Clicking on banner ads enables JWR to constantly improve
Jewish World Review March 23, 2000/ 16 Adar II, 5760

Suzanne Fields

Fields
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
David Corn
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Arianna Huffington
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Debbie Schlussel
Sam Schulman
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports
Newswatch

Econophone

Trakdata


The gaying of America


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- CALL IT THE "HOMOSEXUALIZATION'' of culture. Or the "gaying'' of America. But masculinity ain't what it used to be.

The Defense of Marriage Act, which enables the states to ban gay marriages, and Proposition 22 in California, which limits marital unions in that state to a man and a woman, have been big losers for the gay community. On the other hand, Vermont is about to enact the legal "equivalent'' of gay marriage.

But if homosexuals are finding it hard to persuade American society that they should marry like straights, they're finding only rear-guard resistance to their influence in the culture. Homosexuals have marched out of the closet in fashions that determine what's chic, at least in some places.

Trendy styles for women that de-emphasized curves and cleavage in favor of skinny bodies and flat chests are often attributed to homosexual designers. And now gays are achieving an astonishing influence in feminizing a lot of men.

The spring issue of "Men's Fashions of the (New York) Times,'' features models whose faces and figures make it difficult to tell the sexes apart. A glamorous Versace ad is so fetchingly fey that the male model looks more feminine than the female. Two men in a double-page spread for Gucci wear deep pink lipstick and shirts unbuttoned to the lower half of their chest. (Gone is the extra crispy chest hair; these male models wax their chests smooth.)

The cover portrait of David Bowie, who frequently goes for the androgynous look, is particularly "feminine.'' If you didn't know him as a rock star, you couldn't be sure whether he was male or female. He apologizes for earlier fashion limitations: "A feather boa will only go so far.''

Male fashion has always appealed to male vanity but masculinity was once the measure of man. No longer. Walk up to any cosmetic counter and you'll find almost as many jars of ointments for men as for women. David Blum, who initially researched the subject of male make-up as a reporter, tells how he came to rely on an exfoliant cleanser, two moisturizers (tinted and white) and bronzing powder. He's grown accustomed to the glowing skin.

Homosexual influence expands beyond fashion and cosmetics. The University of Michigan fall catalog describes a 3-credit course on how to be a homosexual, examining cultural artifacts and clues for being gay: "Hollywood movies, grand opera, Broadway musicals, and other works of classical and popular music, as well as camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, style, fashion and interior design.'' The professor promises to teach his students to learn how certain works are essential parts of the gay male lifestyle.

A quick look at the Academy Award nominations tells why the Advocate, the national gay and lesbian newsmagazine, is so thrilled with the Oscar possibilities. "American Beauty,'' a strong contender for best picture, is written by a homosexual and dramatizes a hideous heterosexual marriage. (It makes you wonder why gays would want to imitate straight nuptials.) The movie celebrates a nice boy-boy couple next door and rages against a stereotypical military homophobe.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley,'' with five nominations, depicts a "gay serial killer'' and "lavishes sympathy on his plight.'' "All About My Mother,'' nominated for best foreign film, is written by a homosexual and is "the only nominee with both a transgendered hustler-father and a pregnant nun.'' Tom Cruise, nominated for best supporting actor, plays a crude and vulgar heterosexist male and teases audiences by showing "Cruise in tighty whiteys.'' "Fight Club,'' nominated only for punchy sound effects, nevertheless offers "beautiful boys beating up on each other.''

Susan Faludi, in "Stiffed,'' a book about modern male dilemmas, argues that the man of the '90s has become "ornamental,'' a sex object like certain women in the '50s, "pedestal-perching and mirror-gazing.'' In the culture of fitness, "pecs'' are as important as breasts. Manliness, no longer defined by rugged work, descends into decoration.

But the influence of homosexuality in an age of prosperity is a primary influence, too. When heterosexual men and women of the middle class worry about raising children, paying for private schools and college educations, many homosexuals have large disposable incomes to spend on themselves to define the trendy. A chronicler of the homosexual life-style captures this sentiment in a slogan for the gay '90s of the last decade: "MasterCharging our way to liberation.''

You don't have to be a homophobe or a fundamentalist Christian to understand why heterosexuals are defensive about marriage. Marriage may be the last refuge of a heterosexual culture.



Up

03/20/00: Pointy-eared quadrupeds on campus
03/16/00: The shocking art of the establishment
03/13/00: Sawdust on the campaign trail
03/10/00: Campaign rhetoric of manhood
03/06/00: The Amphetamine of the People
03/02/00: Elegy for Amadou
02/29/00: With only a million, what's a poor girl to do?
02/24/00: The changing politics of change
02/16/00: Tip from Hillary: 'Let 'em eat eggs'
02/10/00: No seances with Eleanor
02/07/00: Campaigning like our founding fathers
02/03/00: When neo-Nazis have short memories
01/31/00: George W. -- 'Ladies man' and 'man's man'
01/27/00: Dead white males and live white politicians
01/25/00: Smarting over presidential smarts
01/21/00: A post-modern song for `The Sopranos'
01/19/00: When personality is a long-distance plus
01/13/00: French lessons in amour --- and marriage
01/10/00: Reaching for the Big Golden Apple
01/07/00: Liddy Dole as the face of feminism
01/04/00: Hillary: From victim to victor
12/30/99: 'Dream catchers' for the millennium
12/27/99: In search of a candidate with strength and eloquence
12/21/99: The president as First Lady
12/16/99: Columbine with blurred hindsight
12/09/99: Homeless deserve discriminating attention
12/07/99: Casual censors and deadly know-nothings
12/02/99: Why mom didn't make general: A reality tale
11/30/99: Potholes on the road to the Promised Land
11/25/99: A feast for the spirit and the stomach
11/23/99: Fathers need to say 'I (can) do'
11/18/99: Adventures of a conservative pundit
11/15/99: Traveling with Jefferson on the information highway
11/11/99: Wanted: 'Foliage of forbiddinness' for the oval office
11/09/99: Eggs, art and rotten commerce
11/05/99: Al Gore, 'Alpha Male'. Bow wow.
11/01/99: Gay love
10/28/99: Lose one Dole, lose two
10/26/99: Rebels with a violent cause
10/21/99: Reforming parents, reforming schools
10/19/99: The male mystique -- he shops
10/13/99:The campaign of the Teletubbies
10/08/99: Money is in the eye of the art dealer
10/01/99: Lincoln's 'Almost Chosen People'
09/29/99: Introducing Bill and Hillary Bickerson
09/27/99: Must we wait for the next massacre?
09/24/99: Miss America meets Miss'd America
09/21/99: Princeton's 'professor death'
09/16/99: The Cisneros lesson
09/13/99: No clemency for personal politics
09/08/99: M-M-M is for manhood
08/30/99: Blocking the schoolhouse door
08/27/99: No kick from cocaine
08/23/99: Movies don't kill people
08/19/99: A rude awakening
08/16/99: Dubyah and that 'language' thing
08/09/99: Chauvinist sows -- oink oink

©1999, Suzanne Fields. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate