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And for a lot of straight men who don't subscribe to Australian masculinity, it's no surprise they've been called a 'fag' a fair few times.Sydney-based writer and teacher Jay* is one of these men. Despite being "resigned to the fact that he's straight," he's still left wondering why people think he's "obviously gay." He's someone who doesn't fit the archetype of the Australian bloke; this means he's constantly having to answer why he ticks certain queer boxes."It was always down to the way that I dressed, my mannerisms, and the way I talked. When I made new friends, some had been surprised that I was straight, or had already gone to 'outing' me. They'd casually drop, 'oh you're gay aren't you?' expecting I'd confirm their presumptions," he said.But confirm he didn't. For Jay, it underlined to him the spheres of privilege that run throughout Western society."We've got centuries of homophobic conditioning to pick apart, and it's multi-layered. You don't need to be slinging hate speech at the supermarket, because if you're a straight white person you get to define what queer looks like from film and television," he said.
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