Very interesting question, indeed. Why does Joni seem to have a preponderance of gay fans? I say 'seem' because there's no way for me to really know that one way or the other. The number of gay participants in this discussion list may have as much to do with the atmosphere and environment of the list as it does with Joni. Also, gay word of mouth about the list may have resulted in the gay demo here.
But still, an intriguing question that has made me look back on why I have loved her work since my first introduction to it. I think there is something there thematically that resonated with me as a gay man (though back then I had yet to acknowledge that fact to myself). Some of the threads in her work that did that: The man that got away -- The constant looking for love that never works out. I remember back in the LOTC, Blue, FTR and C&S days Joni's tumultuous ever-shifting love life was common knowledge among me and my friends. Her persona to me back then was brilliant artist, maybe a little unstable and neurotic (Twisted), who loves and loses yet is never a victim and always moves on. I think this may have told me that it was OK, even admirable, maybe even essential for making great art, to go through life without a lasting love relationship -- a fear of mine at the time. Restless, Rootless, Reckless -- The twin themes of outward and inward traveling, traveling, traveling certainly struck a chord with one who was searching for self in a very fundamental way. And our 'reckless daughter' strikingly verbalized what were some of the experiences of, at least, this gay man -- as recently posted to the list in the lyrics of Down to You: You go down to the pick up station craving warmth and beauty You settle for less than fascination, a few drinks later you're not so choosy Then the closing lights strip off the shadows of this strange new flesh you've found Clutching the night to you like a fig leaf You hurry - to the blackness, and the blankets, to lay down an impression And your loneliness.. OUCH! Any gay man on this list has been THERE, I wager. And that was before we knew that sex could kill more than our spirit. It killed us. Of course, this all may be hogwash. Trying to fit theory to practice after the fact. I mean, I'm as big a fan of Bob Dylan as I am of Joni Mitchell -- and what's the big gay resonator in Dylan's work? I'm sure I could invent something. Bruce PS. I don't believe that TRAGIC is the essential component that makes for a gay female icon. To the contrary, I think it's strength (and superior talent, but that's a given). What makes a Judy Garland or a Barbra Streisand or even a Joni Mitchell especially appealing is the fact that she defies the sexist societal stereotype of female weakness without a man/husband to supply the supposed stability/strength she lacks on her own. As a gay man I can identify with these women because I too have been misjudged by society as somehow being less than strong, less than complete, less than a real man. Our divas showed them wrong. So can I. Long live the Divas!
