America's Rock
On Rock Hudson, masculinity, and gay men in Hollywood — out now in The Spectator
“In fact, contrary to old thoughts about “sissies” and limp-wrists, those attracted to men often have a more complex and comprehensive understanding of masculinity than of their straight peers. As Bret Easton Ellis has remarked, gay men are overrepresented among the arts as, at the moment of sexual self-discovery, they become an actor. They become acutely aware that they’re not like other boys, so they study them and mimic them, in order to hide. To be in the closet is to love a form of masculinity you emulate as camouflage, that you flatten and simplify yourself into, and don as a mask.”
Out now in The Spectator: my piece on the new documentary, Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allows. Give it a read!