Author Topic: The new Sissy Boys on screen: Glee, High School Musical, Project Runway and more  (Read 12329 times)

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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"Pre-Internet, a Twinkle would have had a very difficult and potentially dangerous time finding his peers...."



Apparently not anymore.



http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/06/the_twinkle_take-over_gay_and.html

The Twinkle Takeover:
Gay (and Gay-Seeming) Boys
on the TV and at the Mall


Kurt from Glee does his best Rufus
Wainwright.


By Mike Albo
6/13/10 at 8:00 PM


Is it finally okay to be a 13-year-old sissy? From the feather-cuffed, drama-filled Olympic figure-skating competitions to the unashamedly oddball high-school TV show Glee,  being young and gay suddenly has a place in pop culture that isn’t cruel or tragic.

Of course, there has never been a lack of gay subtext on TV (Dukes of Hazzard, Pee-wee Herman, Jonny Quest, SpongeBob ). But it seems that, in our world of niche-entertainment marketing, gay boys are becoming a viable demographic, up there with tween girls and security moms. Call them Twinkles: preteen boys who may not know they are gay yet, or may not want to say they are gay yet, but who have a gleam in their eye and a definite sensibility. Twinkles proudly prance, unashamedly emote, high-kick, jazz-hand, belt out “Paparazzi” with piano — everything a gay kid used to do in his bedroom with the door shut.

Consider the current range of twinkle archetypes and twinkle-friendly supporters. We have High School Musical ’s Ryan singing with spunk and no convincing female romantic interest. Kurt on Glee  is an intelligent and confident sissy main character. Ugly Betty’s Justin gets to kiss a boy.

Project Runway  champ Christian Siriano gives off a consistently femmy fierceness. The raccoon-eyed, magician-wardrobed Adam Lambert is basically a 14-year-old gay kid’s fantasy of a rock star. There is even a heartthrob: Taylor Lautner. I’m not claiming he’s gay; there’s just something about him. No matter how hard-bodied and abstinent the Twilight  franchise tries to make him, it cannot repress the ascending megastar’s yearning sweetness or his droves of swooning boy-fans.

Maybe the most significant sign of the times is piano-playing sixth grader Greyson Chance, who belted out Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” at his high-school talent show and got a record deal a month later. (I’m not saying he is gay either — but he sure is twinkly.)

The twinkle’s market power has not been scientifically measured, but their consumer presence is getting noticed. "Young males today are shopping more than any other generation before them," says Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a division of the National Retail Federation. "In the last year or so, we’re seeing a proliferation of merchandise targeting young men — clothing and also things like skincare, lotion, and hair products aimed at 12- and 13-year-old boys. We’re also seeing young boys buying things that cross traditional gender lines."

Beyond the money to be made with this market, there’s the telling fact that sensitive wizard role model (albeit heterosexual) Daniel Radcliffe is going to be appearing in a PSA for gay-youth suicide prevention. "Pre-Internet, a Twinkle would have had a very difficult and potentially dangerous time finding his peers," says David Kleeman, president of American Center for Children and the Media. "With hundreds of TV channels and in-game advertising and Internet adver-gaming and product placement , there are virtually infinite options to target the real niche groups of kids who are most likely interested in what you’re selling." And to reassure them that they are far from alone.

All of this is abetted by the deliberate parenting of the first generation to have had queer studies in its college curriculum. It’s become almost fashionable to look for — instead of dread — signs of queerness in this generation’s offspring. A couple I know in Brooklyn have a 7-year-old son who loves to bead instead of play soccer and recently made a careful drawing of a Tab can with pink markers. And the other week, my friend Seth was trying to give his 12-year-old son, Jake, supportive advice. "I was trying to tell him that it was okay if he liked boys or girls," says Seth. "He just interrupted me to say, ‘Yeah, I know, Dad. Right now, I don’t like either.’ "
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Quote
There is even a heartthrob: Taylor Lautner. I’m not claiming he’s gay; there’s just something about him. No matter how hard-bodied and abstinent the Twilight  franchise tries to make him, it cannot repress the ascending megastar’s yearning sweetness or his droves of swooning boy-fans.

Or his droves of swooning middle-aged gay male fans?  ;)
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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There is even a heartthrob: Taylor Lautner. I’m not claiming he’s gay; there’s just something about him. No matter how hard-bodied and abstinent the Twilight  franchise tries to make him, it cannot repress the ascending megastar’s yearning sweetness or his droves of swooning boy-fans.


Or his droves of swooning middle-aged gay male fans?  ;)



Be still, my beating heart!!

 :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Be still, my beating heart!!

 :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


Ain't my heart that needs to be still!  :laugh:

(I can say that now that he's turned 18, can't I?)
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline serious crayons

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I'm Team Edward, but Taylor does have great teeth.


Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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I'm Team Edward, but Taylor does have great teeth.


I think the typographic punctuation here should read:

I'm Team Edward, but Taylor does have great....teeth.

 :D ;D  :laugh:
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline milomorris

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Is it finally okay to be a 13-year-old sissy?

Only on TV.

But it seems that, in our world of niche-entertainment marketing, gay boys are becoming a viable demographic, up there with tween girls and security moms.

Notice the author's bias. He compares the twinkle demographic to other female demographic segments as opposed to other male demographic segments. That in itself is quite telling.

Call them Twinkles: preteen boys who may not know they are gay yet, or may not want to say they are gay yet, but who have a gleam in their eye and a definite sensibility.

OK. Now when I have referred to a gay sensibility in the past, I was told by members here that there is no such thing. So which is it??

