'Cause Being Compared To A Girl Would Turn Any Boy Into A Raging Evil Megalomaniac

This ad for Star Wars on Spike TV suggests that Darth Vader turned evil because he was called a girl's name as a kid. After all, what could be more insulting than that? (His name, before he was Darth Vader, was Anakin Skywalker.)



Thanks Craig S.! Craig saw the ad in the New York City subway.

Also in men must avoid femininity at all costs: eat like a man, I have to act so masculine, denigration with feminity, and my wife makes more money (the shame).

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"No Homo": Negating Gayness

Today a student told me about the phrase "no homo," a phrase popular among the young 'uns. Urban Dictionary's definition:

no homo: Said to show that you aren't gay after saying something that
sounded gay.
Hay man, pass the nuts. No homo.
I cornered him in my room and nailed him with a board. No homo.

It'll be great to use in discussions of male bonding and homophobia.

Thanks, Krystal-lynn M.!

Comparing Cadillac Ads

One of my favorite things to do in class is to show students that advertisers target their images to the audience. Students are often resistant to the idea that advertisers consider every aspect of an image, or that gendered or racialized elements are used intentionally. Showing ads for the same product that are targeted at very different audiences can be a way to get students to think about the fact that marketing is very deliberate and nothing in a multi-million-dollar ad is left to chance.

I previously posted this Cadillac ad:


Then I found this one in QVegas, which targets the GLBT community:


These might be useful for sparking a discussion of how advertisers alter their message based on the desired consumers, and that they know what kind of image will resonate with various demographics. And note that the second ad doesn't have the menacing tone of the first one. Other examples: here and here.

Using Girl-on-Girl Action to Attract Men

I have a feeling this ad is not meant for lesbians (the other half of the page showed a half-naked woman; both were for mainstream, non-lesbian-oriented clubs). This might be useful for discussing different attitudes toward gays and lesbians--it is difficult to imagine an ad of two men kissing aimed at straight women. In this case, women kissing is not about THEIR sexual pleasure, but about that of the audience--presumably straight men. The assumption accompanying images such as these, of course, is that the women are not actually lesbians--they'll still be sexually available to men. This is another difference in cultural views of gays and lesbians--lesbians' sexual orientation is often doubted (they just need to find the right man) in a way gay men's usually isn't.

From Las Vegas Weekly.

For Your Consideration

I found both of these ads in QVegas, a magazine for the GLBT community.

I will leave it to you, dear reader, to decide if there are sexual innuendos at play here.

Miller Lite Ads Aimed at GLBT Community

I found these two Miller Lite ads in QVegas, a magazine aimed at the GLBT community.

It would be interesting to pair with these ads for Skyy vodka to illustrate how companies make different ads to target different audiences. If you find an ad offensive or dumb, it's not necessarily an ineffective ad, it's that you probably aren't the target consumer and it's not supposed to appeal to you.

"Gay"

Then:




Now:

Thanks to Jason for sending along the "then"!

How Advertisers Tailor Messages

Since most of us only consume the media aimed, more or less, at us, we rarely see how the same product is often marketed very differently to different audiences. These two ads (found here) are for the "general market" and the gay male market respectively. They tell a story about how the advertisers perceive straight and gay masculinities.

Text: "When you walk into a bar, you're on stage. Good luck."

Text: "It's a bar, not a catwalk. Good luck."

Masculinity Summed Up

Truthfully, I don't think I have ever seen so many symbols of masculinity mobilized in so short a time. I had to watch it three times:



Thanks a bunch to Christine who recommended this in our comments.

The Police Force: Where The Men Are Men And The Spouses Are Women

My friend Jason is giving a talk on the constitutional limits of video surveillance (thank goodness someone is) at the 2008 California Police Chiefs Association Conference. In case you're still trying to convince your students that jobs are gendered, that there is an imperative to marry, that heteronormativity is in place, and that women are expected to conform to emphasized femininity... check this out:

The conference website has a page for "Spouse Events". The spouse is implicitly a woman, and a rather girly one at that. The "gift set" (for which they "spare no expense") is from "...Victoria’s Secret... [and includes an] engraved picture frame, lipstick case, spirits and sweets all in a tote." A tote! Spouses also get "special outings," "hospitality," and a "whirlwind of memories." She gets to choose from number of feminine pasttimes, including the spa, shopping, antiquing, and dance, or she can get a taste of what the big boys do (for "action adventure types" only).

an Urban Dictionary look at campaign politics

These aren't images... but I think they're interesting enough in terms of race, gender and sexuality to count. And they'd make for a great class discussion on the power of words and names and how they are re/defined in ways that perpetuate stereotypes and inequality.

