Monday, February 23, 2009

The End of "Manliness"


I am writing this specifically for the Galbraiths out there. I will be brief, for I am sick, and wish to snooze. But a frightening thing happened last night at the Oscars: we saw a man awarded for being feminine.

Let's travel in our minds to the heart of Africa, where the deer and the antelope play. Now focus in on the great plains of the sun: wild rivers, gushing watering holes, African Wattle trees, and (of course) Pride Rock. Now, bear with me...a gay lion.

Are we serious? Yes we are, says Hollywood. The big boys from the West Coast have flexed their guns and defied scientific reason. It is with great remorse that I admit that the words "manly" and "girly" are now loose leaf terms. What is a man without "manliness"? What is a female without "femininity"? With this I implore the consideration of the birth of a new genre of sexes: the Feman and the Womale. With these new titles for the gay man and lesbian woman, we need not be confused anymore by the meaning and implications of words such as "manliness" and "girlishness". Hell, I'm going to bed.

7 comments:

  1. You are now treading the waters of the difference between sex and gender. one if biological, the other is not. it also depends on what you mean as manly. if manly is standing up for what you believe in, being brave even though people want to kill you. Harvy Milk was all of those things. I am not saying that I think that Homosexuality is right, but the word "manly" can mean so many things, it is all in the eye of the beholder. and I think Jesus wouldn't want me to hate someone because they are not manly.

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  2. Jesus never mentioned homosexuality. Ever. Just saying.

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  3. thats not what I meant, but I don't think he would want me to hate anything but sin. homosexuality is a sin, but thats like me being hated because I lust after women, or I lie about dumb stuff.

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  4. I should know better than join in here, but what the hell. Wise, I can understand the struggle with accepting homosexuality (and perhaps its celebration) because I don't know if perhaps homosexuality is how God intended (He might have told me... just kidding) relationships to be. Brokenness, especially celebrated, can be grating. On the other side, we are called to love all people. Sean Penn is an amazing actor, and he was being judged on the power and effect of his performance, not it's sexual orientation. Perhaps a temple of the holy ghost. Perhaps a vision of the weight of glory. Perhaps created in the image of God.

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  5. Also, Sean Penn, from his days as Jeff Spicoli to Oscar-winning Jimmy Markum, is manly. His ability to be feminine must have been good acting.

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  6. Let me start by saying that I was just trying to be funny, which obviously doesn't work anymore. Secondly, I don't want people to get the idea that I am a fundamentalist gay-hater, as I believe these people are as much in the wrong as the people they attack. Third, I agree with Philip, in that there is a equilibrium between supporting the person and supporting the sexual preference. Has Hollywood gone too far in the support and acceptance of homosexuality? I believe it has. Also, equal rights? They already have equal rights--All men have the right to marry a woman. I don't have the right to marry a man. They have the right to vote. Equal rights has moved from being a racial issue to a behavior issue. But how many behaviors like this does a nation want to support?

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  7. And I agree...if the oscar was going to the actor's ability instead of his role, I support the decision of the oscar winner. However, I havent seen Milk, so I wouldn't be able to say if that were the case.

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