Is it less "threatening" to portray effeminate gay men than butch ones in Hollywood movies and TV?

we'll never know exactly why, wether it's justified thats a whole other story. The media including filmmakers listened in my opinion too often to the public for various reasons. I tend to believe that religious communities have something to do with it. Not that the media has ties with them but rather the "had a fear of" or "we better be prudent or else" mentality played part. However things might change little by little if you look at for example various "the simpsons" episodes on the topic of gayness. Let's not forget Brokeback Mountain which was a success.

You might say the bears equal the masculine straight men in their ways, the only difference is their sexual preference. But putting everything else aside you might want to ask yourself wether a human being can be a 100% straight or 100% gay? Hmmm, i like to believe there's always a percentage of gayness in a person, it's just a matter of convenient choices that make up ones lifestyle.

It all depends on who's portraying our society through the different media, wether certain people feel threatened by masculine bears we might as well claim a lot of people will find benefit in the popularization of the bears. It's a knife that cuts both ways these days. I'm pretty tolerant but that sitcom (Normal Ohio) in which Goodman stars wasn't all that good for the sole reason that nothing in there was taken seriously, it has nothing to do with sexual preference.

Again, it all depends on who's portraying the subject, but generally taken , straight men won't go watch Brokeback Mountain, there's always the danger of being judged and treated as queer for doing just that ....even by a wife.

It's got too many personal implications...to the point of being paranoic... IMO

Hmmm this is a good question. Did you see American Beauty? I think for the most part you are right. It is more "fun" to see the effeminate "Will" or "Jack" on your TV screen than some manly guy who might give it to you roughly. I am not sure if that will ever become popular in movies unless there is a dark message..hence American Beauty. I don't agree with it, it is just the way society is..still. Really. There are still a lot of anti gays out there despite the prominance of how accepted it is on tv and movies. And really Cold Mountain didn't necessarily portray those guys as effimanate did they? I wouldn't say so.

Butch lesbians and butch gay men are perceived as sexually aggressive and therefore threatening. Effeminate gay male stereotypes are cartoon characters that are non-sexual and therefore not threatening. Lipstick lesbians are, again, not overtly sexual in a manner that would threaten the heterosexual male dominated "norm" that is ingrained in our society. If you think about it, this also applies to the portrayal of heterosexual women in the media. Sexually aggressive women are normally portrayed in a negative light - as villains or having low morals. The terms used to describe women who have multiple sexual partners are derogatory, whereas those describing males who sleep around are, for the large part, admiring (e.g. stud, stallion, "ladies man", etc.)

This is just one man's opinion, but I'm more than sick of the bombardment of gay characters in movies and TV. I don't care if they are fems or butches, I'm not threatened by either. Just tired of it. I feel gay characters are being crammed down my throat (pun intended). I don't care who's gay and who's not, but enough already. Please.