taumbu
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Post by taumbu on Aug 21, 2011 11:56:15 GMT -5
NoAngel - the threat that a gay man has towards a straight man is often the straight man's unexpressed and repressed desire to try that out. We are all on a spectrum of sexuality and if we are really honest with ourselves, we may find that we have a little homosexual living in there. Or not. Most people who are comfortable with their sexuality and very sure of who they are do not carry such fear that someone will "turn them gay". But many Americans are raised in such a way that if they even entertain homoerotic thoughts, or dream homoerotic dreams then they must guard against such heinousness and fight the gay inside. For some, this also means fighting the gays outside of themselves as well. Self- loathing is something that many people who come out talk about having to overcome and often it takes years. As Adam said on BTM, when we are growing up there are very few available to let the GLBT teens know that it is OK to be different. ETA: and for many gays and lesbians, if we really want to be honest, there is a little straight person living inside of us! this is often just as difficult to deal with as we saw in the response Adam got from the GLBT community after his Details shoot last year. We humans like categories that are neat and fixed and those of us who are more fluid represent a threat somehow to those who are not. I love what Dan Savage said about this. That we are all born gay but some of us choose to be straight. |
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Post by sandysva on Aug 21, 2011 12:00:28 GMT -5
For the record and as a matter of full disclosure, I do not own any Adam bedding. I do not think it's either creepy or hideous. I am, however, certain my children would think it so, even though they have all slept with everyone from Barney to Mickey Mouse. (My 20 year old daughter still can't throw away her Barney blanket, but she no longer sleeps with it.) Anyway, I would still love to have Bamafan's pillow. Maybe I could just buy the pillowcase. Now where's that address? ;D As for Hicklin, perhaps it's time for the new generation, with new ideas, to take over OUT. I went to Ebay to see who I bought bamafan's pillowcase from but I can't see any purchases past 60 days ago. Is there a way to see back further? It came from Hong Kong - I do remember that. I followed a link from this thread when I bought it in late May or early June. Is this the one? Here's the latest version available from eBay and it's from Hong Kong: www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Adam-Lambert-20-X30-Sleeping-Photo-Pillow-Case-/310337627163?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item484190641b |
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Post by spring2009 on Aug 21, 2011 12:03:14 GMT -5
The people here are super awesome.
Carry on.
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yippie
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Post by yippie on Aug 21, 2011 12:05:21 GMT -5
Q3and NoAngel, love your letters. I am too a little confused by your line about Hicklin being up to his old tricks. ??? • EVERY SINGLE PERSON WITH PR REPRESENTATION WILL HAVE SOME KIND OF REQUEST ABOUT HOW THEY ARE HANDLED. (Even if it's the owner of the corner doughnut store.) Hell, even I have requests about how I am "handled" during interviews. I'm really clear about what I am willing to offer an interview. Otherwise, you never know what you will end up getting involved with. |
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amw
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Post by amw on Aug 21, 2011 12:06:58 GMT -5
NoAngel - biologically, yes men are driven to procreate, as are women. Witness one Ani DiFranco who was an outspoken lesbian till her biological clock tick-tocked her into a straight relationship and she had a kid. Will she remain there? No one knows.
I think as well that for anyone raised in an average American way where Christian thinking is often the norm, the sexual urge to copulate with with a same sex partner is considered a sin, a crime against God and self. I think that this is more responsible for the self-loathing than anything else.
Adam is a lucky man in the sense that he came from a family that did not hold these views. Even still, he struggled as an adolescent due to the pervasive viewpoint that being straight is right and being gay is wrong.
ETA: and then after Adam came out he still had to deal with the gay community thinking that a gay man in khakis is right and a gay man in glitter, eyeliner and studded leather who confesses that girls lips are sometimes tasty is wrong.
BTW, Ani DiFranco put up with a LOT of heat from the lesbians after she went straight. it was sad.
