Hmmm. Dov. Benetton. Dov. Bene... yeah, no, probably not the same in terms of controversy or blogging material, but he’ll do. So I was thinking this latest masterpiece speaks to a few possible audiences:
1) Legalizing gay isn’t the issue for me if he’s talking to mainstream flyover America. Legalize it all you want because they’ll have an issue with it on a deeper level. A level having to do with morality and real wrath of God type stuff. That’s the mindset he needs to attack. (Not all flyover country of course, but, you know, let’s be real, flyover country does single out SF values every election cycle.)
2) A gay community concerned with legalizing partner’s rights regardless of whether they win over anyone else because they feel they never will.
3) The crowd that hopes the legalize push becomes a stepping stone towards wider acceptance of the LGBT community.
But ever the fact-checking citizen journalist blogger that I am, I ran it by the gay community blogging filter that I have on staff. Atherton Bartelby, (who, besides being a designer who writes good, and probably has one of the best neo-Gatsby classic post-modern blogging names ever), has a slightly different view on Dov’s campaign for real change:
“I think this message is really flawed if it’s really only about Prop 8. That headline is far too broad to deal only with Prop 8, you know? Like you just wrote, legalize it (or try to) all you want, but that’s not going to make a difference in the red states, you know? I think your number 2 is incorrect, actually, at least with what I’ve heard. There are vast majorities of gays (usually younger side of twenty something) who I know who not only seem to think that equal marriage rights are winnable, but also mainstream acceptance of the gay thing, as well. I think the point of the campaign is to reach those AA-wearing gays whose emotional stake, at least, in the Prop 8 / legal acceptance struggle, etc., is rather large. So because it’s such a loaded issue in gay communities, why not exploit it, right?
Actually now that I’ve thought it through it’s a pretty smart campaign.
Not that it doesn't still kind of nauseate me.”
See Dov, we’re just looking out for the American Apparel brand. Yea us!
2 comments:
Great post!
I'll just be sitting here waiting for my Gay Card to be revoked. ;-P
I think we should rid ourselves of the entire institution. It's been stretched, cut up and stitched together to work with the changes in society to the point that it is no longer a proper fit for anyone. Not politically, not legally, not emotionally, not economically, not socially.
We, as a nation, wear it like an old comfortable shirt because it's what we know. But I think it's time for a whole new ensemble, one that takes into account the needs and choices of all people involved who wish to integrate his or her life with that of another.
As a campaign, it's smart. You could say it's exploitative. But what campaign can't you say that about?
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