Do you find this offensive?

[DonMike]

Hi guys. I just ran across this website and am really pissed off. It's for Sunsilk hair care products and features three lisping effeminate queens with overplucked eyebrows and over the top pastel outfits acting like a bad Queer Eye ripoff. Am I being too thin skinned over this or are you as outraged as I am?

http://www.gethairapy.com/

I clicked on "contact us" and told them exactly how offended and angered I was, and when I hit "submit" on their comment form I got a message that read something like "Thank you for the feedback, girlie. We heart you". WTF???

[maxpower]

Well I know this will not be a very popular statement, but I think the gay community itself has to take a big part of the blame. We do not put out or celebrate many examples like gaydemon said, it seems the most extreme examples of our community gets all the attention. I have said it before if I see one more gay parade filled with drag queens or guys in leather chaps with their ass hanging out I am going to fucking scream. If we can not put fourth a better example of our community how can we expect anyone else to. I know I am sticking my neck way out there, but I also think the same applies to about every other minority group around.

[HotMaleVideos]

I find it stupid. :jerkoff: I'm offended by its stupidity since it's not funny.

I can't say I disagree with Max in some of his points either. I don't agree with stereotyping, but I don't internalize it as anger so much when I see it. I just tune out.

[Dzinerbear]

I think it's a wonderfully interactive site and could be a lot of fun. But I'm not sure what most of it has to with hair or hair-care products. A lot of it just camp. I'm kind of surprised the CEO of the company got talked into this one.

I'm not sure who they're trying to appeal to: women who go to campy gay hair dressers or gay men who love been queeny.

I think the Queer Eye guys set us back a dozen years and we'll be crawling through crap like this for years to come.

However, good news: Big burly football player Esera Tuaolo is releasing a book "Alone in the Trenches" (about being gay in the NFL) and he'll be featured in the next issue of "A Bear's Life" magazine. Maybe this will start a trickle of sportsmen who will eventually drown out the Queer Eye guys.

Michael

[Squirt]

Stereotype or not these types of guys are a part of our community and asking them to change is as messed up as asking a woman to act more like a man.

Whether it's straight guys acting camp or real Gay guys being themselves it's all about acceptance.

I used to rebel against stereotypes but then realized that some guys, just being themselves, are the stereotype and who am I to want them to change?

It's not all bad. We have Brokeback and many other examples of "normal acting Gay guys" living "normal" lives.

A part of any minority subculture is the "negative" stereotype. Italians, Irish, blacks, asians, Gay, Lesbian, Transexual, etc. to be honest, and we all know this, some Gay men do naturally act more like women. Who are we to bring them down and impose on them how we feel a "real man" should act? :fucked:

[Dzinerbear]

One thing I forgot to mention was that I was pleased to see a plus-size guy. At least we're making some progress in real representation.

Michael

[maxpower]

One thing I forgot to mention was that I was pleased to see a plus-size guy. At least we're making some progress in real representation.

Michael

Sorry man but What? About all we get is overweight, unattractive, neutered, easily spotted from space, non threatening, gay guys. After all most of this stuff is intended for women, and most women are ok with gay guys as long as the stay in their “place” and do not threaten their role in society. $0.02

Just look at the representation of BI guys, its almost non existent because it is frightening to them to really like a guy that is not supposedly 100% str8 "not that I have known many really str8 guys in my life anyway"

[maxpower]

I know I should not say this, but just to make my point I will. I do not and have not dated any gay guys, I only date “str8” guys. In fact I have never had sex with a guy that was gay or really identified themselves as BI. I could name some reasons but think I will leave that out, and anyway I have had the same BF for 4 years now anyway But all this freaks the hell out of every str8 girl I know, they can not deal with it at all.

[DonMike]

Max, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but if you've been dating the same guy for four years, I'd hardly say he was straight. LOL!

[maxpower]

Max, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but if you've been dating the same guy for four years, I'd hardly say he was straight. LOL!

Well LOL he says “I am not gay or BI I don’t know I just love you” I don’t really know, but do know almost all str8 guys are bottoms though He would be so mad if he knew I said that.

