DNA Magazine, an Australian magazine geared towards gay men, released their annual “Sexiest Men Alive” issue. I’ve never heard of it but I’m always interested to see any list that includes hot guys. Anyway, they included notable names like Ryan Phillippe, Chris Pratt, and Nick Jonas but also some other men you may or may not have had the pleasure of being introduced to. Obviously these are all very attractive men but what is interesting to note, though, is that out of all of the 47 men on the list only 9 men of color are included.
Now I don’t pretend to know as many famous Australian faces as I do American faces but I would wager that there would be many sexy Australian men who do not happen to be white. A lot of men on this list could have been replaced (*cough Kit Harrington cough*) by people such as Ronnie Woo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Lucien Laviscount, or Jussie Smollett. All sexy. All talented. All men of color.
Having only a handful of M.O.C. on your list sends a message that speaks volumes to the young Asian kid that picks up you magazines and doesn’t really get to see himself reflected in it or the Hispanic teen that feels like he has to look exactly like that particular Hispanic guy to be considered sexy. It’s not just about being white either. Every guy on the cover has to have a minimum 8 pack and biceps bigger than your head. Now other than the guys you see on the magazines and full-time gym rats, do you really know someone who looks like that? It’s almost as if in a quest to fend off the flamboyant and feminine stereotype gays have been given over the years, we’ve put up this sort of gay ‘poster boy’ of a buffed up, white guy with perfect hair and a smile that could kill, and we forget that we don’t…really…look like that. In fact, according to a 2012 study done over at Gallup.com, 4.6% of African-American identify as LGBTQIA+, along with 4.0% of Hispanics and 4.3% of Asians. While only 3.2% of white Americans identified as queer.
So when you think about it, men of color should be far more represented in the community than they actually are.
