levasseur@morgan.DEC (Ray EMD & S Admin 223-5027) (07/29/85)
Trendsetting
Jason
When I entered college I wanted to be a Marketing major until my student
advisor, who was head of the Marketing department convinced me to change maj-
ors. I had pipe dreams of becomming a Madison Avenue Advertising executive,
manipulating the minds of the consumer with slick persuasion, and making big
bucks. My advisor gave me some books to read which soured my zeal toward this
field. I opted instead, for a major in Operations Management.
It was toward the end of my Sophomore year that my Marketing Professor
offered alternatives to the class for a final term paper. One was to write
a 20-25 page paper on "Neglected Markets" and their impact on the economy if
they were pursued. Since I was now a semi-seasoned homophile; slept with more
than my share of men, gone to P'Town and even marched in my first parade, I
chose the "Gay" market to report on. My paper was chock full of statistics
about gay people; discretionary income, populations, where they vacation, etc
, a wonderful work of pure bullshit.
The fateful day came when the term papers were returned and mine wasn't
given back to me. When class ended the professor asked to see me alone in his
office. I was shaking in my boots as he handed the masterpiece back to me with
an "A+" in red on the cover sheet. He told me that gays were hardly one of the
markets he had in mind but the content showed a lot of hard work. His next line
floored me, "Mr Levasseur you earned the A+. Your paper shows a lot of insight
into this subculture....I would almost believe that you're one of them. You
must have had some inside source to aid in your research". As I left, he made
a parting comment, "I don't really think that your example for a prime time
Television ad would fly on the major netowrks"
The scenario:
Two men are standing on the front porch of a suburban house at the front
door. It's quite late at night and they're smiling at each other. They join
hands and kiss.
<Voiceover>
"If he kissed you once, will he kiss you again.....be cetain with Certs"
The question I raised with this example was how this ad would impact
sales? Would more gay people buy the product since they could identify with
it? Would the rest of the population continue buying this product. Looking
back, it was a pretty outrageous advertising proposal for 1972.
This bring me to our buying power in the economy. A lot of gay men and
women I know are upwardly mobile. They tend to have larger than average
disposal incomes and can scoff up new products as they're introduced. They
also tend to have good taste in decorating, clothes, dining out, etc.
Gays also tend to be pioneers in fashion, urban renewal and other areas.
Everyone seems to follow our lead without being aware of the source. Since
coming out I've seen more than a few styles and trends become commonplace
that were once thought of to be gay only. Some that come to mind are;
High Heel Shoes
---------------
I remember in the early 70's when first coming out that a lot of gay men
were wearing shoes with elevated heels. Boy! those suckers were uncomfortable
but I had a few pairs myself. Everywhere I went in suburbia there would be
whispered remarks of "faggot" from townies. Within a year, a lot of the
straight guys were wearing the same thing.....monkey see monkey do. I went
back to wearing my Adidas's
Silky Nylon Shirts
------------------
They usually clung to the body and looked pretty sharp. Again, I got a lot
of snide remarks from straights. Given time, they all started weaing the
very shirts I was put down for wearing.
Jewelry
-------
When I came out, the man I was dating wore a thin gold serpentine chain. I
bought one also and caught flack from the straight kids on campus as well
as my folks, "Why do you wear a chain like Robert's? Do you want everyone
to think that you're a fairy?" Shortly afterward, I got my ear peirced.
Boy! did this ever bring the house down in Lowell, Mass back in 1972. The
only other group at the time who wore earrings in Lowell were the Hell's
Angels, and no-one would dare call them faggots. In recent years I see more
and more straight kids wearing gold chains and earrings.
