Lol... I LOVE this!!! Great memories, and so many laughs... Daddy in his cowboy hat phase never sat well with me. 😂 And Unc as The Great Wazoo was priceless! I have a picture of him in that get up! Also, I love that your posts always make me use the dictionary at least once. This one was 5 times! 😁 I am beyond grateful that my kids have a beautiful example of how to be a good, well rounded human, in the most fun Uncle ❤️
I completely forgot that Dad had a cowboy phase, when Rhinestone Cowboy came out. There was a fad in the early '80s. I think he had a western denim jacket, too... at least it covered the bald spot!
I absolutely love reading you on masculinity, the masks we wear, drag, and everything related. This was so insightful, and the photos are 🔥. (I ❤️ gender as Bluto or Woody from Toy Story! So good!)
I love the polite humility in that advice. I've been reading Metamorphoses by Ovid, the Stephanie McCarter translation, and I think we need myths where friendliness and hospitality are rewarded by the gods, and the opposite behavior is punished...
Then there's the stoner/doom metal drag: saggy jeans that have never seen a washer, wallet chain, and a black band t-shirt, extra points for the obscurity of the band.
This is pure honest thoughtful brilliance. I was lucky enough to grow up in place and time that lovingly cherished all the ways a human could be. The greater culture at large was a very different thing. Thank you for sharing all the ways we get to be. I hope for a world where we all get to try on every style of drag, whether we find what fits or discover swimming in fluidity is our way, it don’t matter. As you point out so wonderfully, we are all unique and should be calibrated!
Go to the Murray Bar here in Montana where every afternoon it's full of rich-guy-fishing-dudes who are literally dressed in the exact same shirts.
Or when I'd go home to my preppy suburb, where my mother always hated my clothes, and would pack what I called "republican drag".
Like you, I was lucky to have a bunch of gay and lesbian adults around, a lot of them weren't really out, but who was in those days? Did mean that we could see there were other ways of being, and as a kid, that can mean everything.
This was fun to read right on the heels of finishing listening to an often-too-serious 2018 podcast series on patriarchy and men. And as someone living in a place where waaaay too many white men who want to cosplay cowboy have moved in the past few years. Love these photos!
Thanks! I am reading the Serviceberries essay before I comment on your last post. I'm glad the photos work. The one of me in the kimono and boa and the one with the Lemmy mustache and my old punk jacket didn't make the cut... maybe someday, as a treat.
Yes please! These photos are such fun and illustrate your points beautifully. With pizazz! (I obviously love that essay; anyone would be hard-pressed not to love Kimmerer.)
So many great lines in between thought-provoking points. Thanks for a great read! I LOL’d a few times - always a good sign. I read this at the gym between sets of power-lifting. 😁
Thank you! And I'm jealous. I miss using a power rack. Tomorrow I'm going to punch up my leg day and get some split squats and step-ups in. Arnold's workout is already showing progress on my chesticles.
Lol... I LOVE this!!! Great memories, and so many laughs... Daddy in his cowboy hat phase never sat well with me. 😂 And Unc as The Great Wazoo was priceless! I have a picture of him in that get up! Also, I love that your posts always make me use the dictionary at least once. This one was 5 times! 😁 I am beyond grateful that my kids have a beautiful example of how to be a good, well rounded human, in the most fun Uncle ❤️
I completely forgot that Dad had a cowboy phase, when Rhinestone Cowboy came out. There was a fad in the early '80s. I think he had a western denim jacket, too... at least it covered the bald spot!
Yes! 😂 And accentuated the pony tail... 😂😂😂
I absolutely love reading you on masculinity, the masks we wear, drag, and everything related. This was so insightful, and the photos are 🔥. (I ❤️ gender as Bluto or Woody from Toy Story! So good!)
It reminded me a little of this quotation attributed to Ram Dass, a Hindu teacher in the West, “Treat everyone you meet as if they are God in drag.” (Here’s the essay where I got the quote: https://therumpus.net/2020/04/14/everyone-you-meet-is-god-in-drag/)
I love the polite humility in that advice. I've been reading Metamorphoses by Ovid, the Stephanie McCarter translation, and I think we need myths where friendliness and hospitality are rewarded by the gods, and the opposite behavior is punished...
I like this from the Rumpus article: RuPaul says, “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.”
Possibly RuPaul really is god, or has even more god than the rest of us.
Then there's the stoner/doom metal drag: saggy jeans that have never seen a washer, wallet chain, and a black band t-shirt, extra points for the obscurity of the band.
That's me when I wear my Sunn O))) shirt, but they aren't very obscure. Slomosa, I need one of their shirts, or Feminazgûl.
This is pure honest thoughtful brilliance. I was lucky enough to grow up in place and time that lovingly cherished all the ways a human could be. The greater culture at large was a very different thing. Thank you for sharing all the ways we get to be. I hope for a world where we all get to try on every style of drag, whether we find what fits or discover swimming in fluidity is our way, it don’t matter. As you point out so wonderfully, we are all unique and should be calibrated!
It's almost like I talked to this smart writer before I polished off that post :)
Thanks, Josh!
If you like what he says, check him out here:
https://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2023/07/ai-is-going-to-kill-us-all-maybe-by.html
There are so many kinds of drag!
Go to the Murray Bar here in Montana where every afternoon it's full of rich-guy-fishing-dudes who are literally dressed in the exact same shirts.
Or when I'd go home to my preppy suburb, where my mother always hated my clothes, and would pack what I called "republican drag".
Like you, I was lucky to have a bunch of gay and lesbian adults around, a lot of them weren't really out, but who was in those days? Did mean that we could see there were other ways of being, and as a kid, that can mean everything.
Yes! Republican drag haha, perfect. The guys in the bar wearing Orvis vests are definitely in River Runs Through It drag
"River Runs Through It drag." I can never unsee that line. Thank you. It's a gift for a lifetime.
"republican drag"!
This was fun to read right on the heels of finishing listening to an often-too-serious 2018 podcast series on patriarchy and men. And as someone living in a place where waaaay too many white men who want to cosplay cowboy have moved in the past few years. Love these photos!
Thanks! I am reading the Serviceberries essay before I comment on your last post. I'm glad the photos work. The one of me in the kimono and boa and the one with the Lemmy mustache and my old punk jacket didn't make the cut... maybe someday, as a treat.
Yes please! These photos are such fun and illustrate your points beautifully. With pizazz! (I obviously love that essay; anyone would be hard-pressed not to love Kimmerer.)
Yeah, the photos are clutch!
So many great lines in between thought-provoking points. Thanks for a great read! I LOL’d a few times - always a good sign. I read this at the gym between sets of power-lifting. 😁
Thank you! And I'm jealous. I miss using a power rack. Tomorrow I'm going to punch up my leg day and get some split squats and step-ups in. Arnold's workout is already showing progress on my chesticles.
"His gender is Woody from Toy Story. " LOL
Nothing against cowboy hats, but "all hat and no cattle" should mean something. If you have no cattle, why hat?
right? lol