On Saturday, Reddit user u/Biscuitgod1 asked, "Straight men, what is the strangest thing you have been told not to do because it's 'gay'?" People came through with some really sad — like WOW — examples of men being called "gay" as an insult for doing basic things.
Ugh, here's what they said:
1. "Changing my daughter's diaper. Mentioned it in the office one day. Called 'gay.'"
2. "I sang a Lily Allen song during karaoke."
3. "My best friend is vegetarian. He eats cheese and eggs still. Anyway — everyone asks if he's gay when they learn this. It's absurd."
4. "Buying a white iPhone."
5. "Crossing my legs with one knee over the other. I was told to put one ankle over the other knee."
6. "Playing the trombone in middle school meant a lot of people telling me that I 'must love playing with boners.'"
7. "This one time at summer camp, this guy who'd just been swimming in the lake told me you could tell how cold the water was by how hard his nipples were. 'But don't stare too long because that's gay,' he said. You were the one who told me to look in the first place!"
8. "For using a straw. Bear in mind, I was drinking boba tea."
9. "For knowing how to sew and cook. Those are essential life skills!"
10. "Back in my bartending days, I asked a man if he wanted to see a dessert menu. He said, 'If I wanted dessert I'd order wings like a real man.' Weird flex, but okay."
11. "When I was a kid, my dad called me a 'sissy' because I cut a sandwich diagonally."
12. "I left a pick-up basketball game because I had an appointment to get a haircut. Evidently, the only straight way to get a haircut is as a walk-in."
13. "When I was 10, I brought an umbrella to school on a rainy day with the colors red, yellow, green, and blue. My dad told me to never use that umbrella again because the colors too closely resembled a rainbow, which stood for homosexuality."
14. "Sunscreen. One of my friends said that using sunscreen is 'gay.' The UVI was at 11."
15. "Using turn signals — and this isn’t some sort of euphemism. Literally using them while driving to turn or change lanes."
16. "I was told that using the word 'assumption' in conversation made me gay. This guy thought big words made me an intellectual, and in his mind, intellectual equaled gay."
17. "I can go to bars with my buddies, but it's gay to go to restaurants with them, according to a guy I used to work with."
SMH, I guess it’s safe to say that toxic masculinity is still alive and well. If you’ve got any similar (ridiculous) stories, let me know in the comments below!
Responses edited for length/clarity.