There are a few levels to acceptance and tolerance. A lot of people hate gays. A lot of people don’t hate gays, but they don’t particularly like them. These kinds of people usually are pretty liberal in their words and actions.
Then, there are people who have come to grip, or have always been in grip, with acceptance and tolerance.
And then there are people who think they are metathinkers. This usually includes me, but generally I won’t go so far as to allow my metathinking to be so superior to think it can break the rules.
The Buffalo Beast has a fairly recent article up called The 50 Most Loathsome Americans up. I know, this is the Buffalo Beast. The rhetoric is pretty equal to Maddox, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to get on my high horse and police the web! That’s what I’m here for, right?
27) Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. (Perez Hilton)
Charges: Posting a pic of a seventeen-year-old’s twat on Twitter is borderline pedophilia, but since he’s a professional fag and Miley Cyrus is a professional annoyance, the moral outrage only lasted one news cycle. Perez’s toddleresque slams on celebrity and generally repulsive demeanor are the major reason homophobia still exists.
Aggravating factor: Looks like Buster Poindexter cross-pollinated with the kid from Jerry Maguire.
Sentence: A tour in Afghanistan.
Trust me, I don’t like Perez. But this… how is this okay?! How can you think it’s okay? A lot of people propped this article up by saying it took hits at everyone… so?
I was irritated enough that I needed to make a list:
- First things first, it’s probably never okay to use the word fag unless it’s in actual context. Mark Twain used nigger pretty professionally.
- I know you grouped him away from the rest of the gay community when you said he was the reason for homophobia, but your comment on the military stills ends up being hegemoniously hater.
- Professional fag?! The f!-word aside, what the hell does that even mean? Again, reinforcing stereotypes while appearing to rise above them in a meta cognitive stream.
- He used one flamboyant homosexual as the reason hobophobia exists. This guy obviously makes enough connections to see some underlying reasons to homophobia, but his comment only enforces and legitimizes them.
- His use of hateful language in an intelligent, witty, and mostly comedic piece only legitimizes its use in more circles.
That all being said, his comment on American’s in general for #1 was pretty spot on.
Um, so this post was depressing and egotistical. To cheer you up, here’s Sushi Cat.
We’re in the going too far business. Ideally, people get hurt.
As a contributor that’s never met the NY staff, I think I speak for everyone when I say we at Buffalo Beast would gladly bite the tracheas out of the folks who utilize derogatory terms for anything more than questionable writerly effect.
I don’t know which of us wrote the entry (if it was me, I blame Ambien), but I think the gist of it was that some personalities rely on a shtick which, whether it’s a deliberate exploitation or a genuine expression, can reinforce the prejudices of the stupider people in the country. Who, to paraphrase Principal Skinner, will be complaining and furrowing their brows in a vain attempt to understand the situation. Think of Carlos Mencia.
No. Don’t.
There’s the risk that criticism of a specific person could be interpreted as a swipe against an entire demographic.
The question is how to avoid such misunderstandings and remain remotely funny.
QED.
I was going to draft a cleverer reply, but I got distracted by the Sushi Cat.
“I’m not homophobic, I love [insert funny gay best friend] from [TV show]”
Joel Osteen’s wife just loves elton john!