QCicons: Whatever Happened to the Hanky Code?
QC icons examines gay historical and cultural symbols in modern context. To commemorate Pride this summer, we'll be examining colorful symbols, such as the Hanky Code.
Unless you're older or into the leather scene, you might think nothing of the stud with a red handkerchief in his back right pocket-- actually, the guy's looking to get fist-fucked. The red hankie indicates the act -- dark blue would mean he's looking for sex; light blue, oral sex; grey, bondage and so on. The right pocket indicates submission, the left, dominance.
The "hanky code" (or "flagging") appeared during the '60's and '70's as a way to covertly advertise sexual interest. During the closeted '50's, gay men expressed interest by standing certain ways next to each other, positioning their belt buckles, and exchanging knowing glances. But to a large degree, gay sex still occurred secretly in public spaces called "tea rooms" like truck stops, park toilets, and back rooms.
By clearing communicating who wanted what, the hanky code sought to dispell some of the uncertainty, danger, and stigma surrounding gay sex. It caught on especially in the 60's leather scene-- a more tribal, ritualistic, and outwardly sexual fringe of the homosexual mainstream-- where the hanky code persists to this day.
The hanky code got brief notice due to Time Magazine coverage and marketers who created meanings for every bandana color (dark pink for tit torture, leopard print for tattoo lovers, for example). However, today's relaxed social attitudes, the internet, and outwardly sexual fashions have somewhat supplanted the need for encoded homosexuality.
These days, there are dozens of ways for us to quickly express and satisfy our gay desire-- but perhaps that's not entirely a good thing. The hankies indicated the existence of a flourishing gay sub/counter-culture outside the reach of mainstream commercialism and political interests. Some think that the more homosexuality enters the mainstream, the more it becomes a homogenized disposable commodity, exclusive of racial and sexual non-conformity and unable to create autonomous modes of self-expression.
What are your thoughts?
If you have an idea for QC icons, please tell us.
Thanks to Aaron's Gay Info and Scrum Cap for graphic and historical assistance.
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Reader Comments
Your 2¢, in chronological order — add your comment below.
What does 'shrimping' mean?
Remember the scene from Cruising where that guy tells Pacino to take the hanky out of his pocket?
I think that on the one hand, it's very nice to know that gay culture has outgrown the need for hanky code by virtue of homosexuality's steadily increasing acceptability and the gradual enlightenment of society.
On the other hand, is code really gone from the gay scene? I think not. Men still meet men in showers, nodding and smiling covertly. They still eye each other on the subway, avoiding each others' glances like the plague while simultaneously attempting to express some sort of coded interest. And men in bars try to express wordlessly what it is they are looking for, be it through attire, posture, or demeanor. I would say that the clarity of gay code is gone, but the necessity and the presence are intrinsic to gay society.
I sometimes tie a red bandana around my dogs neck. I hope I have not given other dogs or their owners the wrong idea.
"Some think that the more homosexuality enters the mainstream, the more it becomes a homogenized disposable commodity, exclusive of racial and sexual non-conformity and unable to create autonomous modes of self-expression."
Some of the most intelligent writing I've ever read on QC! Nice work! Resist heteronormative assimilation!
euan,
I'm probably wrong about this, but I think shrimping means that a person is into sucking someone else's toes or into having his/her own toes sucked.
I'm sure someone will let me know if I got it wrong.
1. To lick or suck on someone's toes.
2. A shrimper is when One Person sucks the cum out anothr persons Ass Hole with a Straw.
Which is right?
1. To lick or suck on someone's toes.
2. A shrimper is when One Person sucks the cum out anothr persons Ass Hole with a Straw.
Which is the right answer?
Shrimping is sucking toes I believe. I have a foot fetish but only like to look at them as well as nice hairy legs.
The problem was the need to carry a pantone color checker with you at all times, especially in dimly lit bars. So after you got a guy home, thinking that your mustard-colored hanky made it clear that you expected him to have a big dick, instead he whipped out his 4 incher and peed all over you.
Shrimping is toe sucking.
I'm a light blue right pocket kinda guy.
Im glad you put this up! im 22 i know of the code but when my friends and I see guys sporting them always scramble to remeber what they mean... or if the guy even intentionally picked that color. The legend lives on! and shrimping, I do believe is when u suck the sperm out of another gentlemans buttox, my dear sir. I hope you havent been rocking the coral :)
Kinda confusing or embarrassing if the lighting isn't quite right. You may want to be spanked but find yourself with a fist up your butt. Or prefer big dicks but wind up being peed on. Like Mom always said: use your words!
The Urban Dictionary says 'shrimping' means toe sucking.
I'm in my 30s but the only time I've encountered hanky codes is in watching Eating Out.
Sadly, those are left over from the days when horny men had to go out into the night to hunt down their prey... they had to find a man and find some real sexual connection and the hanky code made things easier and more exciting.
Now on Manhunt you just do a keyword search for "WS, PnP, PigPlay"
Oh well.
According to the Gay Slang Dictionary, Shrimping= To suck the semen out of someones ass with a straw.
(Seems like a somewhat acquired taste. Don't just use your tongue, use a straw. )
But a general sex dictionary tells us it's sucking someone's toes in a sexy way. Still don't know why you should need a special hanky color for that one, but I find this definition more credible. Toes resemble shrimps in a way.
I'm with Johnny: even though more concrete sets of signifiers like the Hanky Code have fallen into disuse, everyone, before going out in public, chooses the clothes, hairstyles, attitudes, tattoos, comrades, mannerisms, and so on ad infinitum meant to send a coded message about who he is and what he wants. That's true of all society, but it's especially important for queer people, who certainly stand to lose more by misreading a message.
I'm not sure, though, that the disappearance of the Hanky Code wholly indicates progress. Sure, I'm glad to know that I can advertise my desires---in certain safe environments---with a degree of comfort. But isn't it a little unsettling that a distinctly gay code, one that served no small part in facilitating gay sex and gay culture for decades, has suddenly and recently vanished? The loss of the Hanky Code strikes me as a microcosmic example for the large-scale historical forgetfulness of this rising generation of gay men.
So I love to see that QC is publicizing this. Maybe this history lesson will take hold by merit of being couched in pornography.
You lost me at shrimping... I can pretty much figure out everything else... and I hope that wearing them tied around your head doesnt mean anything because if it does... then I have probably unknowingly invited men to do all sorts of crazy sexual acts since I wear bandanas to the gym... I have a ton of red bandanas too.. and I dont even like dick up my pooper... much less a fist... no thank you maam... ouch.
I'm old enough to remember when the hanky code was valid. It imploded when every possible act required its own color, sadly. It was a great reference for those who had specific interests and especially where it involved tops and bottoms.
I have never heard of "shrimping" referring to the anal/straw thing. That at least used to be called "felching". Doesn't matter to me--neither activity interests me.
Our culture seems hellbent on assimilation, pretending that the various subcultures have less value that what another poster called the "heteronormative" ideal. But why should we all try to act like suburbanites when not even all straights want that? Bring back the REAL drag queens and leather men and celebrate our diversity. And if you are ashamed of these groups, then YOU have the problem, not them.
felching is the act many are confusing with shrimping. which is indeed toe sucking.