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Whistle Or You're Gay

MrRING

MrRING

Android Futureman
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Aug 7, 2002
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I heard a strange claim on a review podcast about The Man With The Golden Gun. Apparently, the villain of that book Scaramanga was made a gay character because apparently Ian Fleming, noted for his highly sexualized characters, had heard that people who couldn't whistle were gay, which somehow led to Scaramanga being so. The person who said this in the podcast indicated it was a real UL at the time of writing the novel, but I've never heard of it before. Has anybody else ever heard of this bizarre UL?
 
I've heard of it before, can't remember the circumstances though. Fleming had some weird ideas in other areas to in You Only Live Twice, he claims that Sumo wrestlers are trained to retract their testicles (not just tuck them out of the way).
 
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On a somewhat tangential, but possibly relevant, note ...

I remember a common bully's tactic from childhood and elementary school. The bully would unexpectedly confront an easily intimidated classmate and get the victim suitably nervous. Then the bully would challenge the victim to prove he wasn't X (X = something unpleasant or negative) by whistling, after claiming Xs couldn't whistle.

The trick to this gambit lay in the fact the initial intimidation typically caused a dry mouth in the victim, causing him to be unable to whistle and thus humiliate himself.

I don't specifically recall seeing this trick performed in the context of "X = gay", but ... One of the most common Xs boys didn't want to be accused of being was a "queer" (though, to be honest, in the age range at issue none of us knew exactly what a "queer" was).
 
This "gays can't whistle" trope surfaced in 2020, when John Waters cited it in one or more interviews while promoting his newly-released book.

Can gay people whistle? John Waters doesn’t think they can.

Can gay people whistle?

Add John Waters to the camp of people who don’t think they can. ...

Waters said he recently read British author Julian Barnes’ latest book, The Man in the Red Coat, a biography about surgeon and sex addict Samuel Jean Pozzi and life in England and France during the Belle Epoque. He said he was surprised to read that people back then supposedly judged others based on whether they could whistle.

“There was a thing in the Oscar Wilde days that people believed that gay people couldn’t whistle,” Waters said. “And it’s true. Gay people can’t whistle. I’ve asked every gay person I know and they can’t.”

In The Man with the Golden Gun, published in 1965, James Bond author Ian Fleming promoted the theory that a man who can’t whistle has homosexual tendencies. Others believe the giveaway is silent farts.

Waters says Barnes’ account of the whistling test for sexual orientation was a revelation to him. ...
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SOURCE: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/08/can-gay-people-whistle-john-waters-doesnt-think-can/

Also Cited In:
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/08/...all-hairspray-pink-flamingos-director-divine/
https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story.php?295777

May have originated with this interview:
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/04/29/comic-terrorism-really-works-an-interview-with-john-waters/
 
Here is the (sole) relevant passage from Barnes' book (via Google Books) ...
JBarnesQuote.jpg
I have no idea whether Barnes had a reasonable basis for this. For all I know he was punning on Fleming (perhaps motivated by or connected to the similarity in the two books' titles).
 
EnolaGaia said:
This "gays can't whistle" trope surfaced in 2020, when John Waters cited it in one or more interviews while promoting his newly-released book.


SOURCE: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/08/can-gay-people-whistle-john-waters-doesnt-think-can/

Also Cited In:
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/08/...all-hairspray-pink-flamingos-director-divine/
https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story.php?295777

May have originated with this interview:
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/04/29/comic-terrorism-really-works-an-interview-with-john-waters/
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The Mrs's best mate's a gay bloke. I'm going to have to ask him if he can whistle next time I see him (and explain this theory to him). I hope he can so I can record it although I've got my suspicions that he's bi .. if that would make any difference?.
 
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Thanks all for finding that this is a real UL of some kind... not sure if it's a Fleming special (the Sumo testicles) or something he had heard of from other sources, but it is suitably strange as an idea!
 
MrRING said:
Thanks all for finding that this is a real UL of some kind... not sure if it's a Fleming special (the Sumo testicles) or something he had heard of from other sources, but it is suitably strange as an idea!
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I had certainly heard of the 'gays can't whistle' nonsense when I was a teenager in the early 70's, but I'm not sure whether it was before or after the Fleming book was published.
 
I am very confused now. Apparently, it seems I can whistle, but only show tunes or songs by Steps! What does that say about my sexuality?

Also, my testicles tend to retract into my body during sexual activity or whenever I see Sumo wrestlers. It's always the left one that goes first. Does that mean it is more gay than the right one?
 
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I believe the group 'The Pinker Tones' are gay.
 
Dinobot said:
I'm gay and can whistle - if you want proof, the lot of you can whistle for it!
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That bit at the end of 'Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay' please Dinobot .. any time you're ready man .. I can do it to perfection with my eyes closed .. and that whistle solo ..
 
I wonder if gays blokes can human beat box?. I reckon 'Whistle' were all about the cock Dinobot:

 
Swifty said:
I wonder if gays blokes can human beat box?. I reckon 'Whistle' were all about the cock Dinobot:

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I'll take your word for it @Swifty, and won't ask how you arrived this conclusion...
 
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