"The negative influences on the gay culture are being promulgated by people who are widely known to be gay and who continue to act as if it's a topic of non-discussion. I'm thinking specifically about people like Jodie Foster and Anderson Cooper. They're gay, but never talk about it. They are perpetuating the notion that being gay is a secret shame. We still respect closets far too much in this society. I'm very proud of the fact that Ian McKellen once asked me if I thought he should come out, and I said yes--and he's credited me with that. I tend to be a little cheeky about this topic because I think it's important--there are teenagers still committing suicide over their sexuality."
- Armisted Maupin
http://www.7x7sf.com/people/profiles/7555377.html
I don't really know what to think of this.
There's all sorts of theory racing through my head, and every bit of it conflicts the other.
On one hand, I disagree. I am adamant in my belief that not everyone should have to be a poster-gay, and no one should be forced to disclose things about themself (grammatically incorrect yet gender inclusive? I choose yes) that they are not ready for.
Yet, I don't know that this is Maupin's argument.
Whether or not they choose to acknowledge it, by virtue of the society in which we live every single person is assumed to be straight unless they explicitly say that they are not. Jodie Foster and Anderson Cooper are only the most glaring examples of this. All the kids in the gay community are sitting in their armchairs, watching CNN, knowing that Coops is a friend of Dorothy, yet if I were to bring this up to someone else (a non-gay, of course) it would not only be absurd, but offensive.
And this is where I have the problem.
See, if its a negative to assume that someone is gay, then we can just use our seventh grade algebra skills to realize that it is also negative to actually be gay. So when I say, "Oh man, look at that lez over there" and Sally Straightfriend says "You really shouldn't assume she's a lez," I get real, real offended.
Why shouldn't I assume? People assume I'm straight all the time, and that's just fucking weird. Like its such a bad thing to assume a person is a homo? Even if I'm wrong, I can just be like, "Oopsy, I mean, how's your boyfriend Linda, my bad." No harm, no foul.
So, even though they may not mean to, I have to agree with Maupin when he argues that "they are perpetuating the idea that being gay is a secret shame." I sincerely doubt that this is their reasoning for not coming out. I have to assume that Jodie Foster is cool with her sexuality, and just doesn't really feel like talking about it all the time as the only facet of her identity.
But, that doesn't change the way it is perceived. Is this her fault? Certainly not. Is it her job to fix it? I'm not really sure. If you know that what you're doing is hurting a community that you're a part of, then to continue doing it seems odd, but I also realize that to come out would be pretty much putting the camera on only that for at least the next 4 years, after which is will always be mentioned before anything actually worthwhile. What used to be "Oscar-winning actress" will now forever be "Lesbian Oscar-winning Actress". And that's just fucking annoying.
So what's a gay to do? Get pissed off when the media outs people? Get pissed off at people for not being out? Stop reading stuff that once out-ed someone before it seemed they were ready, or stop watching movies that ohmygodyou'reobviouslygay people are in until they fess up? It's doubtful that any of this would do any good.
See, the problem is never the staff writer at the NY Post or Jodie Foster. Its the society that places so much value on being straight, where so much excitement is caused by knowing whether or not someone is a homo. How do we fix that? I'm fairly certain that Maupin's argument is that you fix it by normalizing it, and with that I have to agree. If it was never a big deal when someone came out, then it would never be a big deal if someone stayed in, either.
So, you know, keep that in mind.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Shame about it
So I didn't know it, but apparently I had my settings to where comments were closed to non-blogspotters. So, I fixed it. So, you know, comment away.
My previous post has caused my little Google smart advertisement thingy to now link people to an extremely conservative website. Its right over there -> if you want to check it out.
I think its hilarious.
Because I feel like (even though I'm arguing with myself about these things, apparently) the obvious link from my arguments against yOmama are to say Bad Liberal! and shove me away from anything having to do with the Party. But my whole problem is that he's not my kind of guy, and if I'm being honest I think he's getting a free pass on a lot of issues because he is a person of color, which I think only serves to hinder anti-racist action.
But, we can move on. For now.
I'm on John Edwards' email list, and apparently its his birthday on Sunday. His wife (who I think is brilliant) wrote today's email, promising that if I donated to the campaign that I would receive her (or perhaps his, I can't remember which) Granny's Pecan Pie recipe as a special birthday week perk.
How cute is that?
Little John is from North Carolina, after all.
Apparently, there's also a link to a video in which Johnny's aids attempt to make said pie, with dismal results. Obviously, men are not good at such things. We'll have to leave the cookin' up to the women-folk.
Whatever. I'd rather talk about The Sopranos.
If you don't watch this show, you are depriving yourself one of the simple pleasures of life. By simple, I mean extremely violent and perhaps derogatory toward Italian Americans. Still, this shit is exciting, and it sucks you right in.
