I'm sorry but that's ********. Adam Lambert represents a section of gay people...the flamboyant, sexualized stereotype which admittedly is true for a part (not the whole) of gay people (and there's nothing wrong with it). But he does not represent gay people. I and many other gay men I know have nothing in common with him other than the fact that he likes penis. Not every gay man dresses and acts like that or wants to.
You're saying he represents that 'section' and you want a gay male artist who doesn't act like that.
But then you're kinda discriminating that one section no?
I mean if the artist that you want is a manly gay artist then the flamboyant gays could say the same thing you just said.
We always talk about artists who "break barriers", well those artists were able to do that because they achieved a level of success that nobody thought was possible for them. I hope to see a few curve balls in the future.
However, I think it will be immensely difficult. A gay artist who wants mainstream success is going to have to find a balance between being open about who he is, and downplaying the "hot issue" factor of it. I believe one of the reason why Adam Lambert isn't as successful is because he turned his sexuality into a PR stint. It embodied his identity and he stopped being relatable to a wide scope of people.
Adam Lambert wishes he could look this good playing dress-up
Or write music this insanely catchy
Or dance this well
He wrote and recorded both his albums by himself and produced them in his basement with a friend. Imagine what he could do if he had the support of a label and a professional choreographer?
Adam Lambert could never. Simon Curtis is the male Britney, plus live vocal talent.
It's harder for gay men to be themselves and be accepted by the public. However, it's not totally impossible for a gay artist to have a certain level of success in today's climate. They just can't be flamboyant and force their lifestyles down the throats of the buying public. Part of the reason Adam failed was because he did just that - he tried to force his sexuality down people's throats: everything from the American Music Award performance to the glittery purple album cover. There were people who were upset that he lost American Idol and was rooting for him to be the next big thing, but then he turned around and messed it up. If Bruno Mars was openly gay but still made the same music, I could see him having success. Perhaps not the same level of success he is achieving as a straight male, but I don't think he would be pushed aside completely or paid dust. It's messed up, but that's just how it is.
It's an unfortunate but true double standard, because music buyers generally have no problem with females forcing their sexuality (homo or otherwise) down our throats. It basically just comes down to privilege in society - females are now totally privileged in being able to express themselves in any way at all thanks to feminism. But males are still living in this left/right, black/white paradigm where everything is either gay or straight only, with no shared common ground, as if gay males are some kind of estranged third gender. This causes straight males to be insecure and overly self-conscious because to do anything perceived as stereotypically "gay" is emasculating, since gay males aren't "real males" according to society.
It's an unfortunate but true double standard, because music buyers generally have no problem with females forcing their sexuality (homo or otherwise) down our throats. It basically just comes down to privilege in society - females are now totally privileged in being able to express themselves in any way at all thanks to feminism. But males are still living in this left/right, black/white paradigm where everything is either gay or straight only, with no shared common ground, as if gay males are some kind of estranged third gender. This causes straight males to be insecure and overly self-conscious because to do anything perceived as stereotypically "gay" is emasculating, since gay males aren't "real males" according to society.
Yeah the sad reality is that women singing about kissing girls and liking it is generally exploitation for straight guys' benefit...
Yeah the sad reality is that women singing about kissing girls and liking it is generally exploitation for straight guys' benefit...
I could get into a whole discussion about how the premise of modern "feminism" is, unknowingly to most hypocritical "feminists", actually based on the misogynist attitude that masculinity is superior... But that's for another thread. In short, yeah, it's cool and empowering for women to do things that guys normally do but the other way around is pathetic and laughable. Equally interesting is how androgyny, which is inherently gender-neutral by definition, is seen as something feminine in our culture.
I could get into a whole discussion about how the premise of modern feminism is, unknowingly to most feminists, actually based on the misogynist attitude that masculinity is superior... But that's for another thread. In short, yeah, it's "cool" and empowering for women to do things that's guys normally do but the other way around is pathetic and laughable. Equally interesting is how androgyny, which is inherently gender-neutral by definition, is seen as something feminine in our culture.
Nailed it.
Being gay doesn't have 100% to do with it, but honestly, it's like 95%.
It's all part of the double standard in sexuality right now pervading our culture, which is bluntly, lesbian=good, gay male=bad. The details to expand on this (most from principles in my queer theory college course) are too extensive to cover in one post (We actually already had pretty much this exact thread several months ago on here but I digress), but the short version is that...
Straight men dictate the direction of the culture, which is still largely under the patriarchal framework. Lesbians are perfectly set up in this framework as not threatening the authority of the dominant male but act as a sexual turn-on outlet, so their relationships aren't respected but tolerated. Gay men threaten the concept of the dominant male by trying to throw the submissive male into the mix and as a result, the culture rejects, scorns, and attempts to eliminate them from places of influence.
This works across the culture spectrum all the way to yes....our pop stars.
Major label support from the get-go (aka no AI start-up) with the ability to sustain a career without worries about open lyrics regarding relationships, etc? Not in my lifetime.
Being gay doesn't have 100% to do with it, but honestly, it's like 95%.
It's all part of the double standard in sexuality right now pervading our culture, which is bluntly, lesbian=good, gay male=bad. The details to expand on this (most from principles in my queer theory college course) are too extensive to cover in one post (We actually already had pretty much this exact thread several months ago on here but I digress), but the short version is that...
Straight men dictate the direction of the culture, which is still largely under the patriarchal framework. Lesbians are perfectly set up in this framework as not threatening the authority of the dominant male but act as a sexual turn-on outlet, so their relationships aren't respected but tolerated. Gay men threaten the concept of the dominant male by trying to throw the submissive male into the mix and as a result, the culture rejects, scorns, and attempts to eliminate them from places of influence.
This works across the culture spectrum all the way to yes....our pop stars.
Major label support from the get-go (aka no AI start-up) with the ability to sustain a career without worries about open lyrics regarding relationships, etc? Not in my lifetime.
There are patriarchal societies where it's not nearly this bad though, so it's largely a problem with western society and our obsession with upholding machismo. The core problem is that our culture as a whole devalues femininity, men and women do. The whole "gay" thing just complicates it even further.
There are patriarchal societies where it's not nearly this bad though, so it's largely a problem with western society and our obsession with upholding machismo. The core problem is that our culture as a whole devalues femininity, men and women do. The whole "gay" thing just complicates it even further.