send in the clowns

[rkt]

i went out last night and had my phone number solicited by a clown. clown, as in the person came in wearing big shoes < insert joke here > , clown suit, make up, etc. after changing into street clothes, said clown gave me a blue balloon poodle.

after the clown left, this led to a discussion regarding the gender and sexuality of all clowns, in general.

so i take the questions to you, dear readers:

[Poll #525595]

by HONEST i don't mean what you think is the best / most proper answer - but what is your knee-jerk image that comes to your mind.

this poll is also, in lesser part, inspired by ggdsbuckeye's post regarding stereotypical americans.

Comments

[hardvice.livejournal.com]

I think I make the same stereotype-based assumptions about a clown's gender as I do about anyone's gender. There are enough "male" or "female" characteristics that show through the outfit for me to prejudge the clown's gender, and if there aren't, I probably default to "male" since there seem to be fewer female clowns.

As for their sexuality, I refuse to even imagine clown sex, because it's feckin' creepy. There was a guy in high school I really, really wanted to sleep with who wanted to go to clown college, but I can't even imagine doing him as Jojo or what have you.

[xmorningxrosex.livejournal.com]

Ditto. I rarely see female-looking clowns, so I think the ones that are to look female stand out, and I just default the rest as male. Most of the clowns I've seen are male (or at least have male voices if the rest is unidentifiable/neutral) - Bozo the Clown, Krusty, Ronald McDonald, Pennywise, etc.

I think of clowns as childlike really, so it's hard for me to think of what their sexualities are. There was some kinky CSI episode (I think that was the show) involving clown suit fetishes, but I don't wanna think about it! :[

[rkt.livejournal.com]

As for their sexuality, I refuse to even imagine clown sex,

how is this different from asexuality? just curious

[hardvice.livejournal.com]

I recognise that they probably are sexual. I just don't want to imagine it.

[rkt.livejournal.com]

gotchya'.

[bike4fish.livejournal.com]

gender:
I never thought clowns were neutral, in that I assumed they were intentionally not distiguishably of the usual gender binary. That the gendering seemed to be intentional was an important point - I suppose I thought of clowns as genderqueer long before the term existed.

sexuality:
I said "whatever zie says it is" - what I may mean is I've seen such variation that I haven't managed to form a stereotype. I can't assign any particular sexuality to a clown until I see their behavior. Come to think of it, if I see clowns as an "other" gender, straight, gay, and bisexual lose meaning. Individual clown performance may express a specific sexuality, but it well may not fit into the options provided. This is spefically because I do not know the (non-existant) social rules that are constructed around clown sexuality.

[belladonnalin.livejournal.com]

I'm fucking terrified of clowns. I have no idea.

Non-gendered evil?

[bike4fish.livejournal.com]

Non-gendered chaotic evil.

[belladonnalin.livejournal.com]

I swear to god. I saw IT far too young and never really managed to get over it.

Even before that, I thought they were creepy. After?

I stopped going to McDonalds. As a KID. In MONTANA, where McDonald's was, like, the best offer we had.

*shudder*

[bike4fish.livejournal.com]

When I was a small kid I had nightmares about store manniquins (the ones in my dreams were always were female, with no heads - probably because I never went shopping with my father for clothes - so the only headless mannikins I saw were in the women's section). Somehow that same fear transferred itself to clowns in the real world - real-life store mannikins didn't frighten me. I would leave the room when clowns came on TV, though.

Apropos of nothing, when I was a kid in Wyoming, we only went to McDonalds because they would give away free hamburgers for A's on kids' report cards. I don't remember if Ronald was around at the time (yes, I'm ancient), but the place gave me the creeps, even then.

[brienf.livejournal.com]

Clownist! Clownist!

[rkt.livejournal.com]

PLEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE!

[kornrowchic.livejournal.com]

clowns freak me the fuck out...but none more than tom cruise.