While the ‘gay hand’ is not portrayed quite as often in present mainstream entertainment, it has definitely popped up in the past on TV shows. Queer stereotypes are rife within the media, with many still used in film and television today. Men with limp wrists were then looked on as acting feminine. As tight dresses were popular in women’s fashion in previous centuries, cuffs were quite restrictive and therefore a flapping wrist became associated with effeminacy. In a historical context, it has been suggested that having a limp wrist was effeminate. A ‘limp wrist’ or the concept of the ‘gay hand’ has long been associated with male homosexuality, so the question is when, where, or how did it become a queer stereotype?
