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cimoreneI was just thinking the other day how Sam Ronson reminded me of Wax, because they have a similar clueless dykey approach to dressing themselves that I find charming. (This reflection was spurred by
paparazzo photos of Lindsay Lohan and Sam Blackberrying and Louis Vuitton luggaging it up at Heathrow, where Sam is wearing a boys' ski cap, a big wool coat not unlike Wax's treasured MikeyWay coat, faded black skinny jeans and ugly sneakers.) Then Wax turned to me today spontaneously and said that back when I had my pixie hair I looked like Sam. Sam always looks like she hasn't slept well, but then, perhaps I look like that too, idk.
Anyway, despite the whole tightsarenotpants.com issue, and her Heathrow appearance in over the knee leather boots, I started thinking about how much I really do like Lindsay. And more than that: I like the fact that she and Sam exist, because there just aren't that many out lesbian celebrities, let alone in Hollywood - no others in my generation (I guess Michelle Rodriguez and Kristanna Loken are slightly older than Wax, but maybe they count).
And... that sucks.
I didn't even begin to realise how much it bothered me until Lindsay and Sam came out.
Slash is great, but we always know that we're advocating a subversive reading, one that's so subversive that it's underground and, woo, potentially offensive! The idea that fictional characters could represent my sexuality - the day-to-day boring domesticity of my life - that's something that could be insulting enough to inspire a lawsuit, who knows? It's something that some people within my own slash community consider too insulting to be applied to real people even if it is okay for fictional characters. And you know, that's not really okay for me. That's something that my own grandparents think is so shocking that gay marriage should be illegal, but they don't see why I should be upset about that (which is almost enough to make me want to have a proper wedding just to rub their faces in it even though I kind of hate the idea in a heteronormative institutions/bogus sentimentality/atheist way).
If it were possible for fandom to be a "happy place" or "safe place" to which I could retreat in the knowledge that it's all gay, and all pro-gay, I'd probably do it. I think it's part of why so much of the media that I consume comes from slash fandom. But it's not enough for several reasons: because participation in fandom always comes with the consciousness that we're subversive, because fandom lives under the cloud of legal threats; because in most cases the source material and its non-pro-gay or at least non-acknowledging-the-existence-of-gay-except-to-make-gay-jokes reality gets in the way; and even because there's still not a lot of lesbians represented there. To be honest, I'd probably still be disturbed by the paucity of out gay celebrities even if we were better represented in the media - not because I'm angry at closeted celebrities for not setting an example; they're victims in the same boat, and probably feel it more keenly. The absence is a benchmark of how far we haven't come. I bet Hollywood isn't going to represent gays before gay marriage is federally legal and good for a green card for Wax (not that I'd move there if it were: I'll stay in the first world where we have healthcare and gun control thx! But it might be nice to visit).
paparazzo photos of Lindsay Lohan and Sam Blackberrying and Louis Vuitton luggaging it up at Heathrow, where Sam is wearing a boys' ski cap, a big wool coat not unlike Wax's treasured MikeyWay coat, faded black skinny jeans and ugly sneakers.) Then Wax turned to me today spontaneously and said that back when I had my pixie hair I looked like Sam. Sam always looks like she hasn't slept well, but then, perhaps I look like that too, idk.
Anyway, despite the whole tightsarenotpants.com issue, and her Heathrow appearance in over the knee leather boots, I started thinking about how much I really do like Lindsay. And more than that: I like the fact that she and Sam exist, because there just aren't that many out lesbian celebrities, let alone in Hollywood - no others in my generation (I guess Michelle Rodriguez and Kristanna Loken are slightly older than Wax, but maybe they count).
And... that sucks.
I didn't even begin to realise how much it bothered me until Lindsay and Sam came out.
Slash is great, but we always know that we're advocating a subversive reading, one that's so subversive that it's underground and, woo, potentially offensive! The idea that fictional characters could represent my sexuality - the day-to-day boring domesticity of my life - that's something that could be insulting enough to inspire a lawsuit, who knows? It's something that some people within my own slash community consider too insulting to be applied to real people even if it is okay for fictional characters. And you know, that's not really okay for me. That's something that my own grandparents think is so shocking that gay marriage should be illegal, but they don't see why I should be upset about that (which is almost enough to make me want to have a proper wedding just to rub their faces in it even though I kind of hate the idea in a heteronormative institutions/bogus sentimentality/atheist way).
If it were possible for fandom to be a "happy place" or "safe place" to which I could retreat in the knowledge that it's all gay, and all pro-gay, I'd probably do it. I think it's part of why so much of the media that I consume comes from slash fandom. But it's not enough for several reasons: because participation in fandom always comes with the consciousness that we're subversive, because fandom lives under the cloud of legal threats; because in most cases the source material and its non-pro-gay or at least non-acknowledging-the-existence-of-gay-except-to-make-gay-jokes reality gets in the way; and even because there's still not a lot of lesbians represented there. To be honest, I'd probably still be disturbed by the paucity of out gay celebrities even if we were better represented in the media - not because I'm angry at closeted celebrities for not setting an example; they're victims in the same boat, and probably feel it more keenly. The absence is a benchmark of how far we haven't come. I bet Hollywood isn't going to represent gays before gay marriage is federally legal and good for a green card for Wax (not that I'd move there if it were: I'll stay in the first world where we have healthcare and gun control thx! But it might be nice to visit).
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(no subject)
Date: 3 Mar 2009 08:52 pm (UTC)Err, which in my head is vaguely related to what you just said. And despite the fact that I am really not a fan of LL, I am a tremendous fan of the LL/SR relationship and hope they get married and have a million babies. Or cats. Or shoes.
(no subject)
Date: 4 Mar 2009 12:25 pm (UTC)(For LiLo and Sam I think shoes are most likely. Those jet-setters don't have time for cats.)