The Reluctant Whore

A lot of the time, actors and musicians stay in the closet professionally primarily because of market pressures. It’s all about market research and testing and before they get to a certain stately position either commercially or artistically they stay in the closet to optimize how much desire can be projected onto them so they can get more work.

With Clay Aiken it’s a bit of that but the really great thing about him is that you know it’s also probably some fucked up religious dogma that was bred into him when he was a kid that made him believe that he’s going to hell for being gay so there’s really no assurance that behind the scenes and away from the camera he’s just a healthy gay kid who is balancing work with personal life. Actually, let’s assume that he sits in a dark room with one eye open at all times trying to stave off gay thoughts by threatening himself with a quick pen stab to his thigh if he even thinks about thinking about the word gay. Well, that’s when he’s not online trolling for men.

SO – considering all that, it’s really interesting to watch this video of the young Ache-meister play it all out on stage. With so much inner torment about what actions mean what to whom (“Will fat, sexually frightened women in Nebraska still buy my records? Will I still go to heaven?”) it’s a real wonder he can even stand up without freaking out. Still, as would be expected, underneath the forced optimism of his southern drawl and the extravagant ego there’s clearly a whole lot of woman just screaming to get out.

If the straight women fans in the flyover states don’t get the point from his cover of “Like a Virgin” then their problems extend way further than just denial.