Gaydar! Key

We all saw SHINee’s Key coming on this list (hah! pun). While he doesn’t send my professional Gaydar off the charts like some other gullible fangirls, there is no denying he is just feminine. Likes pink, cute things, wears pink lipstick, takes special care to his hair, is all over his bandmates in general (especially Donkey Kong– Jonghyun, I meant) and is just all-around girly. My gaydar simply says he’s metrosexual.

I think Key straddles the fence. He’s the most traditional one out of all the SHINee members, most readily talking about his family– especially his grandmother. He’s the first one to talk about marriage, the first one to talk about having a family. He’s a very filial son, very devoted to a traditional model, which does not include homosexuality. For some people, culture and conformity can be stronger than personal desire; in this context, this is not a bad thing, it’s just simply a truth. Different people find happiness in different things. For some, it may be romantic love, for others, familial love, or even material lust. There are so many people with indifferent romantic lives, but have fulfilling family lives. It’s child’s naïveté to think that having a life partner is the single-most rewarding aspect of life. With Key’s strong gravitation towards traditional values, the allure of an atomic family could be even greater than having the perfect life partner. Whenever I think about all of the ‘questionable’ things Key does, I always think back to his traditional outlook. Tradition and culture are extremely, extremely strong influences.

Key is always lovingly referred to as a diva, which irritates me to no end. I doubt Key is actually referred to as a diva by Korean fans; it’s more of a Western invention, that connotes of homosexuality. In his early debut days, Key never really characterized as a diva (watch Flower Boys’ Generation); it’s hard to tell if his current personality is gradual morphing of his stage persona or the shining through of his true personality, because after all, shows are nearly always scripted. Even watching Hello Baby, I never got the impression that Key was particularly sassy a la diva, just rather blunt.

On variety shows, Key usually showcases his ability to perform girl group dances. I actually think it’s very smart from a marketing standpoint, because few male idols do girl dances, and Key is almost always performing alone and to great amusement of the audience. Moreover, SHINee was and is still marketed as the cute boys’ next door, so it was not a big stretch for Key to dance girl groups. Shindong from Super Junior regularly does girl group dances as well, and he’s actually engaged to a woman; the image of SHINee and Key’s ability to perform girl group dances mesh, unfortunately contributing to a Western outlook that he is, in fact, a diva.

Key is also attentive towards fashion, but that doesn’t mean anything. Many great names in fashion are straight: Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Roberto Cavalli, Tommy Hilfiger, Max Azria, Elie Saab, Oscar De La Renta, Christian Lacroix. Gays and fashion are just meaningless stereotypes that nobody should pander to.

However, the one thing that does turn me over the edge towards homosexuality isJongKey interaction, and how it fits them so easily. Sometimes it seems like they could be a couple, or people that have been together for a very, very long time. I am not going to enumerate examples, you should just see it for yourself. It’s worth noting that Key never has the same level of chemistry with other non-SHINee members; nonetheless, that could be simply because a lot of it is off-screen. Sometimes I think that Key and Jonghyun would have tried, if they were not raised in South Korea– culture and tradition come full circle here.

Key straddles the fence, but for me, I think the overall outcome is clear. If he is of the homosexual persuasion, Key will never be open about it, and may go even as far as to marrying and having a family despite his sexual preferences. He’ll have a happy life as a husband and father with his wife and children. If Key is predominantly heterosexual, he’ll marry and have children, and be a happy husband and father.

The Unicorn Shirt / Earpiece

Credit: theinnocentlam