When looking for a
video promoting gay or lesbian identity in the USA, it was difficult to find one
that expressed a clear idea of identity as well as the issues the community
faces. At first the video Gay Men will
Marry Your Girlfriends didn’t seem like an appropriate source to analyse,
but when looking at it further, it is an openly pro-gay marriage campaign video
that uses humour to get this message across.
The video satirically
threatens straight men that if they do not approve of same sex marriages then
gay men will get revenge by stealing their girlfriends from them. This is based
on an old idea that gay men have far more in common with women and would make
better partners than straight men, consigning to the stereotype that was
introduced by the TV show Will &
Grace. Although it is light-hearted and shows hugely clichéd
representations of not just gay men, but heterosexual relationships, the issue
raised of same-sex marriage resonates throughout the video. Compared to more
serious campaigns, this video is a more memorable and more popular source. Just
looking at the YouTube page it is on, shows over 8 million views, with a
largely positive reception on the comments and approval section. This I find
surprising to come out of a country where the issue is fiercely debated; yet
because the video plays to the sitcom style stereotype that we have become used
to, we can laugh along with it and spread it over social media, therefore
spreading awareness.
It is clear that this
is the major issue that the gay community are fighting for today and this is
something that is important to their identity. However the video unfortunately
goes against another issue of identity that is apparent in modern America, of
consigning to a stereotype. The video has aggravated gay men as portraying them
as this way and also women too. For a start there is no mention of lesbian
marriage, only gay men are included in this campaign. To create this
light-hearted humour, they have actually given into using fairly masculine and
sexist portrayals of women, pandering to the straight male market and not the
female market. If this were a video of straight men talking about how their
girlfriends always want to go to the theatre and talk about their ‘problems’, then
it would be slated as anti-feminist. It is difficult to find a modern American
video that objectifies women more than this, making them out to be gullible and
easy to get into bed. It never occurred to them that women might want to “marry – or don’t marry — whomever
the fuck we want?” (feminspire). When you consider that the feminist movement
was one of the most important allies to the gay rights movement in the 60s and
70s, this video is quite a hypocritical remark on their own struggle.
Sources
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