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LAMBDXopinion 15 women "butch/" stud”"lipstick lesbian" or "femme" - this places people into gender categories as well. The "studs" will call the "femmes" names like "bitch" when they want to degrade them. Examining Masculinity When people hear that a man is LGBTIQ-identified, he loses masculine points to heterosexual men. He must be "a queer" a "fairy" or a "fag." All these terms mean "not a real man." To our society, a "real man" is strong, tall, big and dominant. He "fucks bitches," works out, plays sports and jokes around. He does what he likes, when he likes and who he likes. A real man shouldn't be questioned. His answers are correct, his questions answered and his intentions are good. He has good ad vice and knows how to lead in situations like a "real man" should. He played foot ball or basketball in high school and was always "friendly with the ladies." He prob ably dated a cheerleader and may have been the prom king. He's a "good ble boy" and he never means any harm. He wears "manly" clothes: jeans, sneakers, Sperry shoes, polo shirts, kha kis, ball caps and Ray Bans. Or maybe he wears "wife beaters," loose jeans and a doo- rag. He knows how to hold his alcohol and he's a beer pong champion. He might be "ripped" or "cut." But he is NEVER a "fag." However, he might be called this if he does anything un-manly. If you call him a "pussy," "bitch," or a fag, he 11 tell you he'll "whip your faggoty ass." And if a man steps out of any realm of "real manhood," his sexuality is speculated first. "Take it like a Man!” Just look at college basketball politics. When UNC bas ketball player Tyler Hansbrough was elbowed in the face by Duke's Gerald Henderson in a game last year, Hansbrough suf fered a bloody, broken nose. Facebook groups blew up in num bers with: "Tyler Hansbrough takes it anally," "Hansbrough IS a BITCH ... Henderson knocked you the fuck out,""Tyler Hansbrough is a Pussy," "Tyler Hansbrough is a little bitch," "Haha Tyler Hansbrough Got Facialized" and tons of others that allude to questioning his sexuality after he merely looked like he was in pain on television. For every group that praises his athletic ability, there are many more that speculate his sexu ality and manliness. UNC-Chapel Hill has a great reputation in the area for being an LGBTIQ-friendly school. Of course this means that a huge amount of homophobic comments are said about us. N.C. State students call UNC-Chapel Hill, "Brokeback Hill" (in comparison to the film "Brokeback Mountain"). One NCSU Facebook group is titled, "I ‘can't stand Carolina cocksuck- ers." The group describes a sign that was held up at a State/UNC game which said, "I'd rather ride a trac tor than a guy." Of course, there are many at UNC who are just as guilty of using bas ketball as an outlet for ho mophobia - fliers posted on Franklin Street before the UNC-Duke game on Feb. 6 parodied a "Want ed" poster declaring that Gerald Henderson was wanted for, among other things, "sodomy." Fathers tell their young sons to "take it like man" when they fall down. Some say that they don't want to raise a pansy, pussy, gay boy or fag. They want him to grow up to be a "real man." Through this we can see how males are constantly worried about how they appear to other men. If not, they might be called an assortment of homophobic names. Queer men already have these cards against them in a het- eronormative society. Along with all the aforementioned "man hood standards" they must obey "top and bottom" standards. With everything else they have to worry about, do queer men really need these impossibly ridiculous gender standards to meet in their own community? Mary Beth Kaneklides (imhereandimqueer@gmail.com) is a senior majoring in Women’s Studies.
Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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March 1, 2008, edition 1
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