2.22.11 Adam News & Info
Feb 22, 2011 21:20:45 GMT -5
Post by rihannsu on Feb 22, 2011 21:20:45 GMT -5
SCROLL ALERT LONG POST READ AT YOUR OWN RISK ;D
In regards to Adam's use of the term lifestyle I like to chip in with my take on it. At some point I remember seeing an interview that was a little more in depth than most that touched on this. Of course I have no idea where to begin to look for it and can't even guarantee it was video because I have describe movies to people which were actually books that I read that had never been made into movies.
Anyway, he was asked if he felt that his sexuality affected the vote on Idol and his answer was more nuanced than usual in this interview. He said that he didn't know for sure but that he felt that it was less a matter of being gay than it was his lifestyle. He went on to clarify that lifestyle referred to rather bohemian type lifestyle he lives as a part of these underground artistic communities, the club kid thing, and things like Burning Man and Lightening in a Bottle and his flamboyant style of dress with the make-up and such. It was clear to me at this point that when Adam says lifestyle he is not specifically referring to his sexuality. The problem is that because he is gay when he says lifestyle people ASSUME he means his sexuality and don't look any deeper than that.
In addition to that there is definitely a HUGE generation gap in the gay community when it comes to how to represent the community and how to be an activist. Adam is only 1 1/2 yrs older than my daughter and I can tell you right now that her circles are not interest in labels of any kind. Very few of them bother to define their sexuality in any way. They are much less interested in joining "gay communities" and are more likely group themselves according to their interests. This does not mean they are not interest in equality but that they go about it in much different ways. "Master Plan" lyrics are much closer to the new activism of today's youth. They work their activism by living their lives openly and without apology like Adam is doing. They win people over one by one by connecting with them and building relationships. They don't want to hide in separate communities but want to hang out with people who share their interest be they gay, straight, or zombies for all they care.
But I can also tell you that my daughter is absolutely vehemently opposed to generalizations of ANY kind. She will call me out immediately on ANY statement that is a generalization of a group. The under 30's have a completely different mindset than the older generation for the most part and when I despair of the direction things seem to be going I remember that the majority of the conservative viewpoint is being driven by a much older generation and while yes they have in my view corrupted some of their youngsters to their point of view I think they are a much smaller number so as the old guard begins to die off there will be a change. I already see this in the wider Christian Community because there are not a lot of young wackjobs ascending to the type of leadership positions that Jerry Falwell was in for instance and the younger leaders like Rick Warren and say Jim Wallace are not nearly as raving lunatic as Falwell, Robertson and Dobson. There is a strong progressive movement within the Christian culture that has grown up with Bono as a spiritual guru. Yes Bono of U2, the rock star. Barna Research Group did a study that showed that the most consistantly named spiritual leader with younger Christians was Bono rather than any of the official church leaders. In spite of the fact that Christian radio for the most part still WILL NOT PLAY U2. They will play a U2 song covered by a christian artist but not the original U2 and most Christian stores if they stock U2 at all will hide them behind the counter. And yes this is exceedingly strange given that U2 is probably the most Christian band not labeled Christian music.
Bono has been harranging the christian community about their wrong headed positition on AIDS since 2000. He has poked them out of their "holy huddles" as he call them and pushed them to actually do something constructive. He has gotten Christian activists to actually work with and alongside gay activist in dealing with the AIDS issues both in Africa and here at home. A lot of those christian soccer moms that he prodded into noticing the injustices around them are most definitely ones who noticed Adam as I ran across many blog posts while still following Bono that indicated that. A lot of the young progressive Christians are moving away from the large organized religions and instead forming smaller house churches that focus more on actually getting out and doing in their own local areas and these young churches and young christians are much more accepting. Not to say that they don't still believe homosexuality is a sin but they are much less judgemental and much more interested in doing things that actually help people rather than telling them how to live their lives.
The problem in the Christian community is that the loudest voices for the last 40 years or so have been the most right wing fundamentalist ones. Opposing viewpoints within the Christian community rarely get press partly because they don't want to be seen as contradicting other Christians and partly because just like in fandoms the loonies talk the loudest. The BSC will always outshout the majority.
