Monday, May 20, 2013
Feminism and Beyonce
A thoughtful critique of the critique: http://www.gradientlair.com/post/50751492514/white-feminist-critique-beyonce-ad-perpetuum-ugh
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Jason Collins, Professional Sport, and Male Domination
Before I dive into the abyss of grading, let me welcome Jason Collins and other gay male athletes lurking around the corner to the coming out party!
What Collins did was significant and the toll staying closeted took on his life was enormous, ultimately because it prevented him from developing any sort of non-superficial relationship with most people, including, I assume, platonic friends.
This story has been reported as a great blow to gay oppression, and that is true. It is a blow to gay oppression. But while we acknowledge that, let's not trivialize what women such as Martina Navratilova (voluntarily) and Billie Jean King (involuntarily) did when they were out lesbian tennis players. It's possible to imagine that Jason Collins could not do this without them having blazed the trail in a society that was much more hostile to the notion that GLB folk could participate in sports (TQ wasn't on the radar in the late 70s in the way it is now!).
However, as we keep asking "why are men so homophobic,"we miss the fact that this story may not, in some way, be about gay oppression at all. This is a story about male domination. While it's hard for some to see, I think we all have a tiny picture of how men dominate women all of the time: cut us off in conversations, deny us promotions, wolf whistle, stare at our breasts while we're talking to them, diminish the work that happens inside of the home, pay us less, beat us, rape us (and then call us too sensitive), and kill us. It's harder to see how males dominate other males. And males dominate other males all of the time because you have to have a pecking order, right? Boys often experience this from both other men and boys, particularly if they are gender noncompliant (don't play with the right toys, hang out with **gasp** GIRLS, etc.), and men experience it from other men, including rape! Males train on each other so they can keep women in line and continue to police the boundaries of sexism. And this is no clearer than in professional sports. Indeed, no other institution, aside from the Catholic Church (of which I'm a member) has gone so far to institutionalize male domination.
The biggest and toughest, clearly not f---s and sissies, are allowed into this elite club! So when a man is willing to lie with another man and actually be an elite baller, this means that this queer could beat up the average guy?! But isn't that the province of straight men? They are the ones who should be able to "handle" the gay guy because the straight guy is uber male, right? Straight men dominate gay ones. This upsets the natural order of things and upsets the very premise of professional sporting. This is why we fear what will happen the next time Jason Collins steps out on the court with whichever team he works for, how will the men assert their dominance over him (and can they?!)?
Admittedly, I find these pissing contests tiring, and that's why I hate professional sports. But this is why it's so hard to make sure that football players are protected from getting concussions, men would rather tough it out than admit they're injured, etc. Showing physical pain and weakness undermines their status as the man on top of the pack. It undermines that they are the dominant male.
The biggest toll that male domination takes on all of us is how it undermines the most basic relationships we can have in life, both the intimate and platonic ones. That's the impact of the violence and other less aggressive forms of trivializing the lives, loves, wants, and desires of those who are not at the top of the male heap (and that a whole lot of people)!
So Jason, your coming out will send several cracks through the male dominant ceiling, whether you intended it to or not. And for that, I thank you! Just sayin'!
What Collins did was significant and the toll staying closeted took on his life was enormous, ultimately because it prevented him from developing any sort of non-superficial relationship with most people, including, I assume, platonic friends.
This story has been reported as a great blow to gay oppression, and that is true. It is a blow to gay oppression. But while we acknowledge that, let's not trivialize what women such as Martina Navratilova (voluntarily) and Billie Jean King (involuntarily) did when they were out lesbian tennis players. It's possible to imagine that Jason Collins could not do this without them having blazed the trail in a society that was much more hostile to the notion that GLB folk could participate in sports (TQ wasn't on the radar in the late 70s in the way it is now!).
However, as we keep asking "why are men so homophobic,"we miss the fact that this story may not, in some way, be about gay oppression at all. This is a story about male domination. While it's hard for some to see, I think we all have a tiny picture of how men dominate women all of the time: cut us off in conversations, deny us promotions, wolf whistle, stare at our breasts while we're talking to them, diminish the work that happens inside of the home, pay us less, beat us, rape us (and then call us too sensitive), and kill us. It's harder to see how males dominate other males. And males dominate other males all of the time because you have to have a pecking order, right? Boys often experience this from both other men and boys, particularly if they are gender noncompliant (don't play with the right toys, hang out with **gasp** GIRLS, etc.), and men experience it from other men, including rape! Males train on each other so they can keep women in line and continue to police the boundaries of sexism. And this is no clearer than in professional sports. Indeed, no other institution, aside from the Catholic Church (of which I'm a member) has gone so far to institutionalize male domination.
Admittedly, I find these pissing contests tiring, and that's why I hate professional sports. But this is why it's so hard to make sure that football players are protected from getting concussions, men would rather tough it out than admit they're injured, etc. Showing physical pain and weakness undermines their status as the man on top of the pack. It undermines that they are the dominant male.
The biggest toll that male domination takes on all of us is how it undermines the most basic relationships we can have in life, both the intimate and platonic ones. That's the impact of the violence and other less aggressive forms of trivializing the lives, loves, wants, and desires of those who are not at the top of the male heap (and that a whole lot of people)!
So Jason, your coming out will send several cracks through the male dominant ceiling, whether you intended it to or not. And for that, I thank you! Just sayin'!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
