D. Armenta
PlagmanGay Stereotypes and "That's Gay": Are Gay Stereotypes Really That Bad?
Like all subpopulations in this country, the gay people of America have their own group that lobbies incessantly whenever something can be construed as offensive. And based on the treatment of gay individuals in the previous millennium, it's understandable. Mark Wahlberg wasn't even gay in Boogie Nights, but he still got his ass kicked. But is fighting that's gay really going to result in any progress?
Yes, we (my generation and younger) say that's gay as often as Paris Hilton used to say "that's hot," but hey, at least we didn't copyright it and force kids to pay royalties for saying it at recess. Well, maybe a couple of times. But it's not hurting anything; gayness popularity is at an all-time high. With the exception of stupid men who are homophobic because apparently they like women so much that they're afraid they might be gay, religious zealots that no one pays attention to anyway, and rednecks who pick and choose which abnormal sexual activities are wrong and which are commonplace in the trailer park with your first cousin, the gay community is beloved and has the best stereotypes of any group in the world.
Women especially love gay men, and although there are many reasons for that, the main two are because they can hang out with them without having to be suspicious of their motives, and also because they can check out hot guys together. Try doing that with a straight guy; "Oh he is really cute." [guy shrugs] I dunno.
I know I'm digressing, but I find it really odd that a guy can claim that without question he's straight, but be too scared to admit another guy is good-looking, probably due to the fear it may flip a switch and immediately change his sexuality. So guys, let's imagine God came down and said, "do you think Matthew McConaughey is good-looking?" Instinctively, your response would be, I dunno, "oh, that's too bad, I was going to make you look like him so you could pick up any chick you wanted." But you wouldn't see that as a missed opportunity to date gorgeous models because you have no idea if Matthew McConaughey is cute or not, right?
But anyway, that's just the beginning. The other stereotypes about gay men, if true, make them as great as women. They're clean, they know how to dress, they're kind, polite, they smell good, and, wait... can they cook? I can't remember if that's one of their things, but they probably can, and that doesn't refer to throwing meat on a grill and pretending you’re masculine.
The negative gay stereotypes, about how gay men are weak and fragile, are a compliment if you think about it. Would straight men be so defensive and feel the need to call gay men weak and feeble if they weren't a bit nervous? Who knows if it's because they're not secure in their own manhood or because they're tired of hearing women talk about how great gay men are; either way, if straight men really had nothing to fear like as they claim, they wouldn't go out of their way to pass-on such obviously unsubstantiated rumors. I swear, they're like 5th graders spreading rumors.
But anyway, not even including sexuality as a factor, I'd die before I'd have straight male roommates; one can only imagine the organisms growing in every nook and cranny of an apartment full of guys. If you don't believe me, try walking down the hallway of a guy's college dorm, then walk down a hall in a women's dorm; no, the change in smell from good Lord what is that?? to ooo, smells good in here is NOT a coincidence. However, if the male roommates were gay, no problem.
Kids aren't going to learn to be tolerant of gay people's lifestyles by punishing them for saying that's gay. They're saying it because it's habit. The phrase may have developed out of abhorrence and intolerance of gay people however long ago, but it's become as common as saying, "whatever." They say it without hesitation, and without making any connection to homosexuals and whatever it is that they're saying is "gay." Is it okay? Should we ignore it? I have no idea. Although most students are going to be too young to get anything from it, maybe the best way to combat the situation is to explain to them that they're demeaning an entire group of people by saying it, and to try switching to an alternate phrase; one that doesn't offended anyone, like that's retarded. Someone who the kids admire, and who happens to be gay, could talk to them to show that there's nothing different or wrong with gay people, and by being slanderous towards them you're insulting people who don't deserve it. Granted, about two kids out of the 2000 in attendance would actually make an effort to halt their use of that's gay, but you can't punish individuals for saying a phrase that every student uses 700 times a day; that's only going to serve to make the student resent those responsible for being offended and getting him into trouble. When a child tells on another student, who does the punished student get mad at, himself for doing the punishable deed, or the student who tattled?
So since that's gay isn't going anywhere anytime soon, all I can do is reassure the gay community by reiterating that it's just a phrase, and that it likely isn't going to do any damage to the gay rights' movement in the future. Now, with the exception of gay marriage, which I'm not on-board with even though I do think it's unfair that gay couples are unable to get the same financial and tax benefits as married couples, overall it's been rather impressive how quickly tolerance of gay people has grown (which I'm sure had something to do with Will & Grace); Al Sharpton could learn a thing or two from you. I'm just hoping that someday soon, we'll all stop obsessing over gender, sexual preference, race, and religion, and be able to hate people for being jerks, just as [insert your God/god/god(s) of choice] intended when he created the world via [insert preferred alternative to the actual way in which life was created].