Well anyway, I know I went off on a bit of a rant, but I get kinda bitchy after hour 14 or so in my day :fucked:

[tombarr]

I know I should not say this, but just to make my point I will. I do not and have not dated any gay guys, I only date “str8” guys. In fact I have never had sex with a guy that was gay or really identified themselves as BI. I could name some reasons but think I will leave that out, and anyway I have had the same BF for 4 years now anyway But all this freaks the hell out of every str8 girl I know, they can not deal with it at all.

so, Max, if you have had the same boyfriend for 4 years now... is he still straight?

[tombarr]

I agree that it is over representing the "stereotype", however, I believe that people are using this stereotype to represent something that the straight community is not afraid of.

My point being, straight guys FEAR gay guys who are not so easily identifiable as gay. they get pissed when they find out their straight football buddy, or best friend they have had for years, is gay. They want to fight, punch things, beat things up... all out of the fear factor. They
feel deceived, lied to... because the guys they saw were normal "GUYS",
not identifiable as "FAGS".

In Asia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam are all I can speak for, they readily accept ladyboys, and very effeminate gay men....but have difficulty with the same issue with regard to men they can't outright see as gay.

My point in sayng that about Asia is that is a worldwide fear, or epidemic....


I don't condone the stereotype...but i do believe that they use it to make gay humorous, to make gay non threatening... to make it something they are not afraid of.......

[DonMike]

After reading everyone's responses I have a few comments to make. I was not offended that the three men on the website were effeminate. I know people who are effeminate, hell I know Bobby Trendy, he's the poster boy for effeminate gay men! I like all kinds of people, regardless of gender, gender identification or sexual proclivities. And I didn't think Queer Eye was all that bad. The show never claimed to be the end all be all of gay culture. And not every member of the Fab Five were effeminate. Sure there were no bears or big burly truck drivers, but that's not what they were going for.

And as far as having issues with the drag queens and leather guys marching in the parade, give me a break! First of all, if it weren't for the drag queens you wouldn't have the civil rights you have today. Sure we are not living in a perfect world but there was a time when the police could arrest you for being in a gay bar. They could beat the shit out of you on the street and nobody would say anything. We've come a long way and the drag queens were the first ones to stand up for our rights. Educate yourself about Stonewall before you go baggin' on the drag queens. And as one of those "guys in leather chaps" who embarass you so much in the parades, I'll have you know that I have just as much to be proud of as you do. The gay community is built on diversity, we celebrate diversity when we march in that parade in every color of the rainbow. Maybe we should all march without floats, without music and without joy, all wearing Abrombe and Fitch and trying to look as "normal" and "straight" as possible so we can "fit in". Well, if that's the world you want, where you don't want to celebrate the uniqueness you have to offer the world but instead Uncle Tom yourself so the PTA moms and high school gym teacher dads will accept you enough to make sure they only talk about you behind your back instead of to your face, then you can have it.

(deep breath... strong Xander... strong Xander) Now, the reason I'm so outraged by this website is because I didn't get the feeling that these were three real gay men. If they were three effeminate gay men doing a hair care site then I would have probably had a good chuckle at the camp value of it and moved on, but the problem is that it looks like three straight guys playing up a really bad gay stereotype without even a hint of irony. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe Ann Landers should give me thirty lashes with a wet noodle, but it really bothered me. Why do straight guys think it's funny to affect a lisp? I can take a joke as much as the next guy, and I'm not offended when straight people make gay jokes as long as they are not being mean spirited about it. But I just found this whole site to be an unfunny joke at gay men's expense.

[maxpower]

so, Max, if you have had the same boyfriend for 4 years now... is he still straight?

Ya says he’s not attracted to other guys, hates me doing this porn stuff, and pisses me off by looking at chicks all the time. But at least he does not cheat on me with girls anymore the first 1 ½ was kinda bad with that stuff. Most of the guys I dated did the same thing its ok the first 6 months or so but normally broke up with them cuzz of some girl or another, maybe I am a bit hostile cuzz of all that stuff.


I can not be the only one that dates str8 guys normally?

[maxpower]

Well as I see it the last thing the conservative right and soccer moms want is a general impression of the gay community being anything but the one these fringe groups present. It just gives them ammunition to use against us, I do not know what happened 20+ years ago I guess we should be grateful, but that does not mean that for all time these small groups should be the face of the gay community. But again that just my opinion. :flogging: