Straight Guy,
I just read this well-done article in Details magazine online. A great topic: What happens to dads, even "cool" dads, if they think their little kids might be traveling the Yellow Brick Road?
Definitely well written, and the dads in the article were being honest and real.
But it is just so tiresome that the button for "My kid is gay" is displaying stereotypically sissy behavior. Kid enjoys a princess Halloween costume, dad scared. Kid takes down his playmate, dad relieved.
The quote that hits it on the head of the nail:
"I think parents overestimate the miserable life their children will have if they're gay. I think what parents are really worried about is that having a gay child will somehow reflect poorly on their parenting."
Readers, what do you think? Butterfly wings okay for your kid?
--Gay Guy
Ad Watch: Pamela Anderson's Meat Market
Gay Guy,
Yes. Another entry in our "objectification for a cause" series. This time Pam Anderson asks us to go vegetarian, based on the specious claim that "all animals have the same parts." So not true.
Last week the city of Montreal banned the ad on the grounds that it was sexist and "goes against all principles public organizations are fighting for in the everlasting battle between men and women.” Thanks for playing right into PETA's hands, Montreal. Since then, the story (and the ad) have been picked up by multiple news outlets, and distributed to millions for free. [1,2,3]
PETA has used sex to sell the animal rights cause before, including the "I'd Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur" campaign, and having porn star spokespeople for their spay and neuter drives. Must be working for them. Their pro-tatoo/anti-fur campaign -- "Ink Not Mink" -- is also well-crafted and positioned. GG, Ladies, click here for some cause-based male objectification. Or heck, just see the whole media center here.
In this case, I'll grant that Pamela has achieved a certain notoriety based on her... parts. Still, c'mon PETA, no sense of irony in having a famously "enhanced" model out front on this? Eating factory butchered beef would be much safer (on a chemical level) than eating Pam Anderson. Did I just say that?
By the way, I'm not pro- or anti-PETA. It's a complex issue for me. I love my shelter dog. I also love omelets. Save the seals! Save me some barbecue sauce!
I'm active with the Humane Society. They do great work, and now that I think about it, they could probably sex it up a little.
--Straight Guy
Gee Whiz: Check Your Ego at this Men's Room in Queenstown
Gay Guy,Queenstown, New Zealand, that is. Sorry if you were hoping for something spicier.
This is a photo of the men's room at the Sofitel Queenstown. Old news, but story here.
Measuring tape? Reading glasses? OK. They got us.
Maybe you can request a version where David Beckham nods approvingly.
--Straight Guy
Why ?. . . (M.C.A)
Straight Guy,
Last week, I heard an NPR news brief that the YMCA has decided to rebrand itself simply as the "Y." (Coincidentally, National Public Radio recently announced that it was rebranding itself simply as "NPR." I guess if that's what people usually call you anyway, you might as well go for it. FedEx certainly proved it works.)
YMCA said it was shedding "MCA" to better reflect its priorities of youth, community development and healthy living. I don't follow the argument. I'd get an argument that they want to de-emphasize "men," "Christian" and "Association" to show that the Y is for everyone, regardless of sex, religious affiliation or membership.
You knew it was inevitable: the Village People have weighed in with "dismay" over the name change. Read news coverage.
I think the band is taking this a bit too personally. It's not going to cut into their business.
Y or why not, "Y.M.C.A" will still be the workhorse not only of a Village People concert tour, but of every wedding, class reunion and bar mitzvah in America, if not worldwide. At least I hope so. I try to imagine a dance floor, filled with grandparents to preschoolers, arms angled out beside their heads forming a "Y" . . . and then silence, like a malevolent game of musical chairs.
Tragic.
--Gay Guy
Last week, I heard an NPR news brief that the YMCA has decided to rebrand itself simply as the "Y." (Coincidentally, National Public Radio recently announced that it was rebranding itself simply as "NPR." I guess if that's what people usually call you anyway, you might as well go for it. FedEx certainly proved it works.)
