Handkerchief codes
WhyBeNormal (Talk | contribs) m (→External links) |
(added some more) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Handkerchief code''', more commonly known as '''hanky code''', was a way of indicating, usually among [[gay]] male casual sex seekers or [[BDSM]] practitioners in the US and Canada, whether they were a [[top (sex)|top]] or [[bottom (sex)|bottom]], and what kind of sex they were seeking, by wearing '''color-coded handkerchiefs''', usually in the back pocket. These were worn on the left side of the body for tops and the right for bottoms (this division is still somewhat common: tops may wear keys on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right, for example). | '''Handkerchief code''', more commonly known as '''hanky code''', was a way of indicating, usually among [[gay]] male casual sex seekers or [[BDSM]] practitioners in the US and Canada, whether they were a [[top (sex)|top]] or [[bottom (sex)|bottom]], and what kind of sex they were seeking, by wearing '''color-coded handkerchiefs''', usually in the back pocket. These were worn on the left side of the body for tops and the right for bottoms (this division is still somewhat common: tops may wear keys on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right, for example). | ||
| − | + | There is no universally understood color code, and there may have been regional variations. There is general agreement upon the colours for more common practices: yellow for [[Urolagnia|watersports]]), red for [[fisting]], [[navy for anal intercourse]] and black for [[S&M]], but there was no consensus for the more uncommon practices, mainly because of the difficulty in acquiring such colored handkerchiefs, but particularly because no one save for a gay sex shop clerk ever bothered to learn them all. | |
| − | + | It is less common that before perhaps due to the advent of internet dating and the coming out of more members of the leather and BDSM communities. For the universally understood colors, however, they hanky code still holds, and is often a part of one's everyday street wear (but red hankies need to be further explicated before one makes a pass in non-gay contexts). | |
==Further Reading== | ==Further Reading== | ||
Revision as of 22:14, 21 February 2007
Handkerchief code, more commonly known as hanky code, was a way of indicating, usually among gay male casual sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the US and Canada, whether they were a top or bottom, and what kind of sex they were seeking, by wearing color-coded handkerchiefs, usually in the back pocket. These were worn on the left side of the body for tops and the right for bottoms (this division is still somewhat common: tops may wear keys on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right, for example).
There is no universally understood color code, and there may have been regional variations. There is general agreement upon the colours for more common practices: yellow for watersports), red for fisting, navy for anal intercourse and black for S&M, but there was no consensus for the more uncommon practices, mainly because of the difficulty in acquiring such colored handkerchiefs, but particularly because no one save for a gay sex shop clerk ever bothered to learn them all.
It is less common that before perhaps due to the advent of internet dating and the coming out of more members of the leather and BDSM communities. For the universally understood colors, however, they hanky code still holds, and is often a part of one's everyday street wear (but red hankies need to be further explicated before one makes a pass in non-gay contexts).
Further Reading
- Trevor Jacques, On the Safe Edge: A Manual for SM Play (ISBN 1-895857-05-8)
