Bryan Safi is an Infomania contributor who doesn't get much play on Feministing for some reason. He's at least as cool as Sarah Haskins! He has a bi-weekly segment on the show called That's Gay. Here's the latest episode, in which Bryan talks about the gay versions of some popular commercials.
I've noticed some of the gay symbols in the commercials Bryan talks about, like the guy wearing the Human Rights Campaign shirt and the guy wearing the rainbow shirt with his maybe-gay partner in the Progressive car insurance ad. When I first saw these commercials, I thought progress was being made. Not so much.
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Omg, thank you for posting this video! I'll def keep up with his videos now. (I also can't believe that he features a yogurt commercial that I posted about today. Too freaky.)
ZOMG, Thank you for the tip!! This guy had me in stitches-just like Sarah!
A-freaking-mazing! Thank you! :-D
That was awesome! I was talking about this exact kind of thing with the prof I TA for in sociology of pop culture last year- gay "window dressing." We even specifically talked about that Progressive commercial, which took me months to notice despite the fact that I'm a sociologist who analyzes popular culture for a living with a focus on gender and sexuality. Also I can be obtuse sometimes.
So, what exactly does this have to do with feminism?
In a word, "Intersectionality". The belief that sexism and homophobia don't exist as separate structures, but as two different angles of viewing one system of oppression. To me, this means I can't properly fight sexism until I also fight other forms of oppression. Because I believe sexism and homophobia are interdependent, I like talking with other feminists about gay rights issues.
That's why I prefer "heterosexism" to "homophobia." I think there's more sexism than irrational and uncontrollable fear in the way our society treats gay people.
I completely agree (not to mention "homophobia" erases bi/pansexual people from the equation in a way "heterosexism" does not).
Good point. There certainly are those for whom homosexuality inspires irrational fear (What if I catch it?!) but for the most part, it's more of a presumption that the world is a heterosexual space. Well, you know. The world minus Logo, or Other Logo.
Ah I see, so Feminism now represents all people that are oppressed. Silly me thought it was about women, but obviously not.
Feminism is about ending sexist stereotypes against all people. Focusing on women, but all people regardless of gender identification.
Things like "man + woman + 2.5 kids + dog + picket fence = happiness" as a societal ideal in the US are both sexist and homophobic.
I'm terribly sorry if you can't understand that the ideas that keep women down generally are also applied to gay people because they're being non-conformist in a similar way.
It all relates and, I think, you may need to get your reflexes checked. They're a little too tight.
"Feminism is about ending sexist stereotypes against all people. Focusing on women, but all people regardless of gender identification."
No it doesn't! And I am sorry that you don't understand basic concepts.
There is no need for personal insults. You honestly can't tell me that heterosexism and cisexism aren't connected to sexism.
Plus, in your mind, is heterosexism only a feminist issue if it happens to lesbians or bisexual/pansexual women? Or cisexism/transphobia only a feminist issue with trans women?
I'm sorry you're not understanding that gendered stereotypes intersect multiple things.
I'm also sorry you've decided that there's only one way to think of what's feminist.
Open your mind.
So using your logic, it's okay if people are discriminated against, as long as they are not women?
Did I say that? Is Feminism a movement to end discrimination for all? Is that what you really think?
When all discrimination stems from the exact same source, yes. Yes, yes, and again, yes.
Feministing ain't perfect when it comes to intersectionality, not by a long shot, but it's also NOT the place to complain that we're paying attention to more than just white, upper-class, cis, heterosexual, able-bodied women.
Since you're so fond of "educating" everyone on this site about what feminism REALLY is - perhaps you should also hear what everyone else is trying to say to you. You should do some Googling and research on intersectionality and oppression. And please lose the personal insults; they violate our comments policy.
Thanks for the back up, Jessica. :-)
I agree with the other commenters, obviously, that heterosexism is definitely a feminist issue, no matter who it is being aimed out. However, even if you don't agree with this logic, women can also be gay, they're called lesbians. In fact, some of the examples of commercials in this clip portray women. And gay women face unique challenges that are different than those faced by gay men, this is because people can experience multiple forms of oppression. Being a lesbian does not make one immune from sexism, just like being a female minority doesn't cancel out sexism in favor of racism. Instead, people exist at the intersection of multiple isms. If we, as feminists, try to fight sexism without tackling these other issues, we're basically only fighting for straight, wealthy, cis-identified white women (and, I believe, it's impossible to liberate even these women without fighting for all forms of equality). This leaves out a lot of women.
Thanks, I am aware of gay women that are called lesbians and are in fact women. I am also aware that woc are women.
I also know that Feminism used to be a movement which aimed to liberate WOMEN. I'm not sure what to call what pretends to be feminism these days. To conclude my commenting on this blog I would like to quote a comment from a lesbian woman on another blog which is rather brilliant.
"I guess what is really bugging me lately, is the relentlessness of victim feminism. Feminism was attractive to me as a kid, because it was about women’s liberation and freedom. It was about women breaking out of roles imposed on them by stupid men and stupid societies.
It was simple. Lately, to come on these blogs is to be inundated by constant disaster. Women are going down the drain every minute it seems. That WAS NOT what attracted me to feminism.
Women are oppressed all the time, and are not able to do anything about it. This clearly would not have been a very exciting thing to me as a kid, when I first encountered feminism. Had I come across these graphic sex saturated whine-a-thons when I was a teenager, I think I would have seen feminism as filled with very weird people.