In regards to Adam's use of the term lifestyle I like to chip in with my take on it. At some point I remember seeing an interview that was a little more in depth than most that touched on this. Of course I have no idea where to begin to look for it and can't even guarantee it was video because I have describe movies to people which were actually books that I read that had never been made into movies.
Anyway, he was asked if he felt that his sexuality affected the vote on Idol and his answer was more nuanced than usual in this interview. He said that he didn't know for sure but that he felt that it was less a matter of being gay than it was his lifestyle. He went on to clarify that lifestyle referred to rather bohemian type lifestyle he lives as a part of these underground artistic communities, the club kid thing, and things like Burning Man and Lightening in a Bottle and his flamboyant style of dress with the make-up and such. It was clear to me at this point that when Adam says lifestyle he is not specifically referring to his sexuality. The problem is that because he is gay when he says lifestyle people ASSUME he means his sexuality and don't look any deeper than that.
In addition to that there is definitely a HUGE generation gap in the gay community when it comes to how to represent the community and how to be an activist. Adam is only 1 1/2 yrs older than my daughter and I can tell you right now that her circles are not interest in labels of any kind. Very few of them bother to define their sexuality in any way. They are much less interested in joining "gay communities" and are more likely group themselves according to their interests. This does not mean they are not interest in equality but that they go about it in much different ways. "Master Plan" lyrics are much closer to the new activism of today's youth. They work their activism by living their lives openly and without apology like Adam is doing. They win people over one by one by connecting with them and building relationships. They don't want to hide in separate communities but want to hang out with people who share their interest be they gay, straight, or zombies for all they care.
But I can also tell you that my daughter is absolutely vehemently opposed to generalizations of ANY kind. She will call me out immediately on ANY statement that is a generalization of a group. The under 30's have a completely different mindset than the older generation for the most part and when I despair of the direction things seem to be going I remember that the majority of the conservative viewpoint is being driven by a much older generation and while yes they have in my view corrupted some of their youngsters to their point of view I think they are a much smaller number so as the old guard begins to die off there will be a change. I already see this in the wider Christian Community because there are not a lot of young wackjobs ascending to the type of leadership positions that Jerry Falwell was in for instance and the younger leaders like Rick Warren and say Jim Wallace are not nearly as raving lunatic as Falwell, Robertson and Dobson. There is a strong progressive movement within the Christian culture that has grown up with Bono as a spiritual guru. Yes Bono of U2, the rock star. Barna Research Group did a study that showed that the most consistantly named spiritual leader with younger Christians was Bono rather than any of the official church leaders. In spite of the fact that Christian radio for the most part still WILL NOT PLAY U2. They will play a U2 song covered by a christian artist but not the original U2 and most Christian stores if they stock U2 at all will hide them behind the counter. And yes this is exceedingly strange given that U2 is probably the most Christian band not labeled Christian music.
Bono has been harranging the christian community about their wrong headed positition on AIDS since 2000. He has poked them out of their "holy huddles" as he call them and pushed them to actually do something constructive. He has gotten Christian activists to actually work with and alongside gay activist in dealing with the AIDS issues both in Africa and here at home. A lot of those christian soccer moms that he prodded into noticing the injustices around them are most definitely ones who noticed Adam as I ran across many blog posts while still following Bono that indicated that. A lot of the young progressive Christians are moving away from the large organized religions and instead forming smaller house churches that focus more on actually getting out and doing in their own local areas and these young churches and young christians are much more accepting. Not to say that they don't still believe homosexuality is a sin but they are much less judgemental and much more interested in doing things that actually help people rather than telling them how to live their lives.
The problem in the Christian community is that the loudest voices for the last 40 years or so have been the most right wing fundamentalist ones. Opposing viewpoints within the Christian community rarely get press partly because they don't want to be seen as contradicting other Christians and partly because just like in fandoms the loonies talk the loudest. The BSC will always outshout the majority.
