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Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Does Kanye dress too gay? That's the question Daily Beast writer Elizabeth Gates is asking her readers after a barrage of homophobic comments have been left on urban websites after pictures posted of rapper Kanye West surfaced from The Louis Vuitton Show during Paris Fashion Week.
“Only gays wear that [crap]!” wrote blog reader “TheTruth,” while another reader advised that they should “go taste the rainbow.” “Bootylishious” wrote that he/she simply “feel(s) sorry for all those gay dudes,” and sadly, the list goes on.
With the current onslaught of homophobic rage against Kanye West and his globally chic crew (comprised of style maverick Fonzworth Bentley and Taz Arnold of musical group Sa-Ra to name a few), it seems like Generation Y has all but forgotten that the ritual of expressive dress was in fact borne of the black-male community. If young audiences would dare to conduct a comparative study, they'd inevitably find that Kanye West’s 2007 Grammy outfit really had nothing on Eddie Murphy’s red-leather get-up in his 1987 stand-up film Delirious.
So what’s gone wrong? How did the community that once welcomed Little Richard become so violently judgmental? But the bigger question is why, in 2009, is “looking gay” in the black community even an issue?
"The current idea that homosexuality is the demon behind the black-male presence in high fashion is ridiculous at best and it simply serves to remind us that while we might have a confident black president in office, not everything has changed for the community at large," notes Harvard professor Marcyliena Morgan, creator of the university’s renowned Hip-Hop Archive.
It's become quite apparent that glorifying thug culture, gangster rappers, and the anti-gay rhetoric of black ministers have become the true measure of manhood in the black community. No one is leading just following. Pathetic.
6 Comments:
The reason why black homophobes are so bold is that black gay men are so cowardly. The so-called black community is basically getting a free pass on its homophobia from black gays. There is NO pushback from black gay men.
White gays and white lesbians are standing up and fighting for their right to be who they are. What are black gays and black lesbians doing in the meantime? Nothing.
May 06, 2009 5:36 PM
So sad. I am so tired of "my" people. The whole "looking gay" thing is an issue for homophobes because they cannot take us or the innate sense of style most gays have. ENVY!
I must say, I am a little OVER the straight boys dressing like the cunts and NOT giving us credit. Don't kill me gay brothers, but you all know what I mean. How many times have you had to look twice to decipher whether the trade next to you was a butch-queen or just a straight guy in "gay drag" ? I have to make sure my look is extra original these days because the straight guys are leeching on all of our fashion swag. It sucks!
Anyhow, I will admit, Taz Arnold (who I believe is straight) STORMS the girls with his style. I see him all the time in my neighborhood. Kanye, ehh, not so much. Pharrell is my fave "straight boy gone gay for retail."
May 06, 2009 6:33 PM
The straight boys are in a state of disarray. The world around them is changing and they don't know their place in it any more. Women are more liberated, in many cases more educated and upwardly mobile, and don't *need* them (even if they may *want* a man in their life).
Gay men are out and visible and capable of achieving as much if not more than their straight brothers.
Everybody else is living their lives while the straight boys are dropping out of school, filling up jails and cemeteries, hanging on the corner, professing to the world how much of a "real man" they are.
Ha!
And you know Kanye couldn't give a shit what any of them think. He spends more on lunch than most of those homophobes will earn in a year.
May 06, 2009 11:08 PM
Excellent post Darian. Whether he's gay or straight (I'd love it if he were gay and asked me out...haha)Kanye West is a revelation on the current music scene. That is primarily because he is an entertainer that looks like an entertainer.
I'm trying to figure out when did it become cool for men to be dull?
I'm so glad the man is bringing back fashion for MEN.
I'm a real clothes horse myself and Kanye gets an A+ on my book.
Shake the haters off Kanye. There is nothing the matter with looking "Gay". Gay = Fabulous!
May 07, 2009 9:16 AM
Looking gay? I’m offended..Most of them actually look like clowns. I don’t know many self respecting homosexuals that would dress like this.
May 07, 2009 1:29 PM
You know whats sad, first they called it the "White boy" look now it looks "Gay". I am so over these ignorent folks in our community. Get a life and read or something, learn whats going on before words are released from your mouths or typed. Being a homophobe is NOT a good look. Great post Darian!
May 07, 2009 7:12 PM
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