Twinkles proudly prance, unashamedly emote, high-kick, jazz-hand, belt out “Paparazzi” with piano — everything a gay kid used to do in his bedroom with the door shut.

What...straight kids never do this??

Maybe the most significant sign of the times is piano-playing sixth grader Greyson Chance, who belted out Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” at his high-school talent show and got a record deal a month later. (I’m not saying he is gay either — but he sure is twinkly.)

The author does not indeed know the sexual orientation of Greyson Chance. But he does not make any room for the possibility that a straight kid can exhibit the personality traits to which he refers.
 
"In the last year or so, we’re seeing a proliferation of merchandise targeting young men — clothing and also things like skincare, lotion, and hair products aimed at 12- and 13-year-old boys. We’re also seeing young boys buying things that cross traditional gender lines."

If Mike ALbo is trying to make the case that there are more sexual minorities among today's 12-13 year olds than in past generations, he's correct...numerically at least. Marketers have estimated the Millennials' population at 83 million which is significantly larger than any generation currently living. So with homosexuals comprising about 4% of the population, the number of Millennial gays would be about 3.3 million. The largest generation would naturally produce the largest number of sexual minorities.

Merchandisers are also seeing the continued--if not increased--trend in metrosexuals, which is a stylistic phenomenon rather than an actual sexual orientation.

As Brad Paisley (who I'm seeing this weekend!!!) puts it:

These days there's dudes getting facials
Manicured, waxed and botoxed
With deep spray-on tans and creamy lotiony hands
You can't grip a tacklebox

With all of these men lining up to get neutered
It's hip now to be feminized
I don't highlight my hair
I've still got a pair
Yeah honey, I'm still a guy

Oh my eyebrows ain't plucked
There's a gun in my truck
Oh thank God, I'm still a guy
  The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Offline serious crayons

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I think the typographic punctuation here should read:

I'm Team Edward, but Taylor does have great....teeth.

 :D ;D


 :laugh: :laugh:

Only on TV.

I think the writer makes an excellent case that greater acceptability on TV reflects a real change in popular attitudes and the culture at large.



Offline milomorris

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I think the writer makes an excellent case that greater acceptability on TV reflects a real change in popular attitudes and the culture at large.

Change?? Hardly. There have been sissies on TV for quite some time now. That's old. If you want an example of real change, look at the number of masculine, non-stereotypical homosexuals on TV. That's new.
  The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Only on TV.


Happily, no. At least in New York, all five boroughs (and nearly all neighborhoods) are now pretty much Sissy-tolerant. I've been watching it over the last few years, with pleased wonderment. And who did it? The kids themselves, everywhere, in restaurants and shops, as waitstaff and shop assistants, as part of the colorful scene of the everyday mondain(e) they have been polite, brave ambassadors of themselves to Mainstream Folk.

I love it.

"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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I think the writer makes an excellent case that greater acceptability on TV reflects a real change in popular attitudes and the culture at large.

"Only on TV"? That's about the response I'd expect from Milo.

But I think it does say something that the character of Kurt on Glee is treated just about the same as all the other characters, at least on the handful of episodes I've seen. He's not the buffoon that Jack was on Will and Grace.

On one of the episodes that I saw, there was a lovely moment when Kurt, speaking for himself and Mercedes, said to Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) something like, "I'm gay, she's black. We create culture."  ;D

Meanwhile, I'm sticking with Taylor Lautner. I have the same problem with Robert Pattinson that I had with Leo DiCaprio when he was younger: Looks too much like a girl.  ;D
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Marina

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Quote
And to reassure them that they are far from alone.

Aww, great news - and more social progress.  Hooray!  :)

I'm kinda Team Jacob myself.   ;)
“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.”
~Rachel Carson~

~Looking back on it, they both realized it was the best thing they ever had.~  - A Mother's Love

Offline milomorris

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Happily, no. At least in New York, all five boroughs (and nearly all neighborhoods) are now pretty much Sissy-tolerant.

New York is the exception to almost everything.
  The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Offline milomorris

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"I'm gay, she's black. We create culture."  ;D

Well, no. You don't have to be gay or black to create culture.
  The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Ain't my heart that needs to be still!  :laugh:

(I can say that now that he's turned 18, can't I?)




This one is for you, Jeff!
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIyqTcHTx3c&feature[/youtube]


Ok, I have to admit it--I bought a copy of the July issue myself!

 ::)

See the Youtube video at 0.48 - 0.58, and you will
see the cover shot as it happens--

Be still your beating heart--or whatever!

 8) :laugh: 8) :laugh: 8) :laugh: 8)

 
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline oilgun

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No mention of Marshall from THE UNITED STATES OF TARA?!  He's my favourite gay teen. 

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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This one is for you, Jeff!
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIyqTcHTx3c&feature[/youtube]


Ok, I have to admit it--I bought a copy of the July issue myself!

 ::)

See the Youtube video at 0.48 - 0.58, and you will
see the cover shot as it happens--

Be still your beating heart--or whatever!

 8) :laugh: 8) :laugh: 8) :laugh: 8)

 

Mm-mm-mm. Thanks, John.  :)

Ever do a Google image search for something like "Taylor Lautner shirtless"? Holy six-pack, Batman!  :laugh:
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Marina

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My Goodness!  ;)
“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.”
~Rachel Carson~

~Looking back on it, they both realized it was the best thing they ever had.~  - A Mother's Love

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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I'm Team Edward, but Taylor does have great teeth.

Hmm. You're also Team Ennis, aren't you? I think there's a theme here.  ;D
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.