americanskatemasculinebigstrongguyinterestedfightingthrowingpunchesballinghandsfistsdaygunsfootballstereotypicallygoingfashionmanlyjohnnyweir
For me, I skate as masculine as I can. I'm not a big strong guy. I'm not interested in fighting or throwing punches or balling my hands in fists all day. I'm not interested in guns, I'm not interested in football or stereotypically masculine things, so I'm going to skate in a fashion that is manly for Johnny Weir.
I'm different, and I have to be a warrior to be that way. But I have had some success; I hope I have touched the lives of some wonderful people, all by being what I see as myself but some others people see as different.
Fashion is something that I want to be involved with for a long time, and I want to show that I can give people what they want while still keeping my pizzazz and my razzle-dazzle.
Figure skating is theatrical, and a part of it is wearing costumes. My costumes were very over-the-top and outrageous for figure skating. But for me, it's all beautiful. Even when nobody else believed they were beautiful, I felt beautiful in them.
Creating emotion was what my career was all about. I wanted people to laugh at me; I wanted people to cry with me. I wanted people to feel good or to think about something when they watched me. I think that's why, even not being an Olympic champion, I have such a huge following around the world.
When you are an athlete, it's difficult to take time off and say you want to come back without everyone judging you and attacking you.
To me, figure skating is an art form, and that's what I always try to bring in, even to my competitive programs.
I'd say in general, my style is Johnny Weir style. It's my style. I can't classify it as anything else.