Attention sissyboys (or sister boys) and the ladies (and men) who like them! Rent or TiVo or stalk your local listings for Tea and Sympathy (1956).

Yes, there’s a knitting scene (on the beach where young Tommy Lee sews), but there’s also a pretty darn progressive deconstruction of societal expectations of gender and a sympathetic portral of a boy who doesn’t fit in. There are also some killer costumes (swimsuits and gowns), melodramatic acting and a strong pre-feminist heroine. It’s campy, touching and a classic. Could I be any gayer?

As Deborah Kerr’s Laura Reynolds says, “Manliness is not all swagger and mountain climbing. It’s also tenderness.”

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