\n
![\"Sam](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ra_samsmith_albumcover.jpg?resize=195%2C195\")
<\/p>\nMichael Cunningham Slams \u2018New York Times\u2019 for Stereotyping Sam Smith as an Hysterical Gay Man<\/b>
\n<\/p>\n
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham slammed the author of an Arts & Leisure profile of Sam Smith in a letter to the paper\u2019s editor <\/a>on Thursday, saying the profile\u2019s opening paragraph, which detailed Smith\u2019s propensity to cry, perpetuated \u201cthe stereotype about gay<\/a> men<\/a> as hysterics.\u201d And did it \u201cdisdainfully.\u201d<\/p>\n He cried when he talked about the house he grew up in; when he reminisced about a crush who turned on him; when he talked about his first voice teacher. He cried when he talked about writing \u201cPray,\u201d a song from his new album, \u201cThe Thrill of It All.\u201d He cried when he talked about the children he met in Mosul, Iraq, on a recent humanitarian mission, and then he looked down at the sparrow tattoo he got on his arm when he returned home, with \u201cBe good, be kind\u201d written in Arabic beneath it, and he cried again. He cried\u00a0talking<\/em>\u00a0about how much he cried when he watched the movie \u201cInside Out.\u201d And he cried when he talked about love. When he talked about love, he leaned back on the couch with his limbs splayed and looked upward as if he died momentarily just considering a concept so big.<\/p>\n The crying description goes on for another full paragraph.<\/p>\n Wrote Cunningham:<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t help wondering if there\u2019s any connection between Mr. Smith\u2019s sexuality and the implication that what\u2019s most important for readers to know about him is that he cries a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Cunningham added that not only did he find the stereotyping \u201cunfortunate\u201d but also the interviewer\u2019s shaming of a celebrity \u201cso candid about his experience of being shamed for his openness about his sexuality.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Michael Cunningham Slams \u2018New York Times\u2019 for Stereotyping Sam Smith as an Hysterical Gay Man<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\nFrom the profile\u2019s opening paragraph<\/a>:<\/p>\n