The Gay Super Bowl
The Gay Super BowlToday was the Super Bowl (no, not the Academy Awards - the Super Bowl for queers) and I watched bits and pieces including the last 10 minutes.
I wasn't totally into the game even though I grew up in South Carolina and had a regional stake into the outcome. So no 60 minutes and Simpsons on Sunday - so my whole week is off now.
Having cable, I looked at the guide for the evening and was a little surprised. "Queer Eye' was having a marathon on NBC and Bravo - and Bravo was doing a "Gay Wedding" marathon later. You know, that show nobody watched. (Queer As Folk may have been on but I physically block it from my brain.)
Checking out HBO and Showtime, had the usual gay shows - Sex and the City and the L Word - so no big surprise. I never miss either. But there was Margaret Cho on Showtime (several) times, "Minority Report" and an Ellen special is on HBO2, "Notting Hill" was on ABC and there you go. Even the other movie channels had Monster Ball, Life As A House and In The Bedroom with the pretty boys to watch.
Once was the day when networks would "counter program" against the Super Bowl for women by putting chick flicks on (Sister Act, Notting Hill and The Bachelor) but is seems the networks are also counter programming for the gay audience! As if being gay automatically means gays and lesbians do not like sports. Read: stereotype.
Not trying to be picky, but I am offended!
I like sports but I don't love it like a straight man. I played basketball in high school and I'm a champion table tennis player. Hell, I started the bid for the 2006 Gay Games for Atlanta. I know many gays and lesbians who live sports every weekend and there are gay sports bar. So where is the stereotype coming from?
The Academy Awards. It is usually referred to as the "Gay Super Bowl" and maybe for good reason. Elton has a party every year and hordes of gays line up in front of the television and have get-togethers. But so does 3 BILLION other people in the WORLD. If anything, the Oscars should be called the "World's Super Bowl."
So what are the networks thinking. It is a well known fact more and more women are watching the Super Bowl due to the party atmosphere and shared cultural experience. I suppose the networks are looking for another audience not associated with sports - and bingo - they think homosexuals.
The fact the networks cater to this idea is repulsive. Is there marketing data to support this theory? Or is it the idea homosexuals are limp-wristed and unathletic? Sounds like perpetuating a stereotype, in my opinion.
Tom Dempsey
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