that cut his ear off