Yes, we (my generation and younger) say that's gay as often as Paris Hilton used to say "that's hot," but hey, at least we didn't copyright it and force kids to pay royalties for saying it at recess. Well, maybe a couple of times. But it's not hurting anything; gayness popularity is at an all-time high. With the exception of stupid men who are homophobic because apparently they like women so much that they're afraid they might be gay, religious zealots that no one pays attention to anyway, and rednecks who pick and choose which abnormal sexual activities are wrong and which are commonplace in the trailer park with your first cousin, the gay community is beloved and has the best stereotypes of any group in the world.
Women especially love gay men, and although there are many reasons for that, the main two are because they can hang out with them without having to be suspicious of their motives, and also because they can check out hot guys together. Try doing that with a straight guy; "Oh he is really cute." [guy shrugs] I dunno.
I know I'm digressing, but I find it really odd that a guy can claim that without question he's straight, but be too scared to admit another guy is good-looking, probably due to the fear it may flip a switch and immediately change his sexuality. So guys, let's imagine God came down and said, "do you think Matthew McConaughey is good-looking?" Instinctively, your response would be, I dunno, "oh, that's too bad, I was going to make you look like him so you could pick up any chick you wanted." But you wouldn't see that as a missed opportunity to date gorgeous models because you have no idea if Matthew McConaughey is cute or not, right?
But anyway, that's just the beginning. The other stereotypes about gay men, if true, make them as great as women. They're clean, they know how to dress, they're kind, polite, they smell good, and, wait... can they cook? I can't remember if that's one of their things, but they probably can, and that doesn't refer to throwing meat on a grill and pretending you’re masculine.
The negative gay stereotypes, about how gay men are weak and fragile, are a compliment if you think about it. Would straight men be so defensive and feel the need to call gay men weak and feeble if they weren't a bit nervous? Who knows if it's because they're not secure in their own manhood or because they're tired of hearing women talk about how great gay men are; either way, if straight men really had nothing to fear like as they claim, they wouldn't go out of their way to pass-on such obviously unsubstantiated rumors. I swear, they're like 5th graders spreading rumors.
But anyway, not even including sexuality as a factor, I'd die before I'd have straight male roommates; one can only imagine the organisms growing in every nook and cranny of an apartment full of guys. If you don't believe me, try walking down the hallway of a guy's college dorm, then walk down a hall in a women's dorm; no, the change in smell from good Lord what is that?? to ooo, smells good in here is NOT a coincidence. However, if the male roommates were gay, no problem.
Kids aren't going to learn to be tolerant of gay people's lifestyles by punishing them for saying that's gay. They're saying it because it's habit. The phrase may have developed out of abhorrence and intolerance of gay people however long ago, but it's become as common as saying, "whatever." They say it without hesitation, and without making any connection to homosexuals and whatever it is that they're saying is "gay." Is it okay? Should we ignore it? I have no idea. Although most students are going to be too young to get anything from it, maybe the best way to combat the situation is to explain to them that they're demeaning an entire group of people by saying it, and to try switching to an alternate phrase; one that doesn't offended anyone, like that's retarded. Someone who the kids admire, and who happens to be gay, could talk to them to show that there's nothing different or wrong with gay people, and by being slanderous towards them you're insulting people who don't deserve it. Granted, about two kids out of the 2000 in attendance would actually make an effort to halt their use of that's gay, but you can't punish individuals for saying a phrase that every student uses 700 times a day; that's only going to serve to make the student resent those responsible for being offended and getting him into trouble. When a child tells on another student, who does the punished student get mad at, himself for doing the punishable deed, or the student who tattled?
So since that's gay isn't going anywhere anytime soon, all I can do is reassure the gay community by reiterating that it's just a phrase, and that it likely isn't going to do any damage to the gay rights' movement in the future. Now, with the exception of gay marriage, which I'm not on-board with even though I do think it's unfair that gay couples are unable to get the same financial and tax benefits as married couples, overall it's been rather impressive how quickly tolerance of gay people has grown (which I'm sure had something to do with Will & Grace); Al Sharpton could learn a thing or two from you. I'm just hoping that someday soon, we'll all stop obsessing over gender, sexual preference, race, and religion, and be able to hate people for being jerks, just as [insert your God/god/god(s) of choice] intended when he created the world via [insert preferred alternative to the actual way in which life was created].
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