Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

All rainwear discussions in general or that do not fit into other categories.
rainwear-experience
Posts: 3234
Joined: January 17th, 2010, 12:35 pm

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by rainwear-experience »

Pvc Vinyl Enthusiast wrote: My reference to the term 'puff' is not intended to insult; I am simply stating what some people (and yes, there are plenty of those out there) might be thinking in their minds if they saw a man wearing a shiny or glass clear PVC raincoat, complete with clear PVC brolli, which are generally thought of as women's apparel.
Whatever you intended the term you used is (in my opinion) not acceptable and just because other people might use the word doesn't make it acceptable!

The sooner people stop using these derogatory terms the sooner they will die out
merv
Posts: 1167
Joined: January 19th, 2010, 4:44 pm

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by merv »

ray@rainwearcafe wrote:
Pvc Vinyl Enthusiast wrote: My reference to the term 'puff' is not intended to insult; I am simply stating what some people (and yes, there are plenty of those out there) might be thinking in their minds if they saw a man wearing a shiny or glass clear PVC raincoat, complete with clear PVC brolli, which are generally thought of as women's apparel.
Whatever you intended the term you used is (in my opinion) not acceptable and just because other people might use the word doesn't make it acceptable!

The sooner people stop using these derogatory terms the sooner they will die out
have to agree with Ray here. Perhaps the OP may care to move into the 21st century. Reminds me of some ghastly woman in a shop who described the stock as rather gay. I just said to her. I am gay and rest assured that i would not be seen dead in that tat, you obviously know different gay people to me. Shut her up a treat
wetlookslicker
Posts: 44
Joined: November 19th, 2014, 9:10 am

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by wetlookslicker »

My personal experience is preception often depends on the area of town you are in. I wear my shiny full length Mac out almost every night for work and my shiny red one in rain or wet snow I'm in and out constantly and frequently deal with the public generally speaking I'm considered cool in trendy areas and receive many favourable compliments each night the same is true for middle class and some lower class neighbourhoods the only negative glances I receive is from concentrated areas of immigrants however at the same time I also receive favourable feedback as well, I believe that stylish shiny rainwear of high quality generaly adds to an individual's appeal furthermore people in their 20s In the last few years tend to look very favourably on my macs perhaps there is a trend whereby raincoats are precived more gender neutral than previously I am getting a hot pink raincoat for myself this spring and plan to wear it out occasionally in heavy rainstorms. Finally if an individual is generally seen as attractive a raincoat enhances their looks rather than having a negative impact So if you want to attract members of the opposite sex than wear our your shiny raincoat and in my experience you will have a greater chance for s favourable outcome the same is true if and individual is Pursuing a same sex partner in conclusion raincoats are becoming gender neutral while at the same time maintaining their sex appeal
Jenni
Posts: 231
Joined: January 19th, 2010, 11:02 am
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by Jenni »

It is certainly not "gay" for men to wear shiny rainwear in public. You've "hit the nail on the head" wls ............... I couldn't agree more with you and glad that you've not experienced difficulty wearing your mackintoshes in public. I always love meeting like minded people of either sex to discuss our mutual love of all types of rainwear and have made many long lasting friendships.
latexstorm
Posts: 77
Joined: January 30th, 2010, 9:25 pm

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by latexstorm »

The whole "gay = effeminate" thing is a laugh riot. The LAST term you'd use to describe most of my gay friends would be "effeminate" - especially if you're planning to say it to their faces and then realize why that's probably a bad idea.

The thing about this stuff in general is that you REALLY don't want to make your own fashion choices based on whether somebody might think it's dumb, tacky, effeminate, gay, Martian or whatever the put-down happens to be. There's no upside to that process; you end up making style decisions (and who knows what else) based on whether it passes some random mouth-breather's "not gay" test.

