Is it gay for a black guy to be clean shaven? :P

[HotBulge]

yeah well i know some of might think this is pretty stupid (and this whole situation really is stupid), but i really felt like i needed to ask this question. The black community (like many other communities) have a problem with homophobia. its crazy. everytime i try to do somthing, somebody has to call it gay.

i don't know why my friends and my family think this way. i also don't know why other black people on this site never heard this stereotype. but its all downright stupid, waste of time and energy thinking about it "does this make me look gay to him, her or them".

i think i'm gonna rock the babyface look for a while! :biggrin1:

Galaxus, you know the point the point I was trying to make about male Black celebrities who are clean-shaven and masculine . We're not here to debate the relative Blackness of people like Edie Murphy and Tiger Woods. If you want to present a professional image, it is helpful to be clean-shaven, meaning no facial hair or well-trimmed facial hair.

--- A Sermon in the style of Bill Cosby ---

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:smile::smile: Now let me put my Bill Cosby face and voice on -- minus 40 years :smile::smile:.

Bill Cosby may be old school, but (1) you can't deny his Blackness and commitment to Black people and (2) you can't deny his masculinity! Your initial question touches upon some deeper issues within the Black community. For the past 20 to 30 years, there's been this notion in the (non-professional) Black community that if a Black man adheres to mainstream (i.e. White American) standards, that makes a Black man gay.
For example

• getting good grades in school makes you White (and perhaps) gay
• being clean-shaven makes a Black man look gay (I never heard about it until this post)
• using standard English and being polite as a Black man can make him appear gay.

Too many young Black kids and teenagers worry foolishly about such labels, which is really unfortunate and, possibly, tragic. It's unfortunate to allow groundless labels undermine their ability to excel. In other words, I don't want to appear to be conforming to "White values" - i.e. standard English, a professional presentation, etc - because it may may me look gay. It's also tragic because young Black people are not looking at their own history.

Look at your local Black professional men in the business, medical, and legal communities. Look at how Black men present themselves at Black churches - Christian and Muslim. (I know, I know ... older Black men do not look "cool" and Black kids can't "relate"). Look at famous Black men in American history who have made positive contributions to society for generations - Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, etc. You see strong Black men who have pride both in themselves as Black people and in their ability to be professional. Young Black Americans have hundreds of positive strong, Black male role models who are proud of their heritage and can successfully navigate the larger world. It's sad that the majority of media images present young Black men as simply being destined for a life of the streets, crime, and jail. It's even more disheartening that young Black people buy into the negative images and associate the opposite with "gayness".

---- End of the Bill Cosby Sermon ----

For the record, gayness does NOT EQUAL weakness.
​

 

[HotBulge]

Another thought:

Look at your situation from the perspective of a prospective girlfriend (if you aren't gay). Do women really want to constantly have a brillowpad against their faces when they go to hug/kiss men?

 

[Dan1089]

Black/White/Yellow,I wish that humanity would cease it's obsession with fucking colour.Are you gay for being clean-shaven?Well,are you gay for brushing your teeth?

 

[galaxus]

thanx HotBulge. i really appreciate it.

 

[yupp40]

i never heard of that before! but i copletely agree with HotBulge. Do what you want! just be confident in who you are and everything will be fine. I doubt anyone will look at you if your are clean shaven and actually think you are gay for it. Oh and HotBulge, another clean-shaven black man is Cuba Gooding Jr. I'm not sure of all of his ethnicities, but he looks mostly black, and he looks good clean shaven. So galaxus, just be yourself and do what makes you happy!