I'm not trying to bait anyone here. Music is an expression of identity. Certain characteristics are considered gay in our culture. Certain bands express gay charisma with a vengeance. Is a genre likely to attract these characteristics? Hence the question:

Does the genre funk have more in common with gay culture than any other genres of music? Can you give examples?


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[Edited 2/12/09 6:41am]

What exactly are you trying to imply?

Well, there's the classic 1970 Apollo performance where James Brown came on stage in a pink tutu and gave Bobby Byrd a reacharound in the middle of a Streisand medley. And you can't forget The Meters' classic 1972 album "We Love Cock". Or who can forget Sly Stone's "There's A Gay Civil Ceremony Goin' On"?

Meters - Sissy strut
Funkadelic - Jimmy got a little bit of bitch in him
Jimmy McGriff - Miss Poopie

I personally have not seen any connection between "funk" and "gay". Now on the otherhand I have noticed that those in the gay community are attracted to "house" music. Go to any nightclub that spin a lot of "house" music and you are sure to find gays "volging".

SoulAlive said:

I love funk. About 90% of my music is funk. What does my collection of music say to a girl when I bring her over?

Number23 said:

I'm trying real hard to be as civil about it as I possibly can out of fear this thread being locked. Okay?

Funk, disco, rock, or any other form of good music definately has something in common with gay people. The entertainers have talent, so do gay people. The entertainers dress outrageous and have a look of their own as well as a mind of their own, so do gay people. Shit hop is when entertainers in music stopped looking and acting like individuals and also stopped having talent. So yeah, shit hop is the least gayest form of music ever.

Wasn't it Frank Zappa who once declared that "All music is homosexual"?

jw1914 said:

Or heavy metal! You don't fool me, those leather pants, big hair and big vibrating motorcycles between their legs is a dead giveaway!

jw1914 said:

That's excatly what I was thinking.There are other styles of music that are much more "gay-friendly" than funk.

vainandy said:

You're on a mission aren't you?

Sander said:

what does "gay charisma" mean?

Anxiety said:

Sander said:

so,based on these song titles,you think that funk music is gay??

I'm just telling it like it is. Apparently you must be comparing the way the funk entertainers look to the way the shit hop entertainers of today look. Well, that's not a fair comparison because the entertainers of today have no flash or sparkle to them. Entertainers of all eras have dressed flashy except the ones of the last 10 or 15 years, so to think that funk is gay is rediculous. Male entertainers of today are just more homophobic or closeted gay than ever.

In response to SoulAlive, Cloudbuster, Vainandy and jw1914 who are pointing to other genre's as being (more) gay as well:

Pop music in general has it's fads every now and then, but overall it's in sync with dominant gender codes. When it's a little off, it's supposed to be funny. Also Reggae, Hiphop and Rock.

In funk however, you're supposed to be 'over the top'. High hats, colourful feathers, high heels. This could be just 'acting a fool' or 'pimp-daddy', but perhaps it's just simply gay. What do you think?

This is the most ridiculous thread topic ever. What next? "What kind of music do you like to fist to?".

And vainandy, will you give up the shithop thing. You're obsessed with it.

Look at the glam rock era of the early 1970s....David Bowie, New York Dolls, etc. Also, look at the pop/new wave era of the early 1980s....Boy George, A Flock of Seaguls, etc. Rock has always been more genderbending than funk. As for the entertainers in funk genderbending in the early 80s, hell they just caught on and made funk better than it was before. When things got worse, is when the outrageousness in R&B stopped. That's when it became dull as hell.

Anxiety said:

I'm very close to writing academic style here, in that I'm explaining every word I use complete with references. Here I use gay in an everyday, popular meaning. Signifiers that imply homosexuality in our society. Examples being Mika and Scissor Sisters.

I was just gonna mention the "big hair bands" of the 80s Spandex,lipstick,painted nails....bands like Poison looked more "gay" than most funk bands from that era.

It still exists doesn't it? It's not just a matter of "don't listen to it if you don't like it" because it's all over the damn TV, even on the top part of the screen on the damn TV Guide Channel when you try to see what's coming on TV. It depresses the hell out of me to even hear the shit. So I'll give it up when they give up making it. Either that, or take it off of everything except for the shit hop radio stations where it belongs because I don't want to hear or be exposed to it.

vainandy said:

Thank you for giving your insights! All music in the 80s was genderbending! I agree, it was the thing to do. But come on, funk in the 70s trumped most glamrock of the 70s in style, clothes and show!

I'm not saying funk is gay or more gay than other genre's (well, I kinda am ), but I'm wondering about general consensus!

Mong said:

Wow! I just made a troll shake his head in disbelief!

There are a lot of gays and lesbians who are very into hip-hop and it's all they listen to. I don't think any one form of music attracts more gays than others. That's silly. That's like saying all black people listen to Hip-Hop or R&B and nothing else, when we all know that is simply not the truth. I know black people who listen to neither genre.

kitbradley said:

So you're saying that there's no significant preferences for certain music genre's based upon demographics like age, education, ethnicity, sexuality or sex?

I mean, there's no research to back it up, that I know of, but my gut tells me there is a relation!

Which is understandable considering that it's all they have been exposed to their entire lives. It's also very disgraceful considering that shit hop is the most homophobic genre of music ever. Country music may have always had the most homophobic fans ever but at least the entertainers in that genre weren't preaching gay hate in their lyrics. In shit hop, many of the entertainers preach that hate in their lyrics and the whole way they carry themselves just screams homophobic. I've never seen nothing like it in my whole 41 years on this earth and believe me, coming from The South, I have been exposed to some of the most homophobic rednecks imaginable.

Mong said:

that's kind of funny but...all music designed to make you GAY in some way, even if you don't want to be GAY it must feel or bring out a sence of GAY at the end or why would you do it..???