YMCA said it was shedding "MCA" to better reflect its priorities of youth, community development and healthy living. I don't follow the argument. I'd get an argument that they want to de-emphasize "men," "Christian" and "Association" to show that the Y is for everyone, regardless of sex, religious affiliation or membership.
You knew it was inevitable: the Village People have weighed in with "dismay" over the name change. Read news coverage.
I think the band is taking this a bit too personally. It's not going to cut into their business.
Y or why not, "Y.M.C.A" will still be the workhorse not only of a Village People concert tour, but of every wedding, class reunion and bar mitzvah in America, if not worldwide. At least I hope so. I try to imagine a dance floor, filled with grandparents to preschoolers, arms angled out beside their heads forming a "Y" . . . and then silence, like a malevolent game of musical chairs.
Tragic.
--Gay Guy
Straight Guy Hall of Shame: 30 Days / 30 Dates
Gay Guy,Meet Brian. He's lonely. Very lonely.
He's a Midwesterner, new to the New York scene. And is having trouble connecting with potential romantic partners. So he plans on dating 30 women in 30 days, all through social networking. He calls it crowdsourcing.
"What if I took my dating life and put it into the hands of everyone online? Just kind of let it go," he wonders.
So, Twitter will be his wingman.
I don't want to knock the guy. He seems harmless. Perhaps a little too much so. Which is very much at odds with his 30-day-do-or-die campaign. I can't tell if he's looking for a bootie call, or someone to be the big sister he never had.
I'm trying not to judge, GG, but you know my less-than-sensitive gaydar has trouble differentiating between "gay" and "capri-wearing-hipster." Wondering if he shouldn't limit his options on this 30-day search.
I hope it works out for him. [datingbrian.com]
Readers, what do you think? Ballsy, naive, or something else?
--Straight Guy
Ad Watch: More Insults to My Manhood
Gay Guy,
Here's the latest web trailer for The Expendables, a macho-destructo-action-fest featuring an all-star lineup that includes Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Rourke, and a few others of lesser starpower and street cred.
They are billed as "the only men you're allowed to love." You OK with those options, GG?
Apparently, this flick opens opposite the Julia Roberts romance, Eat Pray Love. And, if The Expendables loses the box office tally, then I "don't deserve to be a man."
Sorry, Sly. Did you just try to shame me into dropping 10 bucks on your film? Is there anything LESS manly than a guilt trip? Get it together, dude.
--Straight Guy
Gay Guy: "My World Cup Overfloweth"
Straight Guy,
Interesting read about the World Cup in today's Washington Post.
To summarize: Blah, blah, blah, photo gallery. Blah, blah, something about offside rules. Photo gallery. Blah, blah, blah, anaerobic-something-capacity photo gallery. Blah, blah, blah, post-game sweaty jersey swap.
Post-game sweaty jersey swap.
Blah, blah, blah. Scientific and cultural explanations for sexiness. Photo gallery. Blah.
--Gay Guy
Interesting read about the World Cup in today's Washington Post.
To summarize: Blah, blah, blah, photo gallery. Blah, blah, something about offside rules. Photo gallery. Blah, blah, blah, anaerobic-something-capacity photo gallery. Blah, blah, blah, post-game sweaty jersey swap.
Post-game sweaty jersey swap.
Blah, blah, blah. Scientific and cultural explanations for sexiness. Photo gallery. Blah.
--Gay Guy
Ad Watch: Insulting Me Won't Help You Get My Organ
"Becoming a donor is probably your only chance to get inside her."
Ouch, Belgian organ transplant organization, why did you have to go there? And why is this ad in English when your site is Dutch (I think)?
Sorry, we straight guys are not falling for it... We're not THAT selfish. You don't need to be a stiletto-wearing lingerie model to get my pancreas. Besides, I think Varla Jean might need it, sooner than later.
--Straight Guy
Viral Vid: "California Gays" -- It Was Inevitable
Straight Guy,
I am woefully behind on pop culture -- you were supposed to be tutoring me. I am apparently the last person to hear Katy Perry's summer song scorcher "California Gurls." Who knew?
