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By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) June 15 | Perusing through Joe Jervis' Joe.My.God website yesterday, as is my daily habit, I ran across a bit on performance artist & writer Mike Albo who had written an Op-Ed for the New York Magazine. Entitled: The Twinkle Takeover: Gay (and Gay-Seeming) Boys on the TV and at the Mall, it appeared to be a satirical & humorous look at a new cultural standard for portraying Gay youth on television as well as societal perceptions of the 'new' Gay norm.
In his Op-Ed, Albo wrote;
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.
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.
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I'm not sure personally that I honestly like nor am comfortable with that label of 'Twinkle' at all. Now, I would agree, especially after seeing quite a number of youth at this past weekend's Capital Pride Event here in Washington holding hands, cuddling, and being openly affectionate, that popular culture through the medium of the mass media & the internet has played a role in changing perceptions. It's just that I am extremely displeased with particular stereotypes as being the set model for youth to admire/adhere to, or even emulate. Along these lines Albo did note:
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.
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Now, I'm not alone in that assessment judging from the comments both at Joe's site after the article and on the New York Magazine's site. Here's a sampling:
JMG reader:
rufescens says:
“When I look at gay characters on tv, MOST of them seem stereotyped to me. Mike Albo's point that gay youth are becoming accepted in our culture is moot for me when I consider that it comes with an expectation as to how these gay youth should act. People who bend these stereotypes may not be accepted, and are hardly visible in popular media.
Another JMG reader stated:
Rich says:
“This sounds like more pseudo trendspotting. Band/choir/drama geeks, gay or straight will never be cool or much of a marketing target. I could imagine that being like the kids on "Glee" is not fun for a lot of high schoolers.
Then these from the New York Magazine readers:
By ravewulf on 06/14/2010 at 7:20pm
Yes this is all well and fine, but I can't wait until we can have a lot more "masculine gays" without "threatening" the masculinity of straight men. The masculine, more rugged gay guys are what appeal to me. Give me some gay hunks and jocks over twinks any day.
By dc10001 on 06/14/2010 at 5:30pm
Boy. Y'all people are...'sensitive'
God makes sissies
Those who can't deal with their special talents taunt them.
'twinkles' seems an affirming, cute, funny alternative to 'sissy'
GET OVER YOURSELVES
Finally this, which I personally feel really states it best from JMG reader David L. Caster who writes:
“Your point is well taken, [Clay] Advertising imagery has a profound influence on societal norms, but generally lags the social climate for a variety of reasons, chief among them the desire not to offend the mainstream consumer. To me, the best thing that can happen is for us as a species to become more secure and comfortable with our bodies and permit the natural development of sexuality without all the shame and ignorance we seem to be lugging around now."
Mike Albo Photo Courtesy Of Joe.My.God
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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I've given you a reply on your blog, Brody. I'm not going to duplicate it here, but I think the term 'twinkle' and the stuff that surrounds it sucks for many substantial reasons.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Sissy..I always hated that word. At 13 I had knowledge of my gay self, it was confusing. But I was an athlete and if anyone had called me a sissy I would have beat the crap out of them.
It's a matter of self-identification and I never appreciated the labels applied by others. Pride Day news on the television was always filled with half naked leather boys hanging off a float acting like...well, sissys or is it sissies? Not an image I hold dear.
I know the gay world has a long history of drag, feminine acting roles being one of the acceptable places a gay man might perform. But in this modern age of advertising I get offended at the stereotype gay as a limp wristed, lisping queer. That ain't me, I don't identify with that and I wonder at those who do.
Have we become conditioned to playing that role by the straight world? Do all gay men want to have a sex change and become women? Thirty years ago the gay clone image was just as disturbing. I wondered if being gay meant I had to conform to that image just to be accepted by my peers. I rejected that as well.
Being gay doesn't mean we have to give up our individuality, I thought we were supposed to be the smart ones in our branch of the species. I guess that I am just smart not to watch television and have to put up with all these foreign images of what the straight world thinks of us.
Ask a straight man to imitate a gay man and the first thing he does is put a hand on his hip and hold up a limp wrist. How does a gay man imitate a straight one? Should we chug a beer, belch and then f**k the dog, divorce the wife and then abuse the kids by not paying child support?
Stereotyping someone is an abuse of power. Over the years comedians have stopped telling gay jokes (unless they are gay comedians), it's not acceptable to tell Polish jokes (if anyone still does that) and it's not acceptable to slap the wife around. So why is it acceptable to portray gay people as sissies? You television viewers will have to tell me, I certainly won't be watching Glee to find out. :-/
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
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Brody's Scribbles: Is It Okay 2 B A 13-Year-Old Sissy? 
