Give your love to a cowboy man

.... he's gonna love ya, hard as he can.

One of my tutors posted this on our class discussion forum:

If you are anything like me and everyone I've shown it to so far, your first reaction is 'that's so gay'. Apparently these guys were touted as Canada's straight answer to the Village People.

But really, what is it about this that makes it homoerotic?

It can't be just the cowboy thing, because Brokeback Mountain only came out in 2005, and I'll bet most of us would still have thought this was gay before that came out.

It could be the moustaches. The mo just isn't a very fashionable look anymore. But you have to remember that moustaches were once sexy - just think back to Magnum P.I.

It could be the black leather. As far as I can tell, the guys are all wearing jeans except for one guy in leather. But leather can't be the whole story - would your first response to a group of Hell's Angels in leather be that they are gay?

It could be the choreography. But groups like the Chippendales & Manpower Australia take their shirts off and dance to choreographed routines. And believe me, there is nothing gay about the Chippendales (I've been there).

It could be the fact that the guys are in a bar with their shirts off. I've seen that happen in pubs on Waiheke in the summer, and it wasn't gay. Plus, remember that it's a music video, not a documentary.

There was probably nothing even remotely gay about this video in 1979 - it was just a display of erotic masculinity. I actually think it is quite sexy even now (well, apart from the guy with the really enormous mo), and I do like the song. I especially like the little bit of choreography that starts around 2:24 (or 1:26 counting down).