You think Phil will off Tony? Its a good thing he went to sleep with that automatic weapon. Never know what's lurking. I'm pretty sad about Bobby, he was my favorite character since his driving days. Killed by the model trains...how poetic. David Chase is a schmaltzy television genius.
I hope he makes a show about the lesbian mafia next.
My previous post has caused my little Google smart advertisement thingy to now link people to an extremely conservative website. Its right over there -> if you want to check it out.
I think its hilarious.
Because I feel like (even though I'm arguing with myself about these things, apparently) the obvious link from my arguments against yOmama are to say Bad Liberal! and shove me away from anything having to do with the Party. But my whole problem is that he's not my kind of guy, and if I'm being honest I think he's getting a free pass on a lot of issues because he is a person of color, which I think only serves to hinder anti-racist action.
But, we can move on. For now.
I'm on John Edwards' email list, and apparently its his birthday on Sunday. His wife (who I think is brilliant) wrote today's email, promising that if I donated to the campaign that I would receive her (or perhaps his, I can't remember which) Granny's Pecan Pie recipe as a special birthday week perk.
How cute is that?
Little John is from North Carolina, after all.
Apparently, there's also a link to a video in which Johnny's aids attempt to make said pie, with dismal results. Obviously, men are not good at such things. We'll have to leave the cookin' up to the women-folk.
Whatever. I'd rather talk about The Sopranos.
If you don't watch this show, you are depriving yourself one of the simple pleasures of life. By simple, I mean extremely violent and perhaps derogatory toward Italian Americans. Still, this shit is exciting, and it sucks you right in.
You think Phil will off Tony? Its a good thing he went to sleep with that automatic weapon. Never know what's lurking. I'm pretty sad about Bobby, he was my favorite character since his driving days. Killed by the model trains...how poetic. David Chase is a schmaltzy television genius.
I hope he makes a show about the lesbian mafia next.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
What good is a cynic with no better plan?
Anyone watch the Democratic debate on Sunday night?
Yeah, me either. It was during the Sopranos, after all. More on those crazy gangsters another time.
Even though I didn't, you know, watch them, I have caught most of the debate action on YouTube, and the massive amount of commentaries done since then and I have a few comments of my own.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again (and again). I truly believe that Barak Obama is just an eeensy bit full of shit. For all this rockstar cred that just magically fell into his lap, I have seen very little actually backing it up.
Now, I'm a big fan of nicknames, so please know that when I refer to him as yOmama, it’s out of love for the Party, not hate for the dude. I really do think he's a good guy. A good Senator. A good basketball player. A great father, I would imagine. Just not the best person to be the next President of the United States.
Why, you ask?
Well, I'd be happy to oblige.
First, and probably on the average voters' minds the most, is the Iraqi War. yOmama insists on saying, over and over again, that he has been against the War from the start. Yet, he was not even elected to Congress until 2004. It’s a pretty easy place to be sitting when every other candidate in the race, save Dennis Kucinich, either voted for it or wasn't in Congress. I mean, I don't know how much foreign policy was being hashed out in the Illinois State Senate. Just sayin'.
Next, he said this really annoying thing about immigration on CNN one day. I can't find that exact interview, but here's him explaining his stance at a town hall meeting. http://youtube.com/watch?v=wxZdEJdh8ss
Now, you may be tricked. That's my whole problem with yOmama. He's a great public speaker, and he is brilliant at presenting his views in a way that hides his actual intentions. He starts out by saying that immigrants are extremely important, that virtually every American is an immigrant unless they're Native, blahblaahblaaaaah.
This all sounds great.
Empowering!
But wait for step 3.
That's when he explains that he is most certainly not for amnesty, and illegal immigrants that want to start on the "path" to being a legal citizen will have to pay fines, learn English, and wait close to ten years before being legal.
What, Mr. Senator, are they to do until then?
Now, there are other issues, certainly. The gay thing is sticky (heh.) because none of the candidates are where I'd like them to be. But, when he says, "I personally believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I also agree with most Americans, including Vice President Cheney and over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage should be left to the states as they always have been," it makes me laugh in my head. Leave it to the states? What, you're a Republican now? Convenient time to believe in states' rights...
My point is this. I feel like Obama gets this eternal free pass as the most liberal legitimate candidate, and I just don't think this is true.
None of the candidates are left enough for me (at least the ones that have a chance of getting nominated), but Obama has this knack of agreeing with whomever he is speaking to.
I don't want a yes-person.
I don't want someone who figured out the trick to the game.
I want a genuine person whose ideas will change the way that politics are being played in this country.
Is that really too much to ask?
Yeah, me either. It was during the Sopranos, after all. More on those crazy gangsters another time.
Even though I didn't, you know, watch them, I have caught most of the debate action on YouTube, and the massive amount of commentaries done since then and I have a few comments of my own.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again (and again). I truly believe that Barak Obama is just an eeensy bit full of shit. For all this rockstar cred that just magically fell into his lap, I have seen very little actually backing it up.