That was not the case, fortunately.
Is it the nature of blogs to get women going on all of this non-stop? Is it disaster and whine feminism that is taking over the bloglands?
Again, life is not exciting if it’s always about problems. It’s exciting when it’s about solutions and motivation and the excitement of doing things well, or being better than you originally believed yourself to be.
It makes me wonder what it is that causes so many women to get stuck in such depressing negativity, and then the women wonder why their lives aren’t all that great. I don’t deny oppression. We’ve all had our fair share. But I want to do things about it, I get exciting when I’m able to inspire others or do things. I’m a practical doer, and I want an ideology to produce results that are beneficial to me, and women around me. I like to see my friends happy in the world.
Feminism is about how women discover liberation, and how women get free of patriarchal indoctrination. It’s about reading and discovery our collective herstory, it’s about lesbians making a mark and not getting drowned in hetero-reality. It’s about staking out new territory, and call me idealistic, but it is about a certain mystical kind of inspiration.
We could have this, we could all be a million times more prosperous out there, but first we have to face the truth: no one does things for you, you can collaborate, you can search for allies, but ultimately you decide what it is you’ll do when you get up in the morning.
Now I personally can suggest that there are certain things it might be a good idea NOT to do if you are a woman, and I can see the usual pitfalls. But…. how about some inspiration about what we have all accomplished, how we have helped women, and techniques we have discovered to outwit the enemies, or find new friends or do an Irish jig?"
If you wish to commit a feminist act today I can give you the following suggestions:
- Educate yourself about Lubna Hussein and go to her website. http://iamlubna.com.venus.dnstemplate.com/index.html and sign the petition.
- When somebody on this site asks for help such as Kasha did here http://community.feministing.com/2009/07/ideas.html then don't ignore it. This is an example of a grass-roots feminism and is a lot harder than reading a blog.
- Support RAWA http://www.rawa.org/index.php Write about them and promote their words. They have an Amazon wish list - support them with a few pounds/dollars.
- Support other grassroots feminist groups which are empowering women worldwide, with time, publicity, and money if you can.
- Read anything by Eve Ensler and go to http://www.vday.org/ Sign up in September to organise an event for V-Day in your community.
- Don't let the patriachy and the backlash affect FEMINISM which is about empowering WOMEN.
I am sorry if I sounded rude with the lesbian remark, that was not my intent. And I agree with you, feminism can and should be about action. However, action requires understanding what you're working for/against. This is why I don't see how it could be productive to imply that a post about heterosexism and the media is not feminism. I'm not sure exactly what time period you're referring to when you claim that feminism was a "movement that aimed to liberate WOMEN," but, if you mean the 1960s and 70s, a lot of women did not feel very liberated by the feminist action going on. I believe that the widening of feminism to attempt to include women of color, poor women, and others, is a positive thing. Allowing feminism to only refer to issues that effect you, personally, as a woman (maybe heterosexism is not something that you believe impacts you) is not an inclusive movement.
- Don't let the patriachy and the backlash affect FEMINISM which is about empowering WOMEN.
The fuck, how do you do that without talking about women or color or lesbian women or disabled women or hatred of gay men because they're perceived as womanly or trans women or poor women or women who don't have access to healthful food and clean water? Do these concerns not matter? Can you really dismantle sexism without touching on these at all? Focusing on "women" in your singleminded nature is like playing Jenga when you successfully remove a brick without toppling the tower. THE TOWER IS STILL STANDING.
Furthermore, your list of things to do are things that are already talked about on this blog and many other feminist blogs. Along with all the other important stuff.
Really, all you seem to be doing is putting your hands over your ears and yelling, "But it's not relevant to meeeeeeeeeeeeeee."
...and your final suggestion is to ban discussion of other, intersectional forms of liberation from feminism?
Ugh.
In addition to what other people have said - you cannot separate out other oppressions from feminism, because women have other identities than simply female, and I am not only talking about marginalised identities here. Cis is just as much an identity as trans, white as much as WoC, and a lot of the times things presented as being about women in general make hidden assumptions about what dominant group one belongs to.
I don't think that was very clear, so I'll give an example. I'm aromantic asexual. Because of this, a lot of the topics feminism concerns itself with don't actually affect me personally - access to and legality of birth control, for instance, has no real relevance for a woman who is never planning to have sex. But that isn't because the identity "asexual" supercedes the identity of "woman" or some rot - it's because the part of feminist discussion about sexism and women's issues in heterosexual relationships pertains to women who are in relationships with men, and not women in general. And that is just as much a special class as women in relationships with women, or people outside the gender binary, or no one at all - so either *all* of us or *none* of us should have the issues that pertain only to us become feminist issues.
Bryan Safi's just hilarious. He also wrote some sketches that you can find by searching Funny or Die. The ones with Jack McBrayer crack me up.
I've never noticed the symbols before. This video is very funny and points out a sad fact in ad campaigns. On a lighter note, its one of the reasons I love infomania.
Bryan Safi, where have you been all my life? Awesome video, thanks for posting! The only commercial I had noticed was the Orbitz - I actually squealed when I saw the HRC logo. It's like grabbing a kiss from my "friend" while my mother was around the corner. A quick wink, a closeted whisper.
Commercials are a hotbed of sexism, racism, and heterosexism. Spend a couple hours watching TV and it's everywhere. Or just watch Sarah Haskins and Bryan Safi. That's more fun.