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savvy92
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Post by savvy92 on Aug 21, 2011 12:07:20 GMT -5
This is a wonderful article! I read Adam in every point the author makes. Two quotes stood out to me: "Let’s assume for a moment that charisma is the real stuff, less a means than an end in itself. What we generally consider the “content” of the arts — the notes, the libretto, the bowings, the plot — is actually just the structure that makes possible the crucial thing: watching a performer who is able to connect with fundamental realities. It is not that a singer’s charisma makes a colorful aria sound even better but that the aria provides a platform, a vessel, for us to experience the charisma." This is part of the reason we say that Adam transcends the material he performs. It is not just the technique, not just the natural voice he has, but also the charisma that we experience when we see/hear him perform. "The question is whether people want to be swept up. Charisma can be exhilarating but also frightening. Our surrender to it demands a trust that is not easily conceded. If our desire from performance is only for comfort and reassurance, charisma will repel us. It is about revealing scope, and it raises the stakes dangerously high" The second quote is probably the best explanation of why Adam did not win American Idol, and why Kris did. I was thinking of you when I read it, Cassie!  I find the bolded part fascinating and probably why Adam is polarizing. He DOES scare some people (which is baffling to me), but also why I have always believed he has all the goods to be a relevant artist. I totally understand why Adam scares some people. He is not a characterization of a gay man, which is easier to come to terms with, but a real person who is fierce yet sweet, funny and unapologetic, uber-gay one minute and HBIC the next. He makes them feel unsafe in their preconceived notions. A bigot can shake his head and dismiss Adam doing his "disco dance" at River Rock, but it's a little scary to see him holding a joint in Amsterdam then grabbing Tommy and devouring him. And the icing on the cake , the thousands of screaming women who love him and the fact that he is voted "sexiest man" in polls with the hottest heteros. Adam does not make life easy for bigots.  |
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Post by Q3 on Aug 21, 2011 12:07:39 GMT -5
By the way, Q3, I had no idea you were going to write about the OUT issue when I wrote my piece, lol. Funny how that worked out! I LOLed when I saw the front page today. But it is a really interesting subject. |
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Post by rabbitrabbit on Aug 21, 2011 12:09:36 GMT -5
ETA: just wanted to say quickly: rabbitrabbit--I totally agree with what you said, and know what you're talking about in general, but I think there's a definite difference between LGBT boards and websites and even magazines which are targeted (more or less exclusively) at the community itself and are something of a haven from a bigoted world, and OUT Magazine, which fashions itself as bigger player, targeting a wider audience. (Indeed, much of Hicklin's false outrage had to do with the fact that he felt his magazine wasn't being treated with the respect that mainstream mags get.) OUT wants, I think, to be in the general discussion in this way, and invites a wider readership specifically by having mainstream stars like Adam Lambert, Adam Levine, and NPH on its covers. So I think we should all feel free to "get in there," so long as, as always, we do it professionally and in a way that doesn't embarrass ourselves and Adam and everyone around us!!! I also think Hicklin's move in 2009 was so bad as to be a personal affront both to all Adam fans and to all journalists and to anyone who asserts the right to live their lives on their own terms, not anybody else's.Very good point. I also was genuinely really, really shocked by the Out letter and spent some composing my comment to Hinklin too. I'm absolutely fine with really serious slights being called out in a professional matter (it's the imagined ones that irk me I guess) and anyway I hope fans won't need to this time. The fact that your email got a response from Hinklin shows that it was professionally toned, well-argued and eloquent and impossible to dismiss. So many interesting points raised in this discussion, and I'd never seen the ontd "insider" take on why Hinklin did it either, that's a new perspective for me. I wonder how Out and the media group that includes the Advocate is doing financially now? |
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cookie
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Post by cookie on Aug 21, 2011 12:10:02 GMT -5
And what you wrote, Susiefierce, is really interesting. So....how does this fit with all the fuss re Piers Morgan's interview of Christine McDonnel? I have been 'siding' in my mind with Piers but when I read your post I am rethinking a little....did Piers 'blindside' McDonnel? She sees it that way, of course, but is this situation analogous to what happened to Adam? A big difference, of course, is that Adam was not present to defend himself.....so that is not the point...but could Piers have caused himself any issues by veering 'off point'? Interesting question - I would say that a political candidate has to be willing to address current political questions and cannot legitamately make those off topic (unless the interview is with Good Housekeeping about how they decorated their house or with People about their upcoming wedding or something along those lines.) If you are going to appear on a political news-based show you have to expect to be asked questions about current topics. - I agree with you completely, and would add just one thing. Piers was asking her about things she has already spoken about publicly, asking her if her views remain the same. He wasn't asking her about things she could not be expected to have any knowledge of. OK- maybe it's a stretch to say she has shown much knowledge, but it's clear she has a history of having opinions on the subject. Not the same thing at all, in my opinion. ETA: Oops! Behind in the conversation, and Susie and MWP were already much more articulate than me on the same point. Need to remember to catch up before I comment. |
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needacoke
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Post by needacoke on Aug 21, 2011 12:12:28 GMT -5
That may be it. Bamafan's is 100% polyester. |
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