I personally like shiny yellow raingear and rubber everything. It's a source of fascination to our friends, and I hear about it in two ways:

- Good-natured ribbing whenI I show up for a drink wearing a very yellow, very shiny Guy Cotten raincoat and SBR rainpants on a semi-nice evening.
- Good-natured attempts to beg/borrow/steal my raingear when we're halfway through the walk back to our house, the semi-nice evening turns into a surprise squall, and it starts hailing sideways.

Besides, a lot of commercial fishing raingear is shiny because the PVC uses a special, oil- and chemical-resistant formulation, not because commercial fishermen are cultivating rainwear fetishes.
AimsirBháisteach
Posts: 25
Joined: September 14th, 2015, 12:03 am

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by AimsirBháisteach »

I think the phrasing of the original question was unfortunate, but it does raise a good point: is wearing a shiny raincoat in public (as a man) something that will make others look at you in a funny way? It's an easy concern to dismiss as "nobody should care what others think of them", but dressing up in clothing that is more commonly fashionable for the opposite gender can be quite a leap, and I can see why it would be intimidating.

I suspect I am in a minority here as I don't wear any rainwear. I have an interest in plastic raincoats because I find them feminine and they accentuate the female figure. For my own part, it doesn't bother me at all to get wet in the rain, and I would feel a bit weak if I felt I needed protection. If I see a woman wearing a plastic raincoat in public, I find that delightful, but I'd be very averse to the idea of wearing a raincoat out and about. It's a masculine-feminine dynamic, and it's natural to feel uncomfortable about straying to the other side.

Then again, raincoats are more of a romantic fantasy for me than a sexual one (I know the two aren't fully separable, but you know what I mean), so what I said above might not be applicable here. If you're concerned about the way you're perceived, then there are a couple of things you can do. You can either wear your raincoats in less active spots (nobody's going to judge you if you wear it out on a walk in the local woods), or you can just swallow the pill and wear it anyway. Like anything in life, anxiety wears off after the first few times doing something.

On a final note, I consider clear bubble umbrellas to be quite a feminine accessory, yet I've seen plenty of guys using them on rainy days in city centre, with not a bother in the world. The chances are you won't look as out of place as you think!
rainwear-experience
Posts: 3234
Joined: January 17th, 2010, 12:35 pm

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by rainwear-experience »

Surely the real answer is fairly simple:

If you think you'll feel more 'uncomfortable' wearing your rainwear outside than any 'pleasure' you get from wearing it then don't do it

If you don't care what others think or even want to provoke a reaction then go for it

Why spend so much energy beating yourself up about it!
PVCFoliant
Posts: 13
Joined: January 10th, 2016, 8:40 pm

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by PVCFoliant »

Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?
No.

But I dont wear colours I would like to see on a women.
Jjai
Posts: 275
Joined: January 19th, 2010, 9:15 pm

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by Jjai »

I would'nt have thought wearing sensible rainwear would be gay or otherwise.
I do think that these days a lot of people wear similar styles of clothes and are much less individualistic, so perhaps if a male wears a bright pink glossy mac then they will stand out from the majority who don't ever wear coats, much less a mac in public.

Remember the 80s when men wore white jeans and bright coloured shirts ?
There is nothing wrong with wearing shiny rainwear in public especially when the weather conditions are suitable.
If I could find a bright red or yellow rukka mac, I would wear it everywhere.

Wet look slicker makes some very good points above, if stores stocked as many shiny raincoats as sports jackets there would'not be any issue.
Most of today's generation would not associate a shiny raincoat weared with any stereotype I should have thought as they have'no been worn by people in general for so long.
So go ahead and enjoy yourself.
pvclovering
Posts: 100
Joined: May 3rd, 2016, 3:08 pm
Location: west yorkshire

Re: Is it 'gay' for a man to wear shiny rainwear in public?

Post by pvclovering »

I have worn a PUL unisex shiny black fashion mac in public in the past and never had a problem. In fact I remember getting the occasional smile from some women! Now I prefer the same raincoat in semi transparent black. I am of an age where I am not bothered what people think about what I wear.Just enjoy wearing PVC!
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