Several times in my English lit classes I’ve been too gay for something or had my gayness used as evidence to dismiss my interpretation of something.
Teacher after reading a poem about a woman complimenting her boyfriend’s wife for two pages: and you see how much she hates her lover’s wife, any other interpretations?
Me: I thought she was in love with her lover’s wife, she doesn’t shut up about how cool she is that entire time.
Teacher: well no, you see here, in this one line, towards the end of the poem, she called her a bitch, so that means she hates her.
Me: couldn’t that be a recognition of the wife’s anger at her husband’s affair rather than an attack on her?
Teacher: …moving on to the next poem
Me to a classmate later: that poem didn’t seem even a little bit gay to you?
Classmate: no, they’re in love with the same man, of course they hate each other
Me, suddenly aware of the rigid mindset my straight classmates are subjected to: …so what do you think of the song Jolene?
If you know which poem this is about, congratulations, you win a crippling NEA written a week before the deadline and submitted two hours before.