Now, I'm a big fan of nicknames, so please know that when I refer to him as yOmama, it’s out of love for the Party, not hate for the dude. I really do think he's a good guy. A good Senator. A good basketball player. A great father, I would imagine. Just not the best person to be the next President of the United States.
Why, you ask?
Well, I'd be happy to oblige.
First, and probably on the average voters' minds the most, is the Iraqi War. yOmama insists on saying, over and over again, that he has been against the War from the start. Yet, he was not even elected to Congress until 2004. It’s a pretty easy place to be sitting when every other candidate in the race, save Dennis Kucinich, either voted for it or wasn't in Congress. I mean, I don't know how much foreign policy was being hashed out in the Illinois State Senate. Just sayin'.
Next, he said this really annoying thing about immigration on CNN one day. I can't find that exact interview, but here's him explaining his stance at a town hall meeting. http://youtube.com/watch?v=wxZdEJdh8ss
Now, you may be tricked. That's my whole problem with yOmama. He's a great public speaker, and he is brilliant at presenting his views in a way that hides his actual intentions. He starts out by saying that immigrants are extremely important, that virtually every American is an immigrant unless they're Native, blahblaahblaaaaah.
This all sounds great.
Empowering!
But wait for step 3.
That's when he explains that he is most certainly not for amnesty, and illegal immigrants that want to start on the "path" to being a legal citizen will have to pay fines, learn English, and wait close to ten years before being legal.
What, Mr. Senator, are they to do until then?
Now, there are other issues, certainly. The gay thing is sticky (heh.) because none of the candidates are where I'd like them to be. But, when he says, "I personally believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I also agree with most Americans, including Vice President Cheney and over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage should be left to the states as they always have been," it makes me laugh in my head. Leave it to the states? What, you're a Republican now? Convenient time to believe in states' rights...
My point is this. I feel like Obama gets this eternal free pass as the most liberal legitimate candidate, and I just don't think this is true.
None of the candidates are left enough for me (at least the ones that have a chance of getting nominated), but Obama has this knack of agreeing with whomever he is speaking to.
I don't want a yes-person.
I don't want someone who figured out the trick to the game.
I want a genuine person whose ideas will change the way that politics are being played in this country.
Is that really too much to ask?
Monday, June 4, 2007
Look at this photograh, every time I do it makes me laugh
I really hate blogs/personal websites with way too much HTML.
I'm not even talking about the 14 year old girl variety with a million pictures of pop stars and annoying songs in the background. These I can brush aside as part of the awkward phase.
But, if you're old enough to live somewhere other than your parents (even if you're not actually doing so), you need to cool it with the fucking sparkles and songs and pictures. Especially if you aren't good at writing HTML because it just makes it suck for the rest of us.
See, I have a speedy connection. At work, at home...its not me making this shit hard to load. So just think what you're doing to the poor saps with dial up by putting every single picture of Hinder or Nickelback that you can find right there on your page so that everyone can know just how awesome your musical taste is?
I'm just saying.
As a sidenote, Tegan and Sara's new album got leaked. Go to http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/2007/06/tegan_and_sara_.html?csp=34 if you want to hear some of it. Thank my sister when you see her for alerting me to this joyous, yet SucksToBeTandS situation.
I'm not even talking about the 14 year old girl variety with a million pictures of pop stars and annoying songs in the background. These I can brush aside as part of the awkward phase.
But, if you're old enough to live somewhere other than your parents (even if you're not actually doing so), you need to cool it with the fucking sparkles and songs and pictures. Especially if you aren't good at writing HTML because it just makes it suck for the rest of us.
See, I have a speedy connection. At work, at home...its not me making this shit hard to load. So just think what you're doing to the poor saps with dial up by putting every single picture of Hinder or Nickelback that you can find right there on your page so that everyone can know just how awesome your musical taste is?
I'm just saying.
As a sidenote, Tegan and Sara's new album got leaked. Go to http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/2007/06/tegan_and_sara_.html?csp=34 if you want to hear some of it. Thank my sister when you see her for alerting me to this joyous, yet SucksToBeTandS situation.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
You Proably Think This Blog is About You
I am obsessed with looking at things that piss me off.
I watch the 700 Club far more than a far left lesbian ought to, I read Ann Coulter's blog as much as any other, and I can honestly say that I've watched more Fox news than is healthy.
What reminded me of this weird penchant was www.mollygood.com.
Seriously, I just stumbled across this rambly piece of shit, yet now I can't stop looking. She (They? It?) bashes on Rosie, which you will quickly learn is a big no-no when in my company (Polkey learned this the hard way), makes fun of celebrities but not in a hilarious Perez Hilton sort of way, but more of a whiny, holier than thou sort.
