Following up on the themes of dance & sexual selection, here is a snippet from Michael Bailey’s book:

Michael agreed, and he embarked on a most ambitious study. Before it was over, he had interviewed 136 professional dancers from around the country, including several well-known choreographers: 48 gay men, 42 heterosexual men, 45 heterosexual women, and 1 lesbian.

One of my college roommates had an ex-girlfriend who was a dance major at Brigham Young University, mecca of Mormon youth, and she one day confided to him that almost all the male dance majors were closeted homosexuals. This is pretty weird. When I danced in clubs in college [1], sometimes I would worry that I was dancing “too gay” (I was dancing to meet chicks to date them, not become their girlfriend). I don’t know, I dated and stuff, so my dancing couldn’t have been that gay, and it is reassuring that most believe they can distinguish straight and gay dancing so that one isn’t displaying in vain.

Dance has a long history, and obviously a non-homosexual one by & large. But the opening of a niche for homosexual males in public life seems to have tinted it more toward becoming a signal for a subculture.

[1] Another phenomenon was the process by which:

Gay dance club attracts straight women.
Which attracts straight men.
Which drives the gays out.
Which means fewer straight women show up to dance.
Which means fewer straight men show up to dance.
Club closes and re-opens with a new name and personality.

Posted by razib at 11:50 PM