Ricky Martin | You GO Gay guy!
March 30th 2010 22:35
Everyone at Soundpet.com is delighted that RICKY MARTIN has come out; albeit just in time for his Biography to hit the stands - GOOD ON YOU!
It's a wonderful thing to see high profile celebrities step up and come out (as they used to say - do they still say this?) given that there is so much manipulation and control of such commodified people by recording companies and managers.
Too often what we hear is I was told it would affect my record sales, and similar sorts of excuses (ticket sales, sponsorship deals... ).
The problem is that the Gay community, particularly since AIDS, has taken such a beating - and scant support comes from the mainstream press. Every little bit helps build a more realistic picture of the overall image of who and how gay men can be.
That moment in time during the 1990's when Lesbians were trendy, as long as they wore lipstick and looked like a Vogue model, has long passed and although CHAS BONO has made some ground by reassigning gender, it's important we see progress on the male side.
It's one thing to have the token gay character in a range of tv series, like the gay brother in Six Feet Under or Brothers and Sisters, and another thing to have a celebrity, that sure, most of us had pegged him as gay if not terribly camp - come out as proud and homosexual.
When I look at the type of character we have in (say) Brothers and Sisters or even the sort of ground breaking Queer as Folk there's a very stereo-typical version of a gay male. Bitchy, anal, manipulative, but seldom lusty, rarely a complete person - (Queer as Folk was pretty accurate at times, but in my opinion it was very problematic on this level) almost always attempting to conform with whatever the latest mainstream platform fight is going on such as the right to marry, or raise kids, adopt kids, fight discrimination...
It's so often a token gesture, or one that still ultimately attempts to portray all gay men as being a particular way. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a great example of this, the stylish one, the very camp one, the serious one - or - like the Spice Girls, in so much as there's a range of versions of individuals that have a link to reality and are honed down into easy to digest characteristics that relate to people with opinions about the types available. The Posh Spice, the Political Gay, the Promiscuous Gay, the Tormented Gay... etc.
That's why we're all in favour of someone like Ricky Martin to come out with pride, and then go on back into relative obscurity - if he decides to start making political statements about gay rights it could get a little tedious, but so far there is no indication of this - it is simply nice to know he has it in him to come clean and make the call.
Speculation about RM's sexuality has always been around, so maybe now people can relax and accept that he is Gay and So What, or, he is Gay and Good on him!
There are so many gay men who contribute to the style factor within the entertainment industry - and in the end - does it matter to most of us if they are gay or not? I doubt it.
I never bought one of RM's albums, and I'm not going to do so based on his sexuality - but I have always had an admiration for his work. I can really say I like him because of who he is, not what he is or what he does, but that he is a sharp entertainer who has given another positive role model to the world - of something they generally seem to think is evil.
Great stuff Ricky! All power to you.
It's a wonderful thing to see high profile celebrities step up and come out (as they used to say - do they still say this?) given that there is so much manipulation and control of such commodified people by recording companies and managers.
Too often what we hear is I was told it would affect my record sales, and similar sorts of excuses (ticket sales, sponsorship deals... ).
The problem is that the Gay community, particularly since AIDS, has taken such a beating - and scant support comes from the mainstream press. Every little bit helps build a more realistic picture of the overall image of who and how gay men can be.
That moment in time during the 1990's when Lesbians were trendy, as long as they wore lipstick and looked like a Vogue model, has long passed and although CHAS BONO has made some ground by reassigning gender, it's important we see progress on the male side.
It's one thing to have the token gay character in a range of tv series, like the gay brother in Six Feet Under or Brothers and Sisters, and another thing to have a celebrity, that sure, most of us had pegged him as gay if not terribly camp - come out as proud and homosexual.
When I look at the type of character we have in (say) Brothers and Sisters or even the sort of ground breaking Queer as Folk there's a very stereo-typical version of a gay male. Bitchy, anal, manipulative, but seldom lusty, rarely a complete person - (Queer as Folk was pretty accurate at times, but in my opinion it was very problematic on this level) almost always attempting to conform with whatever the latest mainstream platform fight is going on such as the right to marry, or raise kids, adopt kids, fight discrimination...
It's so often a token gesture, or one that still ultimately attempts to portray all gay men as being a particular way. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a great example of this, the stylish one, the very camp one, the serious one - or - like the Spice Girls, in so much as there's a range of versions of individuals that have a link to reality and are honed down into easy to digest characteristics that relate to people with opinions about the types available. The Posh Spice, the Political Gay, the Promiscuous Gay, the Tormented Gay... etc.
That's why we're all in favour of someone like Ricky Martin to come out with pride, and then go on back into relative obscurity - if he decides to start making political statements about gay rights it could get a little tedious, but so far there is no indication of this - it is simply nice to know he has it in him to come clean and make the call.
There are so many gay men who contribute to the style factor within the entertainment industry - and in the end - does it matter to most of us if they are gay or not? I doubt it.
I never bought one of RM's albums, and I'm not going to do so based on his sexuality - but I have always had an admiration for his work. I can really say I like him because of who he is, not what he is or what he does, but that he is a sharp entertainer who has given another positive role model to the world - of something they generally seem to think is evil.
Great stuff Ricky! All power to you.
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