shirtlifterbear (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shirtlifterbear) wrote2011-04-03 03:14 pm
shirtlifterbear) wrote2011-04-03 03:14 pm
Evolving Perspective
WHAT I THOUGHT:
What I initially found most interesting about the backlash against the category of anti-homophobic bullying video I posted yesterday and the "It Gets Better" project videos, was that there was this undercurrent of well, bitterness-disguised-as-realism, as in:
"It doesn't get better, it didn't for me, so you better get a reality check here."
Um, really?
That's the message people wanted to send to young gay teens. No hope? No encouragement? Just "life's a bitch and then you become embittered?"
Time has passed, and my initial impression has changed.
WHAT I THINK NOW:
I believe that this Irish video actually represents the dramatic sea-change that has taken place in the past ten years in terms of homophobia and its societal acceptance. Yes, the world depicted in the video is a utopian "Big Eden", "In and Out" extreme, but it is not as far from reality as some would claim.
A few weeks ago, a drunken fan in the seats next to us at the Seattle Sounders game screamed "Faggot" at a player, and the entire seating section got quiet and very clearly Did Not Approve. He did not repeat the epithet for the rest of the game, nor has he in the subsequent three games I've attended.
I see a societal-norms trend that homophobia is now being classified as bigotry and is no longer acceptable on a community-standards basis, and that "Faggot" is in the process of going the way of "Nigger" in terms of disapprobation of its use.
So my position is now this:
"Criticize the encouraging videos all you want, but can you hold off doing so until the teens the campaign is directed at live long enough to understand your more-sophisticated position?"
Because really, if ONE kid believes it, that It Gets Better and doesn't kill himself, then the entire campaign is a success, and you want that too, right?
Right?
I'll put down some money right here that we will hear testimonials from kids starting in about two years about how they heard of the Youtube It Gets Better videos even way out in the sticks where they were growing up and being bullied, and that they clung to them like a lifeline. I'll even go so far as to bet you that at least ten kids will say that the campaign stopped them from killing themselves. I'll even give short odds. Any takers?
See?
It doesn't matter if the 99% of jaded youth goes "whatever" and cynics all over them, those kids are not the target demographic here. Too many of us grew up thinking we were the only people like ourselves in our small towns, and had no hope. The Kansasville, Wisconsin gay kid needs to see these messages of optimism as much as the budding lesbian in Pascagoula, Mississippi does.
Offer hope, people.
It's free.
What I initially found most interesting about the backlash against the category of anti-homophobic bullying video I posted yesterday and the "It Gets Better" project videos, was that there was this undercurrent of well, bitterness-disguised-as-realism, as in:
"It doesn't get better, it didn't for me, so you better get a reality check here."
Um, really?
That's the message people wanted to send to young gay teens. No hope? No encouragement? Just "life's a bitch and then you become embittered?"
Time has passed, and my initial impression has changed.
WHAT I THINK NOW:
I believe that this Irish video actually represents the dramatic sea-change that has taken place in the past ten years in terms of homophobia and its societal acceptance. Yes, the world depicted in the video is a utopian "Big Eden", "In and Out" extreme, but it is not as far from reality as some would claim.
A few weeks ago, a drunken fan in the seats next to us at the Seattle Sounders game screamed "Faggot" at a player, and the entire seating section got quiet and very clearly Did Not Approve. He did not repeat the epithet for the rest of the game, nor has he in the subsequent three games I've attended.
I see a societal-norms trend that homophobia is now being classified as bigotry and is no longer acceptable on a community-standards basis, and that "Faggot" is in the process of going the way of "Nigger" in terms of disapprobation of its use.
So my position is now this:
"Criticize the encouraging videos all you want, but can you hold off doing so until the teens the campaign is directed at live long enough to understand your more-sophisticated position?"
Because really, if ONE kid believes it, that It Gets Better and doesn't kill himself, then the entire campaign is a success, and you want that too, right?
Right?
I'll put down some money right here that we will hear testimonials from kids starting in about two years about how they heard of the Youtube It Gets Better videos even way out in the sticks where they were growing up and being bullied, and that they clung to them like a lifeline. I'll even go so far as to bet you that at least ten kids will say that the campaign stopped them from killing themselves. I'll even give short odds. Any takers?
See?
It doesn't matter if the 99% of jaded youth goes "whatever" and cynics all over them, those kids are not the target demographic here. Too many of us grew up thinking we were the only people like ourselves in our small towns, and had no hope. The Kansasville, Wisconsin gay kid needs to see these messages of optimism as much as the budding lesbian in Pascagoula, Mississippi does.
Offer hope, people.
It's free.
no subject
This happens because there is a huge difference in cultural values between different states in the nation, and the way the national government has a "winner take all" structure tends to make it difficult to actually accomplish anything that large portions of the country will not oppose. Further, this tends to lead to U.S. politics being more about tribalism than about pragmatism or even ideology. Those states with shared culture tend to form voting blocks less out of a desire to legislate to ideology or self-benefit than out of a desire to screw over other American sub-cultures. The thing about homosexuality is that some of those cultures (specifically ones in which particular kinds of Christian churchs are the centers of community life) have latched onto homophobia as a battleground in this cultural war. Nothing tends to unit people like having a common enemy to oppose, and homosexuals are seen as a "safe" scapegoat for that because they are in the minority and it is easy to resist a particular "sin" that you have no interest in comitting yourself.
While this might slow down adopting more progressive legislation as concerns matters of sexual lifestyle, it also leaves itself vulnerable to a particular kind of attack, and that is acceptance. One of the reasons why I support the "It Gets Better" campaign targeted at teens is because it is an effective means of sharing that acceptance. While it may be targeted at homosexual teens, it carries its message beyond that particular demographic, as has the increasing presence of homosexuality in popular media. Data suggests that the younger generation, even in otherwise very homophobic American sub-cultures, has a vastly more positive impression of homosexuality than the older generation. As that younger generation grows up and increasingly starts to vote, the voting blocks that their parents have formed tends to break up, as they find more issues with which they disagree.
Eventually, the only people crying out against homosexuals will be a few old crackpots that no one listens to anymore and whom everyone would rather have shut up.