I wasn’t a huge fan of George Michael, though I liked his songs, but I absolutely loved this one. So good to horse around on the dance floor to. When I was in my early 20s I was greatly taken with gay culture. It was a liberation movement whose tools were completely different to the others. Civil rights and feminism were full of the self-righteousness of their entirely just cause. One could attach one’s idealism to these causes, but their worthiness limited the extent to which they were naturally celebratory.
The gay rights movement was quite different. It’s whole modus operandi operated through its embrace of the unique culture it had built over the previous centuries in the shadow of the relentless anathematisation of homosexuality. Being a woman or being black wasn’t against the law. Being gay was.
And so gay culture arose from the need for deniability. Polari – a specific gay language 1 – provided one means of communicating what one wanted to without detection, but the principal weapon of choice was irony which allowed initiates to convey meaning – often quite explicitly – in ways that were quite undetectable to others.
As all liberation movements encounter the tension between the struggle for equality and, as that struggle succeeds retaining their own unique history and sensibility, gay culture seemed to be more insulated from those kinds of dilemmas. I expect that was part of the diffidence gay liberation activists of the 1970s have felt towards gay marriage, and in the upshot – in the age of gay marriage, I’m not so sure gay culture is insulated from being homogenised with the larger straight culture.It was a wonderful revelation and a liberation when I encountered it in my university years. George Michael was at the poppy-est end of the gay pop music spectrum, and except for “I’m your man” not my
In any event, it was a wonderful revelation and a liberation when I encountered gay culture in my university years. George Michael was at the poppy-est end of the gay pop music spectrum and, except for “I’m your man”, not my favourite. Meanwhile, New Romantic pop music was the first and perhaps only pop music craze that I really took to.
Anyway, now, sadly George Michael is no longer with us. R.I.P.
- 1. Or at least enough words to celebrate a unique sensibility and put outsiders off the scent.[↩]
Nick, Nick, The only decent thing he did was somebody to love with queen when he showed he could easily out sing the dead Freddie Mercury. That showed he could have been a contender!
Now wake me up before you gogo
I agree, it was (is) a surprisingly positive rights movement, and one willing to forgive too despite the terrible things done to them — I remember when I was living in Sydney when the mardi-gras was on, and it was the first year the gay/lesbian police marched (2000?). At the time, people were not sure how that was going to go down. When they finally did come around, I remember them getting a really big cheer, so they went from being a group that beat people up in the first mardi-gras to a group that the organizers and other people realized are really better off on their side. This seems like great judgement to me — the police force are clearly be better off with gay members rather than just forcing recruits to listen to the standard how-to-treat-minorities groups talks given by outside groups occasionally.
The Guardian on a similar theme to my own:
I think most people need to give much greater thought to where any-o-sexuality and the general trend to do whatever you want is taking us.
I don’t enjoy being blasted by 16 year old feminazis who think they know everything, or aggressive any-o-sexuals when I don’t agree with them, to say nothing of the unmitigated name calling.
I think much of the propaganda is aimed at limiting people’s ability to reproduce. We are told that 12% of the population has had chlamydia, a disease that can block up your fallopian tubes or vas deferens, rendering heterosexuals infertile. Bankers could get rich treating the comparatively well heeled with IVF treatments, while the poor are left childless.
So when people are taught that it is okay to go about bonking everyone, or choosing one or many of the plethora of other sexualities and gender identities, the true aim may be to limit reproduction or have you die from a transmissible disease, if you cannot afford to pay for expensive treatments.
Hi, it seems that payout ratio is a reliable predictor of future returns. See this paper: http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/abs/10.2469/faj.v59.n1.2504
Might this change your views?
Cheers
Kien
Apologies, this was a comment to your next post!
Here’s other quite interesting take