I get really mad when people talk about how celebrities should stop complaining about the complete lack of privacy. The rationale is always that they should have known, or that they make so much money that it shouldn't matter, or that they're biting the hand that feeds them. Even when I assume all these things are true, it still must suck a lot to be constantly followed by a weird dude with a camera. Just sayin'.
Not to mention, even if I can sit here and KNOW that a lack of privacy is part of the celebrity deal, there's really no way to understand the ramifications of that until you're too deep in it to change it. I figure that those who are pissed at celebs about this are really just jealous, because after all, if I were a celebrity, I'd be a little more grateful blah blah blah. But really, after a while, after the awesomeness of the fame and money have become commonplace, all thats left are the stalker paparazzi and the annoying fans who wont even let you drink coffee without wanting a piece.
Dammit.
I wish I was famous.
I watch the 700 Club far more than a far left lesbian ought to, I read Ann Coulter's blog as much as any other, and I can honestly say that I've watched more Fox news than is healthy.
What reminded me of this weird penchant was www.mollygood.com.
Seriously, I just stumbled across this rambly piece of shit, yet now I can't stop looking. She (They? It?) bashes on Rosie, which you will quickly learn is a big no-no when in my company (Polkey learned this the hard way), makes fun of celebrities but not in a hilarious Perez Hilton sort of way, but more of a whiny, holier than thou sort.
I get really mad when people talk about how celebrities should stop complaining about the complete lack of privacy. The rationale is always that they should have known, or that they make so much money that it shouldn't matter, or that they're biting the hand that feeds them. Even when I assume all these things are true, it still must suck a lot to be constantly followed by a weird dude with a camera. Just sayin'.
Not to mention, even if I can sit here and KNOW that a lack of privacy is part of the celebrity deal, there's really no way to understand the ramifications of that until you're too deep in it to change it. I figure that those who are pissed at celebs about this are really just jealous, because after all, if I were a celebrity, I'd be a little more grateful blah blah blah. But really, after a while, after the awesomeness of the fame and money have become commonplace, all thats left are the stalker paparazzi and the annoying fans who wont even let you drink coffee without wanting a piece.
Dammit.
I wish I was famous.
I've got all my sisters with me!
Okay, first, a little housekeeping.
Its obvious that I've moved over to Blogspot. Don't panic, all three of you, its better for everyone, I swear.
In other news, my dad has begun his own blog: The World is Run by Those Who Show Up
Feel free to make fun of him for the ridiculously long acronym in his web address. And anything else, really. Just keep in mind that he's a business guy, so any working knowledge that you have of passtimes in which he may partake should perhaps be left inside your head. You dig?
Feel free to also read my sister's blog as well, she's pretty funny lady.
Heh, I just called her a lady.
Anyways, its at (Often) Pedantic Musings
Okay. Actual blogging to ensue shortly.
Keep on keepin on.
Its obvious that I've moved over to Blogspot. Don't panic, all three of you, its better for everyone, I swear.
In other news, my dad has begun his own blog: The World is Run by Those Who Show Up
Feel free to make fun of him for the ridiculously long acronym in his web address. And anything else, really. Just keep in mind that he's a business guy, so any working knowledge that you have of passtimes in which he may partake should perhaps be left inside your head. You dig?
Feel free to also read my sister's blog as well, she's pretty funny lady.
Heh, I just called her a lady.
Anyways, its at (Often) Pedantic Musings
Okay. Actual blogging to ensue shortly.
Keep on keepin on.
The First Cut is the Deepest
The amount of times that I have moved my blog is certainly not lost on me. How will I ever become a famous web personality if no one can find me, you ask? Well, don't you worry, my friends. I've linked it back as far as the eye can see.
Regardless, every time I would try to write a blog on MySpace, I would accidentally click something and it would all erase. Doing this 5 times can really piss a person off. So, now that my pops has joined up (twirbtwsu.blogspot.com), and my sister and brother-in-law are already here, I figure, why not do it up?
I knew you'd agree.
Anyways, in my quest for continual transformation, I've promised myself that I'll do this more often. So, you know, you're welcome.
The best part is that you don't even have to be a member of Blogspot to comment, just try not to make it anonymous, unless its gonna be real mean, so that I don't have to feel too personally attacked. Cool? Cool.
Regardless, every time I would try to write a blog on MySpace, I would accidentally click something and it would all erase. Doing this 5 times can really piss a person off. So, now that my pops has joined up (twirbtwsu.blogspot.com), and my sister and brother-in-law are already here, I figure, why not do it up?
I knew you'd agree.
Anyways, in my quest for continual transformation, I've promised myself that I'll do this more often. So, you know, you're welcome.
The best part is that you don't even have to be a member of Blogspot to comment, just try not to make it anonymous, unless its gonna be real mean, so that I don't have to feel too personally attacked. Cool? Cool.
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