Why Gay Men Love “The Women”: 5 Stand-Out Moments from the Iconic 1939 Film

The Real Housewives, Joan and Melissa Rivers, The Golden Girls, The Devil Wears Prada.

In addition to our men, we gays also love a lot of women. Smart, strong, glamorous, beautiful, sexy, extra bitchy women!

This fascination with the opposite sex goes back to The Golden Age of Hollywood and there may be no better example than George Cukor’s 1939 classic The Women, a star-studded Hollywood adaptation of the Clare Boothe Luce's 1936 play of the same name

This all-female bitch and glam fest is (or should be) on every good gay’s list of favorite movies.

Norma Shearer plays Mary, the ideal housewife who suddenly finds her perfect life turned upside down when sexy shopgirl Crystal, played by gay icon Joan Crawford, steals her husband. Rosalind Russell all but steals the show as the bitchy gossip Sylvia who plays both sides of the fence.

Let’s have a look at some of the best (gayest) moments from The Women.

1. Jungle Red has to be the gayest nail polish name ever, right?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnsF3KZ7pSY

2. Before the red carpet, Drag Race, and Project Runway, there was this over the top fashion show sequence with gowns by the famed (and openly gay) costume designer Adrian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4HJxkWulCA

3. Crystal and Mary’s confrontation has some of the bitchiest dialogue ever, culminating with Crystal saying that all she has to do to please Mary’s husband is undress. It’s been reported that actresses Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer had an animosity off-screen as well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zylua1izuP4

4. Maybe the greatest catfight in movie history happens when Sylvia finds out Mary is not the only one whose husband has been cheating on her:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZtyc_--tcc

5. Crystal’s parting words in the film are just iconic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvGasXsbxug&

The director George Cukor was openly gay decades before it was cool to be. He was a favorite of every Hollywood actress and every closeted man. The gay pool parties he threw at his house are the stuff of queer legend.

Ryan Murphy centered an entire episode of his hit series Hollywood in 2020 around one such evening. Just look at those dudes!

The Women is available for streaming on HBOMax or you can check out this all-male reading of the original play. Could it get any gayer?!

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