Are You Buying the Hankie Code Resurrection?

BUTT Magazine is predicting a resurgence of “the look-back, the stop, the double-look-back and the approach,” and I too have caught whiffs of online-hookup fatigue in backrooms across the West Coast. Now, two new entrepreneurs are hoping to capitalize on the revival of street cruising with a new app (you can buy it here) that will transform your iPhone into a virtual hankie:

We no longer need to wear our stripes like our gay forebears (pun intended) in order to find and connect with fellow gays. We can do all that in a dark room.. with our computers. As a result we have once again become invisible. And as long as we remain invisible we will never truly gain our equal rights.

As much as I’d like to believe that flagging “piss bottom” will pave the way for marriage equality, I’m not convinced that the app offers a viable alternative for hooking up online. Whether street cruising is making a comeback or not, I still think that the hankie code is dead for good, and here’s why: most gay sluts are more concerned with who they have sex with than what they do during sex. In other words, mutual sexual attraction trumps hankie compatability, and if two guys find each other hot, then odds are everything is going to work out just fine.

For example, let’s say you love to 69, which means you’ll flag Robin’s Egg Blue in your left pocket. Then, let’s say two men approach you. One is gross, and he says, “I love to 69!” Another is hot, and he says, “Let’s hook up, but I don’t 69.” You’re going home with the hot guy.

So while I doubt the hankie code will make a revival, it’s certainly possible that apps like this one will keep gay history alive and maybe even help bring cruising back into the daylight. The makers of this app tell BUTT:

If you’re at a coffee shop or a restaurant somewhere and you’re working on your computer you can have your iPhone to the left or to the right of your computer or your coffee and guys walk by and the notice it and they’re like ‘hmm.’

Just make sure not to confuse Brown Lace (“Uncut”) with Brown (“Scat”).

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The Hanky Code (Butt Magazine)

0 thoughts on “Are You Buying the Hankie Code Resurrection?”

  1. Hankie code is pretty cool. We waste all this time on the computer.. cruising Craigslist and all the others, when for real, it’s pretty fuckin hot to strut the street, twist back to check the response of a hottie you just cruised by and make a fucking hot connection THAT way. It’s how I met my boyfriend 16 years ago- and it’s still the only way I’d wager the making a serious connection even today. Hankies -as the above Derek stated- at the least give you something to talk about.. and only good things lead from that.

  2. I flag my black and white checked hankie. People don’t generally know what it means – but this gives me a chance to chat with them about what it means: safer sex. I also give them out at events – so far I’ve given out over 1000 safer sex hankies. When I see guys wearing them it makes me glad. I only wish more guys were willing to stand up for safer sex.

    While I generally flag more to show pride in different fetishes, this isn’t a bad way to go. Tony Buff made me a hankie for my fave activites: it’s a four square made of Black, Grey, Purple and Teal.

    Tony’s website icon is a picture of his hankie colors (Black, Grey, Red and Yellow).

  3. In other words, hanky code apps or bandanas will probably never catch on for most gay sex cruising because most people DON’T have to insist on a specific sex act when horny.

    But they’re great for when you DO want a certain act very badly, or you’re in some social network (like a leather bar or website) among like-minded guys who all want some extreme fetish they wouldn’t share with gays at large. But most people just write this in their online profile.

    Specification is also great merely if there’s a particular sex act that you favor, because it can help identify guys whose favorite act is to accommodate you. For instance, I’d rather have a talented, committed cocksucker slave with a deep throat who is a little ugly than a really HOT guy who gives bad head agree to blow me.

    But I don’t see hankies becoming the norm, and were they ever? I thought most cruising back in the ’70s and ’80s was done without props or costumes in cruising spots; the hankies were just for the fetish-minded and leather bars.

    1. …you had time to consider all those points and write all that? I don’t think you’re in need of the hanky-code application. Doesn’t sound like you’re getting any.

      And, yes, I had time to read all that and come up with my point. I don’t have sex either.

  4. ‘One is gross, and he says, “I love to 69!” Another is hot, and he says, “Let’s hook up, but I don’t 69.” You’re going home with the hot guy.’

    Unless you reject both and keep looking for a hot guy who will commit to 69, because that’s what you’re really in the mood to, which was the point of specifying it.

    Few people go with the first fuckable guy they see when cruising. Guys are usually holding out for the hottest guy online or in the club; they want to see who all is available first and make sure they try their chances with the hottest one. Sadly, delaying sex with a so-so cutie in the hopes of nailing “the hottest one” results in a lot of missed sexual opportunities between people that could have been really hot.

    Maybe you weren’t aware of this because I’m the only one who actually messages “I can’t commit to come over right now, because I’m still seeing who else is available” on a gay hookup site.

    But trust me — when guys in public or online express interest in you but won’t commit immediately, it’s often because they’re holding out for someone better. We’ve all been strung-along by chatters.

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