Disco's
-------
Around the time I came out the only music that the straight kids were dancing
to was rock. Egad! I can't believe that I danced to Led Zeppelin. Robert in-
troduced me to Black dance music. I hated it at first but it was sink or swim
at the gay clubs. My record collection started showing a larger and larger
percentage of Barry White, Three Degrees and Supremes lp's. This was before
"Disco" became a household word. I was also hearing a lot of music that didn't
get air play. It seemed that the only people who bought these records were
Blacks, Hispanics and gays. I quit going to frat parties because their music
was now boring. You guessed it! disco caught on with the local straights, disco
music now was played on a couple of FM stations. Word got out that the music
was hot at our clubs. Straights dropped in at the 1270 in Boston to dance on
our turf. I've read articles in Billboard and other trade magazines about how
gays really were the impetus behind the disco movement. We also gave perform-
ers like Donna Summer the push to stardom; even Bette Midler got her start at
the Continental Baths in New York.
Working Out
-----------
I may be all wet here but feel that gay men had a lot to do wth the popularity
of Nautilus centers and other forms of fitness. Gay men; especially urban ones,
tend to be in much better physical shape then their straight peers. A lot look
much younger then their years due to taking care of their bodies. A lot of this
ties in with the fear of aging in our society. In the gay world this gets exag-
gerated a bit; fear of the spare tire around the waste and other boogeymen of
growing older. Most of the women at work are amazed at how old I am; a lot of
other gay men probably hear the same thing. People want to look good; if we can
do it, so can they.
Levis and Military Garb
-----------------------
Ahhhh! Levi 501'S, a necessary part of the urban clone's wardrobe. I can remem-
ber when 501's were an oddity in Boston; primarily worn by gays. They fit well
and showed a man's best ass*ets. Now they're advertised on tv, MTV, etc. The
rest of the country started following suit. The same goes for military fatigue
pants, khaki tank tops, military boots, etc. A lot of urban gay clones look
very hot dressed in this kind of drag; macho, butch! Straight guys love things
that drip with testoscerone. They see us and think "wow! how macho" Even the
hijickers on TWA 847 thought that the two gay men looked macho. Good thing that
the hijackers couldn't see any further than the ends of their noses. So yes,
we know how to wear our clothes well. Clothes make the man, and we seem to set
the pace for casual fashion. Bottom line to working out, jewelry and mode of
dress is, it's hard to pick the gay men from the straights today; they look
more and more like us.
Quiche
------
This poor lowly scrambled egg pie suffered obscurity until gay men thought it
chic to serve it at brunch and dinner parties. Now we're becomming a country
of quiche eaters. The same goes for Perrier and related bottled spring waters.
I never knew what Perrier was until my first trip to Provincetown. While on
the subject of food, gay restaurants tend to be trendy meeting places for gays
and straights alike. Three of my favorite outer suburban restaurants are quite
obviously gay owned but attract a rather large straight following. They all
have much bette than average decors, interesting menus and good food.
Urban Renewal
-------------
When I first came out Boston's South End was the kind of place I wouldn't have
let my cat walk around in. Gay men started moving in and cleaning things up.
Over the years the South End has become one of Boston's largest gay neighbor-
hoods and prime property to upwardly mobile heterosexuals as well. We started
it and they have jumped on the bandwagon. We make it liveable and they sooner
or later start moving in. Now that Gentrification is well established, a lot
of gay men are moving into other areas of boston that the average heterosexual
person may not find palatable; Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Chelsea, etc. It will
be interesting to see what kind of impact we make in these surrounding towns.
There are many other areas where we have started fads and trends. I started
this article by talking about my college days in marketing class. IN some ways
the gay movement has been a covert advertising force, changing the way that
straights dress, dine, and party.
It's just my own observation, but gays seem to have an enhanced feel for
esthetics; not just sight, but all five of the basic human senses. Maybe it
comes from our sensitivity, I really don't know! Almost every gay person's
home I've been in is more visually pleasing and comfortable than the majority
of straight homes I've visited. I don't know, but we're doing something right.
What will be the next trend? I'll just grab my coon skin cap, hitch up the
horses and take my covered wagon to the next frontier.