Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Flip-Flops = Gay?

In Gregg Araki's latest film, Kaboom, the bisexual main character Smith (played by Thomas Dekker) finds himself lusting over his surfer jock roommate Thor (Chris Zylka). In one scene Smith is talking to his gal pal about Thor, wondering if he's gay. Despite the fact that Thor acts like a typical straight jock, Smith lists down a few examples that lead him to suspect Thor is secretly gay, like the fact that he exfoliates frequently or is always staring at his body in the mirror. However, the smoking gun in Smith's theory that Thor is gay is the fact that he wears nothing but flip-flops. This is complete with a scene that shows Thor opening his closet and looking admiringly at his multiple, multi-brand and colored collection of flips-flops. I laughed really hard at this scene, as I can relate. I have a growing collection of shoes, however, in the last few years, i've found myself with a growing collection of flip-flops as well. Now I don't think the fact that i'm gay and wear flip-flops automatically means that the 2 go hand in hand (or is it foot and foot?), but the fact that my collection is multi-colored to match whatever i'm wearing is the gay part about it, or at least others seem to think so. All my friends tease me about color coordinating my shoes with whatever i'm wearing as being my one gay trait, which is something that i've always been aware of, but it wasn't until one guy pointed out that he loved how my flip-flops always matched whatever else I was wearing that I realized how much I really do it. It makes me wonder if guys who own multiple pairs of flip-flops are more prone to being gay than straight. I know that wearing flip-flops doesn't automatically mean a guy is gay and that a large amount of straight guys wear them all the time, but if they have several pairs, especially in multiple colors, sometimes I wonder. The same guy who pointed out my flip-flops matching whatever i'm wearing seems to think that if a guy wears any colors that aren't black or brown then they're most likely gay. I'm not sure I agree with that, however, I can't see too many straight guys with orange, yellow or light blue flip-flops. Why I have so many pairs I don't really know. I blame stores like Old Navy and Marshall's which sells them for low prices. However, i've bought pricier ones like my pair of Vans or Polo's, so I guess the low price theory doesn't hold water. Ultimately I guess it's my gayness that makes me own multiple pairs. It wasn't until I gathered them all for a photo that I realized I had 21 pairs in all, wow! At least now I will always have something to wear this spring and summer, no matter what color I choose.
 

2 comments:

  1. Interesting post! I came across it - and your blog, via Sean's Idle Eyes and A Dormy - just a few days after I bought my latest pair of flip-flops, a yellow Lacoste pair. I think maybe you're on to something with this theory. ;-)

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  2. Hi Thom. I think I might be on to something, who knows? A few days after posting this blog I was at my local pet store getting some supplies when I saw these 2 very gay young dudes. I think they were a couple, and they were both wearing flip-flops. Then yesterday I was at a grocery store, getting some money out of an ATM machine. I happened to look to the side and noticed this cute guy in line at the cash register looking at me. He was wearing shorts and flip-flops, and I noticed he had a bear paw tattooed on his ankle, so that gave away his homo-ness. Like I said in my blog post, not every guy who wears flip-flops is gay, but to me flip-flops represent an attitude of casual freedom, of being yourself and not caring too much about what others think, and I think that gay men tend to adopt this attitude more freely than straight guys. Or it might just be wishful thinking on my part, secretly hoping that the cute guy in flip-flops next to me in the aisle is gay. Haha! ;-)

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