I'm not sure if I want to thank Gwen for turning me on to the Urban Dictionary. I think I was better off not knowing what the kids are saying these days.

So, here is some of the Hillary Clinton-related slang. And there is more that was actually too replusive for my slightly-prudish self to publish here.

hillary:

1. Describes a bull form of lesbian. The manly one of the couple.

Did you she that lesbian? What a hillary! She got bigger balls than Bill.

2. pulling a "Hillary"....when a woman lets her man, or baby's daddy, do whatever the fuck he wants, specifically when they are married...if not, what the fuck she cares. ie. a weak woman

That lady pulled a Hillary, and now she's screaming at him for it.

hillaryus: Hillary Clinton... a chick... president of the U.S.? Hillary + U.S. = hilarious.

"It'll be hillaryus if Hillary's the president."

Hillareeza Clinton: The version of presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton when she is speaking to a black audience.

Hillary Clinton "In America I believe it is important that we reconsider the health care issues of our time"

Hillareeza Clinton "In America, all y'alls need health benefits and shit, no what I'm sayin? That's what I'm talking about,, hollaah"

Hillary Clit'on: Bill's private nickname for the 21st century's Eleanor Roosevelt.

Bill: Hey Hillary Clit'on, wanna make another Chelsea?
Hillary: Why don't you go find Monica? I've got some campaigning to do!

And for Barack Obama:

1. Obama:

1. A zealous cry of political victory over one's contemporary political adversary.

2. To win the spoils in a bureaucratically oriented competition; victory over one's campaign competitor.

3."To 0wn", "to win", "to be the victor", "to brag about one's sexual exploits", "to claim victory" (especially in the area of sexual gratification)

I Obama'd yo mama last night!

OBAMA!!!

2. obama: A unit for measuring awesome.

I just decreased my carbon footprint! My awesome level just went up a few obamas.

3. Obama: Synonymous with Hope and a Belief that Change is Possible. Being also unwilling to stoop to attacks from other candidates.

This is an Obama moment: Our community is jumping out of its skins to go turn out voters this election.

4. An Obama: Someone who can pass for a black person, but in fact is only a small part black and not even a descendant of african american slaves. These fakes are usually the ones who expect and even seek out special treatment because of their self declared "race".

or

Someone who white people befriend or vote for to seem less racist, only to prove it instead.

"Damn, Cletus, what the fuck is powder doing here? I thought this was a black only church!"

"Nope, thats not powder, its Senator Barrack Obama", said Cletus

or

"Yeah she invited me to her work party to make it look like she is not racist, I feel like a fuckin Obama!"

I tried to find some interesting slang for the republicans (I didn't want to make them feel left out) but I couldn't find anything...

Insult Comedy

This comic, Lisa Lampanelli, is a very successful comic whose entire act involves aggressively offending every possible group and congratulating herself on getting us to lighten up. The audience thinks it's great. Gwen and I saw her on Comedy Central tonight doing her own special, so this is mainstream comedy.

So how do we analyze this sociologically? Gwen and I are too demoralized to formulate a coherent response at this time. But at least we now know that it's not rape if he's good lookin'.

Destabilizing Heteronormativity

Click here to read about Silo and Roy, gay penguins. They were together for six years before they broke up. One of them paired up with a female.

These two male storks, living in a Dutch zoo, are raising a chick together. The zookeepers don't know how they came across their egg, but somehow they did, and now they're parents! Click here for the story and a video.


About 20 percent of all black swan couples are male/male according to this study:

Carlos and Fernando just celebrated their fifth anniversary (see here):

A museum in Oslo has gained some attention for their exhibit, Against Nature?, featuring homosexual behavior among animals. Check it out.

Equal Opportunity Gun Ownership

Anti-gun control propaganda (found here) aimed at EVERYBODY.

What you might expect from the pro-gun lobby:

















For kids!





Pro-gun feminism?





Guns are for fags:

Gun control is racist:

Also see this post.