Maybe I'll Just Take An Umbrella...

Do you remember kagouls? I don't know about the US but back in the UK they were thin water-resistant outerwear that folded up into a small pouch. They came in naff primary colors and were worn by ramblers, sad bastards and the children of parents who enjoyed inflicting emotional abuse on their offspring.

Today I mentioned them in an article I was writing. (Yes, someone asked me to write one, but only so long as I didn't say "fuck" or "cunt") but I wasn't 100% sure about the spelling (why learn to spell something in which you would not be caught dead?) So I did what anyone would do - I typed it into Google search in the expectation that it would prompt me if I had the spelling wrong. Apparently I was correct, but in the process I learned that kagoul.com is a non-sexual, on-line community of gay men. Here's a sample:

"....and I mean a really heated argument between myself and 3 of my gay friends because I am really attracted to ginger/red haired guys (and also greys). At first it started off as just general banter but then I got really annoyed (not my usual self) that my taste in guys was being ridiculed. Now, I've had guys in my life that were blonde, black, brown, ginger and even grey (I am now), but the argument was ridiculous. For instance: 'I couldn't go down on a guy that was ginger'. I was gobsmacked."

What would my parents think? All those years they forced us kids to wear blue kagouls when we went out in the rain and little did they know that the kagoul was an icon of the alternative lifestyle. My only question is why? What is it about the humble kagoul that gave it such status in the gay community? Answers on a postcard please...


Copyright ©: 2008 Edward Bison