I love it because it's funny, and onto quite a lot of cultural subtleties. But, to get a bit earnest about the politics of it -- I think they're great! The reason the Christian right hates it -- and part of the reason I love it -- is that the message is that homosex is GOOD for heterosex. By being less invested in his heterosexuality, and indeed, more willing to be feminine (even submissive), a man will do better with the ladies and perhaps also be more fully himself, less alienated from his own body, less repressed etc. The idea is, it's in his *self-interest* not to be homophobic. I think that's a great political message, as well as very sound practical advice. Just as feminism has always sought to liberate men from oppressive conventions of masculinity, this show seems to say, as radical queers have often pointed out, that gay culture has much to offer straights. That gay liberation is not just about gay "rights" and "tolerance," but about changing the way all of us define ourselves, and think about gender and sexuality.
If you listen to straight male conversation in public places, much of it is explicitly aimed at proving that the speaker is not gay, and moreover, is manifestly less gay than his interlocutors. What an exhausting and hostile way to define oneself! A lot of violence against gay men stems from that impulse. So it's pretty cool to have something like this on TV.
Also, I think it's a sign of progress that straight men are realizing they may not always have the privilege of looking bad. When women "needed" men more, economically and socially, they had to accept them no matter how terrible (sloppy, badly dressed/groomed) they looked. That's still true, but it's less and less true. Men may suffer some anxiety over having to look/dress better, but it means more and straight women are enjoying the pleasure of seeing a partner -- or suitor -- attempt to look good for them, a pleasure men, gay and straight, have known for thousands of years. Maybe this sea change is making some cosmetic companies richer, but it's good for gender relations overall.
Liza
> From: Dwayne Monroe <idoru345 at yahoo.com>
> Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 11:23:57 -0700 (PDT)
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: Re:[lbo-talk] Queen for a Day: My Gay Makeover
>
> I think this show's premise is quite funny. I know a
> lot of folks have reacted negatively for a variety of
> political reasons but my own feelings are that,
> "gaze", "empowerment" and capitalist issues aside
> (way, way aside - let's place these concerns far away,
> say, on the frigid surface of Pluto, and be done with
> them as regards this silly program) it's not a bad
> idea.
>
> In fact, I personally benefited from a similar
> 'makeover' years ago. Fortunately (and probably due
> to the no-nonsense beliefs in equality and comfort
> with paradox I learned from my family) I've never been
> burdened with an abundance of homophobia.
>
> So, when a Gay bud suggested, years ago, that I switch
> from stiff, ugly dockers to tailored slacks, from beat
> up sneakers to some very sharp shoes, get a flattering
> haircut and say goodbye to rumpled cotton shirts and
> hello to sateen (very nice synthetic btw - probably
> quite evil somehow, but it feels like an electronica
> CD's dream of the future - smooth, vaguely bluish in
> tint and unruffled), I listened without reservation.
>
> Was I liberated from the iron vice of capital? No.
> Did I get laid and feel good? Yes and uh, yes again.
> Ironic that a Gay man would help me do better with
> women? I suppose but it's an irony one can live with
> quite comfortably.
>
> Travelling to Hugo Boss, Armani and all the rest (my
> friend's hope for me) was a bridge too far - I did
> have to actually have money to eat after all - but the
> change, which took for good it seems, was a lot of
> fun.
>
>
> As, I suppose, the show might be.
>
>
> DRM
>
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