remember a time where they were just transinvestigating (I think the term was) every other celeb. sort of like how in the 2000's every well groomed man was 'metrosexual' and was called gay. (and ofc there was a lot of 'David tennant is gay/dating a man' stories going around)
I find it so strange how narrow the definition of "male" and "female" are to some people (esp the further back you go in time, even 20 years ago) that someone genuinely being themselves (ex: David showing up to school in a cropped leather jacket at 16, or wearing bright pink boots with a matching lavender sweater at 50, or kissing men for work because it's good storytelling) can be understood only as somehow less than the full spectrum of who they are.
Now, as a gay person I'm not saying that being gay is less than being straight, but it limits a person's identity to tell anyone that they can't be who they are in the ways that make them unique (even if that's straight and cis) and it's really sad to think of all the especially straight/cis men out there who have had to make themselves smaller and less genuinely themselves because the masculine narrative lie just doesn't allow for it.
I mean it's ridiculous that if a straight person doesn't fit into the narrowest box imaginable (for example, a man who shows emotion, and care, and compassion = you know, like a human. Or a woman who is rough and loud and outspoken) that that person must therefore be secretly gay/trans/the opposite gender. I mean look at people saying lady gaga must be a hermaphrodite in like 2010(?). I realize that's an outdated/offensive term but that's literally the word people used. And you're right, especially at the time, men who showed any softness or genuine care for their health and appearance (!!! which is normal and healthy???) had to be gay or otherwise labelled as metrosexual (which was basically just a polite way to say gay/unmanly anyway) and must therefore be, in their eyes, less than male. As if kindness is a weakness. As if humanity is a flaw.
I think that's why we all gravitated to David in the first place (and men like him), because he has always shown his humanity in everything that he does. We even struggle to hate Tony Baddingham because we feel for him! David, at his most genuine, his most vulnerable (see: his podcast ep with Georgia) is kindness, and goodness, and safety, and sunshine. He is everything the masculine narrative wants to erase. And (as gay people, as trans people, as enbies, as women) we know that the narrative is a lie.
Anyway, I'm glad that the boy has found ways to explore himself through clothes and work and stories and family and friends, even if it's in his 50s. I'm glad that he gets to indulge in the things he loves with true joy and excitement, nerding out and being competitive and clever. I'm glad that he doesn't hide those real, honest emotions away out of fear or discomfort, and I hope that he feels closer to that genuine version of himself every day, despite being pressured (ex: called weaselly, skinny, scrawny etc), like all men are, to be changed and silenced by a narrow-minded minority who will never be happy anyway.
