straight flight

The process of average guys shunning any kind of refinement in the clothes/hair/personal hygiene & development department in fear of seeming gay.

coined by John Derbyshire in 2003 in his National Review Online article on this phenomenon.

Straight flight is similar to white flight (i.e., the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as originating from fear and anxiety about increasing minority populations).

Ex. 1:

- 'I heard John left the local theatre group.'
- 'Yeah, he did. The majority of guys in the group were gay and he didn't want people to think he was too.'
- 'Straight flight?'
- 'You said it.'

Ex. 2:
GF: 'You threw away your moisturizer and night cream. Why?'
BF: 'Because it's gay.'
GF: 'Taking care of your skin has nothing to do with being gay!'
BF: 'Only that it kinda does.'
GF: 'Typical example of straight flight. Weak.'