Eldergays: What did your generation call "DRAMA" before today's gays ran that term into the ground?

Poppycock and foolery.

Flummery!

My dear, there was quite the brouhaha at the bar last evening...

Acting... "We had faces"

Shenanigans

Hysteria?

Whoop de do.

kerfuffles!

Getting jumped leaving a bar. Getting beat to a pulp. Then having cops laugh about it. Kind of dramatic. But doesn't compare to today's problems. Like having your Doordash order mixed up. Or an Amazon package delivered late.

We had "drama" and Drama Queens".

I don't know who was the bigger drama queen, the bartenders who refused to make Cosmos or the queens who threw a hissy-fit over it.

There was a shampoo that was only available at a hairdresser. I forget the name, but it had "not for retail sale" or similar on the bottle. When it started appearing in stores, you would have thought it was the end of the world.

Of course, there was the ever popular "would the doorman at the disco let you in" drama.

Commotion

Lesbianism

Δράμα

"Drama" was usually caused by the guys who practically lived in gay bars, only went to gay bars, and made their friends and boyfriends in gay bars. (I'm late 70s/early 80s vintage.). To see one of these guys outside of bars was extremely rare. Even in a mid-sized city you didn't se them working in shops or restaurants or offices. Those of us who had lives outside of bars may have had our share or heartache or we might fall out with friends, but I really don't remember drama as I witness nowadays. No protracted bitterness, no "scenes" in public, etc.

I don't think I'm sugar-coating things.

Cave drawings

R14, I don't think "sugar coating" is the right word, but you are distorting things.

First, the guys who lived in gay bars didn't go back to their coffins during the day. Yes, the worked in shops, hair salons, antique stores, etc. They were nurses, graphic designers, stage managers, interior decorators, etc. If you were not aware of them, you were not paying attention.

Second, in the 1970s, gay bars and discos were pretty much the only options. There were a few gay restaurants, but it was difficult to meet a person there. Gay choirs, gay sports teams, etc. were very rare. The gay reading groups, theater companies, etc. tended to be very fringe. They were not something a middle of the road guy would join.

I will add that the drama queens of the 1970s-80s did tend to have a look. Their hair style, clothing, shoes, cologne (or the fact that they wore cologne) , etc. were red flags. What we did not have was the roid-rage drama of today.

Hysteria.

[quote]There was a shampoo that was only available at a hairdresser. I forget the name, but it had "not for retail sale" or similar on the bottle. When it started appearing in stores, you would have thought it was the end of the world.

Um, what? A specialty shampoo was released for a wider market. Why or how was this "drama?" For whom? Are you hair burner? I can't imagine such a thing even registering for most people.

Honestly, growing up I only heard one or two African-American guys at my high school use it (there weren't that many African-Americans). Even now, I don't hear that many gay men other than the Gen Z "yaaassss Kueen", ultra-flashy use it and even they kind of joke around with the term and affectation. Maybe the crowd I interact with...and many are in their 20's or 30's. Never heard even the cross-dressing twink at work use it other than in jest or when telling a funny story over drinks.

R19, quite the opposite. I remember it because I thought it was really stupid. I found an advertisement. Part of the marketing was that it was only available at one's hairdresser. When it appeared on shelves, it was quite a big deal and some queens went overboard.

It was also Drama, just more tasteful and with a better soundtrack.

Weren’t those products called “salon exclusives?” I feel like Paul Mitchell products were like that.

R22, Vince Clarke with hair!!

Thanks for your thoughts R16. My sugar-coating comment was more about how I remembered things; it wasn’t a purposeful distortion. I also meant to say that those whose lives centered around gay bars were not people I normally saw. Of course they had their individual lives. I didn’t say that they didn’t. I also recognize that they peopled all sorts of professions. Your comment about not paying attention seems rather harsh in that light.

The question from OP was about how we referred to drama back in those days. I tried to convey that at that time, for me, in my own singular instance, I just never experienced much drama as it is presently construed.

Nervous Nellies

It was also called "making a scene". Don't make a scene, for Chrissake!

Tsuris

Trouble in River City

Agita

Beef

histrionics

I would bet dollars to doughnuts OP was accused by his friends of creating drama, and is now feeling sore about it.

Hence the question.

R33, you are either an Eldergay or play one on TV. That is the perfect Eldergayesque response. Not too much, not too little.

Freaking out . " Damnit! Don't you dare freak out on me!"