I am sitting here watching the San Francisco Giants take on the Philadelphia Phillies. It is bottom of the 9th, and the pitcher for S.F., Wilson, is trying to close out the game and earn his team a berth to the World Series.
While his pitching is stellar, another attribute of his distracted me. Wilson has light brown hair and freckles. However, he is sporting a dyed black beard. When I say black, I mean raven black. He looks like a grungy pirate. The commentators were having a great time razzing him and put a hairless pic up on the screen to show a blue eyed, baby faced Wilson next to his current self: someone who looks like they got their momma's mascara to darken his facial hair.
I know this trick because I tried it when I was younger. And then I wondered: could Wilson be gay? After all, dying ones beard isn't really a "straight" thing to do...is it? It really doesn't matter if he is gay or not, but it made me ponder how many gay men are secretly hiding in plain sight in the world of professional sports. Statistically, we know they exist. But to be out and a professional athlete is almost unheard of, especially in the more "macho" realms of baseball, football, basketball and hockey.
In the wake of the recent gay suicides, I wonder how society's attitudes toward gay men would change if those in the athletic elite were out and honest about their homosexuality. When I think of my friends and social group, I know gay men of every shape, size and interest. Some are effeminate and others are completely butch. But the big, hairy burly gay guys I call friends are not represented on the national stage or in the assumptions or our society's skewed viewpoint of homosexuals.
The game is over. Wilson struck out the last batter and the Giants are headed to the World Series. He jumped up and down and hugged his catcher. Maybe, just maybe he'll read my blog, put away his momma's mascara, and be motivated to explain why he really dyes his facial hair for national television.
No comments:
Post a Comment