Ryan Gosling, aware of his popularity with female fans, has decided that androgyny suits him, declaring “I think like a girl” to The Independent:

“I think like a girl, I think,” he says, in answer to a question about growing up with his mother and sister (his parents had divorced). Having been bullied at school thanks to his early TV success, Gosling was home-schooled by his mother for a year, which meant an ever greater female presence in his life. “I was literally raised by my mother and my sister. And I just feel like I wouldn’t know how to think any other way. My sister was my best friend and my hero growing up. Because I was home-schooled I didn’t have a lot of friends and I did ballet, which was always just girls. All of that had an effect on my brain.”

Though he insists he has “no free time” currently, when he does, he is often found at a Los Angeles ballet studio. “I practise whenever I can,” he says, without a modicum of embarrassment.

Have myriad LA mums not spread the word as to exactly where Hollywood’s latest heart-throb can be readily observed putting in his pliés? He seems not really to have considered the prospect.

“A lot of the students are young girls so they’re there with their mums but they just kind of watch and tell me to keep it up. They try and be positive but I’m so bad. I don’t even know what I like about it but it’s like acting, I’m just compelled to do it and I do it to find out why. The not knowing is interesting.”

Generally, effeminacy in men is popular with very young women and girls (e.g. boy bands, some pop stars), but it doesn’t appeal as much to other demographics, so I’m not sure this is a good career move for an actor past the age of 30. That Gosling practices ballet is not necessarily an indication of anything, as the art is very physically demanding and probably a better means of keeping in shape than, say, yoga, but unfortunately it has less than manly connotations in our culture.

However, it may be that Gosling is actually being sincere here, and not simply trying to play to his fan base. That he ascribes his effeminacy to being raised by a single mother raises a very interesting question:

Is single motherhood and the lack of men around children causing boys to develop effeminate characteristics? Could it be that the lack of “manliness” that women often complain of is a direct result of feminist victories in the war against fathers?