my mother watches hgtv with a regularity usually associated with the breeding habits of rabbits.
it doesn't do much for me, but I do take note sometimes. today's topic, then: the world and the crazy homosexual. to say that the majoritive perception bothers me is an understatement, but let me clarify with an example. there's one show in particular, design star, that features a wily homo who exemplifies the stereotype. mannerisms and voice, for one, but that's not something I hold anyone accountable for; you can't change how you sound. no, rather: he buddy-buddies up to the woman he doesn't like, offers to help her and praises her design, and then turns to the camera and lambastes her. he brings inarticulacy to an art form, and his entire descriptionary vocabulary consists of the words "fab" and "fierce."
let's say I was myself - no perceptual or ideological changes (throw away the heisenberg uncertainty principle for a moment) - only straight. what would I think of the gay male, given the (albeit limited, compared to most people) exposure I've had to pop culture? to design star and the like, and sitcoms like will & grace, and movies where the gay best friend is caricatured to judge and have no independent thought? in other words, what is the gay male to a population brought up on sex and the city and fashion magazines? I would wager that we/they are nothing more than accessories, something that culture informs women that they should obtain and use, much like an extra large purse or a floofy little dog. it's a dehumanization of the other; simply because majoritive society has accepted that, yes, gay exists doesn't mean that any credibility is granted to gay individuals. instead, we/they are presented as static characters who pass superficial judgments on everyone and covet the latest glossy covers and, if things such as queer as folk enter the picture, fuck the brains out of each other while getting high. it's not only a dangerous perception for the heteronormative population, it's damaging to gay individuals as well because it's a sort of back-reclamation: because society tells us/them "this is what we expect of you," that's all that gets striven for. where are the out gay men in senior residency or attending physician positions in health care? where are the out gay men in the high business world? where are the out gay men in any of the world's political arenas? where are the out gay men in science, in everything from mythbusters to the NASA labs? where are they? they're waiting in the backrooms of bars, snorting god knows what and lapping like dogs after britney spears and tyra banks because that's all that both the heteronormative and homonormative majorities have established as acceptable for the out gay male.
there's no world changing going on here. change happens, and there are a few who are well-regarded, for whom gay is simply an adjective, not the adjective. david sedaris. george takei. but, really, there aren't many.
hmph. this is going to change.