Writing for Vice’s food vertical Munchies, Louis Staples explored the gendering of Diet Coke and explained that food and drinks associated with health were generally seen as feminine. So there’s definitely an argument to be made for iced coffee being gendered.
“The codes associated with a gendered difference,” he adds, “could then signal a sexual difference.” For example, wearing color was a subversion of the dark suits men were accustomed to wearing, while anything ostentatious or extravagant, such as using a scent or perfume, was associated with women. Usually, though, they had something to do with subverting gender norms. Bengry says that mostly the signposting was subtle, such wearing a red tie or a pinky ring.
#YOURE GAY MEME TIKTOK CODE#
While there are some codes that were very specific, such as the hanky code which signaled specific sexual proclivities, Dr. That might be coded to signpost which ones-to use our language-are considered ‘gay.’” They would say what products ‘real men’ won't use or what products are effeminate. I find it showing up in the late-19th and early-20th Century in men's magazines. “This could be through particular fashions or products they used. “A lot of men developed codes so they could signal to each other their interest in same-sex desires,” he explains. Justin Bengry, who convenes Goldsmiths University’s MA in Queer History in London. But signposting queerness is a gay tradition that dates back to the 19th Century according to Dr. If you’re straight, that might sound ridiculous, especially in an age in which-while things are far from universally perfect-gay people can live their lives with a fair amount of autonomy.
Essentially, iced coffee has become a queer avatar, and a way for gay people to signpost themselves against the uniformity of heterosexuality. Like, it’s for dads and old people commuting on the train.”įor Sam, iced versus hot coffee is the perfect symbolism between queer and straight culture. “Like, gays will do ridiculous things and there’s something so counterculture about drinking an iced coffee during the winter.” It’s also, he says, a sign of resisting homogenization. “I think the joke sort of originated as gays drinking iced coffee in the winter,” Stryker explains. But none of that matters, after all what was clear to the corner of the Internet known as Gay Twitter, and to the site Gay Star News, was that this man was just exercising his rights-nay, his duty-as a gay man to drink iced coffee. Honestly, I’m not sure anyone even knows who he is. Obviously there’s no way commenters could’ve known this man’s sexuality. How could an individual in this freezing weather, the tweet suggested, be drinking an iced coffee? It’s obvious, people responded: He’s gay. The picture, fairly innocuous aside from the man’s choice of caffeinated beverage, was shared by the City of New York’s Twitter feed and paired with an incredulous caption. It sounds unremarkable, except that, in 2☏ weather, he was death-gripping an iced coffee. In late January, during the Polar Vortex that held America by the throat with an icy grasp, a picture of a man wearing a massive coat with his hood up while battling his way through a snowstorm went viral.