I'm sort of stunned that you'd used Rock Hudson as an example. Perhaps you just didn't know but Rock Hudson did his utmost to keep his private life PRIVATE.
While I'm sure other actors knew, he and the studios did everything possible to boost public 'knowledge' that he was the epitome of a ladies man. Because of that (and the fact that he was SO tall and good looking), I understand that he was the 'object' of many women's fantasies during his acting career.
Whether he demonstrated "wimpy" characteristics in his private life were, as far as I know, known only then to those with which he shared intimate relationships.
One thing I am certain of -- had he shown in public any sort of affectations that weren't considered how a "manly man" behaved, he NEVER would have had a successful acting career. In fact, given the time period, if the public did know about his private life, there is NO WAY he would have accepted in any roles where he was romantic with a woman.
The reason such emotional discussions like this even happen today is not that we don't know gay people. Rather, they happen because, when heterosexuals see a man doing "wimpy" things and speak in wimpy ways, it feels like that man is doing his best to deny and crush his maleness in order to act as much like woman as he possibly can -- it simply doesn't feel like the person is normal.
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