One of my favorite phrases as of late is the following:
“Please Stay Out of Your Feelings”
I like it a lot. It’s short, it’s simple, and it’s very blunt, and as you may know by now, I enjoy most things that reflect a blunt mindset.
I also feel like it’s something that should be uttered more often in today’s society. I think that, as a whole, most people nowadays are entirely too sensitive concerning just about everything. If I didn’t know any better(and I really may not) I would honestly think people are looking for reasons to get offended and upset even when it’s not particularly justified. The most recent example that comes to mind is the ongoing situation involving Roland Martin.
Now for those not in the know, you can read all about it here. In a nutshell, Members of the gay Community are upset over some “questionable” tweets that Roland made during the Superbowl, which may or may not have been homophobic in nature. Now I read the various news reports and the tweets in question and I have to say… This whole ordeal is a little ridiculous.
Now when it comes to the overall gay community, I’d like to think that I get it, or at least I hope I get it. Gay people have been getting harassed(and much, much worse) for their sexual preferences for decades, possibly centuries. It’s only natural that a group of people would be on edge when it seems as if the world would prefer if you all just didn’t exist. However, that feeling, no matter how justified, doesn’t make it OK to fly off the handle for any little thing that you perceive to be homophobic.
Now when I see a tweet that says: “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad smack the ish out of him!” My mind doesn’t immediately jump to “Oh this guy is CLEARLY homophobic” In fact, I find it hard to even see that connection. I would argue that the tweet could be taken a couple of different ways that don’t end up with it being considered homophobic.
Here’s how I look at it and keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion. I don’t think that a guy, gay or straight, should be “excited” about the David Beckham underwear line. In fact, you could say that the commercial isn’t even being marketed towards men. I can’t really think of a type of guy who would think something like “Yesss, David Beckham has his own underwear line, I can’t wait to get a pair!”
Some guys don’t like suits or even cologne designed by male celebrities, it’s just how a lot of guys are. And as for it not being marketed to men, think about any Victoria Secret commercial that’s been made within these past few years; can you think of one aspect of those commercials that appeals to the women watching them besides the actual bras and panties?
Victoria’s Secret commercials are supposed to excite the men and convince the women that what’s being shown in the commercial is what they need to be wearing in order for them to excite their men. Another example is those god-awful Bod commercials:
How does watching other men whose bodies look like they’ve been sculpted out of solid brick convince me that buying Bod body spray will help me appeal to women? Compared to them, my body may as well have been carved out of wet clay, I just can’t relate to that. So to me, Martin’s opinion of the commercial is more or less accurate. What is it about a famous man modeling his underwear line that would make another man feel like he now has to get that underwear, especially during the Superbowl of all times? But apparently GLAAD, as well as others, don’t see it that way.
Martin also made a comment about a New England Patriot who was dressed in a pink jumpsuit and they didn’t take kindly to that either. The last time I checked, A man wearing pink was not exclusive to the gay community, and the idea in itself is more of a stereotype about homosexuals than anything else.
Personally, I don’t think there’s a lot of men who can pull off pink, regardless of their sexual orientation. Maybe, just maybe, Ronald Martin felt that the player was not a man who he thought could pull off a pink outfit.
Overall, I think that’s the point that’s being missed. You have people getting upset over something that appears to be homophobic in nature. Meanwhile, you have a group of people protesting Ellen Degeneres being a spokesperson for JcPenny simply because she’s gay(which is wrong, offensive even…see what I did there) and yet I don’t see anybody calling for those protestors’ heads like they’re calling for Martin’s.
This brings me back to my original point. When you’re so busy looking for something to get upset about, you may end up overlooking something that really deserves that indignation that you’re feeling. Just like how you have some homosexuals calling everything homophobic, you have some Jews calling everything anti-Semitic, or some minorities calling everything racist. It’s true that all of those things do exist, but it’s also true that they don’t exist in every factor of life.
You’re telling me that it’s offensive if I use the phrase “That’s gay” under any circumstance but yet nobody seems to get upset(or as upset) when phrases such as “That’s retarded” get thrown around. Also, the word nigger, which is discriminatory in origin(unlike the word “gay”), is also off limits unless it’s made less offensive( I guess?) by pronouncing it as “nigga” and using it within a media outlet, which then makes it somewhat OK to be recited/used by just about any race but white, even though it’s possible for other races to discriminate against African Americans as well.
And I’m not saying that “nigga” should or should not be used, or that “retarded” should or shouldn’t be used, I’m just saying that I’m not seeing any “Stop Saying Nigga” commercials like I’m seeing these “Stop Saying Gay” Commercials, and I definitely can’t recall seeing any “Stop Saying Retarded” commercials. Aren’t those all supposed to be equally offensive terms??
In conclusion, I don’t want to seem like I’m coming down on the gay community when I’m actually more concerned with the mentality of our generation as a whole. I just think that the whole situation involving Ronald Martin is a good reflection of just how much we as a society are willing to get stirred up over the most trivial things. I’d just like to see more news in which people are rightfully standing up against an undeniable injustice, rather than a perceived one.
