[–] cjtendon 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
When accusing a man of being gay is a matter of life and death, such accusations are serious and are not thrown around lightly. When everyone has a legal right to be gay, accusations of gayness can be made without regard for accuracy.
When open discussion of gay identity is suppressed, there is some room for hetero men to do feminine things without being accused of homosexuality. When gays are suppressed, a mostly-respectable, allegedly hetero man might wear makeup and a wig but otherwise act masculine (especially on stage) and the public might excuse such behavior as appropriate to the stage, as opposed to a declaration of homosexuality.
Thus a group like Duran Duran could dye their hair and act like pretty boys, and their fans would say "They are not gay, they are acting handsome to get girls." So far as I know, that was true; however, more glamorous artists took hair dye and prettiness to a higher level as a tacit declaration of non-hetero sexuality.
However, when a society gives explicit sanction to open homosexuality, any male who acts even slightly feminine gets pressured to endorse homosexuality as a lifestyle; as a result, more hetero men decide to tone down any possible flamboyance, act very non-gay, and criticize any allegedly hetero man who acts slightly feminine.
[–] immatureusername 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Thats a brief explanation of the previous five decades of music in a nutshell.
[–] AnmanIndustries 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Because gays always look to the most manly role models and try to be like them. By the time the real men realise they are being imitated by defunct men, they change.
[–] DieselBustersYes 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Kiss for sure. :/ Their makeup is so gay..
[–] GoddammitMrNoodle 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago
You see there's this thing call Style, which essentially means the characteristics of a thing's appearance and generally has little to do what it does or how it does it. Style itself has little value beyond what's socially attributed to it, though that value can be quite high both in terms of money and in desirability.
Though some styles are lasting in their appeal most fade relatively quickly and then look trite and dated, even comical, relative to current styles. A good example of this is the so-called Glam Rock style of 1980's popular music which to modern sensibilities now just looks gay, at least according to OP.
[–] kammmmak 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago (edited ago)
We thought they were as gay as fuck even back then. Only VH were allowed to, and were considered cool to a certain extent.