Perry says she was inspired to write the song from "a girl's perspective." That is to say that the California girls of song so far exist primarily . . . or only . . . in the imagination of men. To understate my opinion, I doubt that Perry has come up with an original theory, but I am happy to blame the Beach Boys for anything that will stick to them.
The Daily Beasts Maura Johnston offers this delicious point of view on the song:
"Lyrically, 'Gurls' certainly comes from the point of view of a certain type of young woman—she's perpetually raring to go, dressed in a bikini top and a pair of ass-hugging shorts so as to maximize the display of her "sun-kissed skin [that will] melt your popsicle."Go, Maura! That's one hell of a sentence!
Anyway, it was inevitable, you knew it was coming -- a queer lip-dub take-off vid, "California Gays." It mimics "Gurls" right down to the East Coast-West Coast rivalry that is the partial inspiration for Perry's song. Reminds me of last year's "Party in the USA (Fire Island)" take on the Miley Cyrus summer pop chart eater.
SG, does "California Gurls" get the women in your house popping this summer?
--Gay Guy
Thanks, GG. But did you just take a cheap shot at the Beach Boys? Not cool. They are eternal.
I'm mixed on the song. Great hook. Crappy lyrics. The official video is a hot, hot mess, by the way. Snoop Dogg in a psychedelic/erotic Candy Land fantasy?
Not a family-friendly song, what with all the "sex on the beach" and "freakin' in the Jeep." But, outside the dad zone, this straight guy kind of digs Katy Perry's wide-eyed and retro Vargas girl style.
As to the California Gays video: One website called it "the gayest thing you'll see all year." And even given my exposure to gay culture on this blog, I might have to agree. It seems much more aggressive than last year's Miley Cyrus lip dub. But then again, so is the source material. Glad they had fun, though.
I still love LA (when I get the chance). But now I have to lose 20 pounds before I hit the beach. Damn you, California Gays!
--Straight Guy
Gay Guy Independence Day: Created Equal
Straight Guy,
There is a huge park in the city where we live. Not a manicured, designed urban park, but a forest preserve, really. The park has picnic areas and a horse riding center, but mostly has miles of trails and relative quiet. I love hiking there --once I get away from a major trail, I can go well over an hour without seeing anyone else, and so the city fades away.
I did a little Independence Day hike to take advantage of the cool leafy shade. On the trail out, I passed a little clearing where -- a dozen or so yards off the trail -- two men, probably in their 20s, were having a little picnic, lying next to each other, and talking. I wondered if they were gay and guessed that they probably were: Two men, one blanket, wicker picnic basket.
Coming back on the same trail, I passed them again. This time, one guy had his head in his friends lap, the friend absent-mindedly stroking his air. A lovely little moment in time, like a sweet old photograph.
The moment made me think about the holiday and the Declaration of Independence. "All men are created equal" has not worked out so well for women, racial minorities, social classes, but it's still an ideal to work toward achieving.
A week ago, I went to the wedding of two men, a marriage fully protected by the laws of their state: all men are created equal. The two young men having a picnic even a conservative could find charming: unalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
--Gay Guy
There is a huge park in the city where we live. Not a manicured, designed urban park, but a forest preserve, really. The park has picnic areas and a horse riding center, but mostly has miles of trails and relative quiet. I love hiking there --once I get away from a major trail, I can go well over an hour without seeing anyone else, and so the city fades away.
I did a little Independence Day hike to take advantage of the cool leafy shade. On the trail out, I passed a little clearing where -- a dozen or so yards off the trail -- two men, probably in their 20s, were having a little picnic, lying next to each other, and talking. I wondered if they were gay and guessed that they probably were: Two men, one blanket, wicker picnic basket.
Coming back on the same trail, I passed them again. This time, one guy had his head in his friends lap, the friend absent-mindedly stroking his air. A lovely little moment in time, like a sweet old photograph.
The moment made me think about the holiday and the Declaration of Independence. "All men are created equal" has not worked out so well for women, racial minorities, social classes, but it's still an ideal to work toward achieving.
A week ago, I went to the wedding of two men, a marriage fully protected by the laws of their state: all men are created equal. The two young men having a picnic even a conservative could find charming: unalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
--Gay Guy
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