Wow. What an atrocious piece of shit masking itself as social commentary. First of all, to base a professional article off of observations on a sex site (which is all grindr is. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a ho) is just sad and very lazy. and OF COURSE it had to be written by a fat, white gay guy. I'd really like to buy him a dictionary because being racist has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with not being attracted to people based on size and age (see size discrimination and ageism if you're confused). A personal preference does not equal an act of racism/size discrimination or ageism.
Secondly, the author commits the exact behavior that he's writing about condemning. You can't base your travels off of reactions (again, on sex sites) to photographs you post and expect to get an accurate representation of racial tolerance. That's the ultimate act of the pot calling the kettle black. Judgey Mary much? Would I not visit London as an American of Middle Eastern descent because I went on Grindr one day and no one liked my photo? I'd be a FOOL!
Also, the claim that gay men tend to be attracted to qualities that they themselves posses or would like to shouldn't be solely based as a tendency of gay men...EVERYONE does that to a degree. It's important in any healthy, functional relationship to share similar qualities/goals/values. Also, to quote Edmund White (another fat, white gay guy), who ties homosexuality in with his own incestuous feelings, is not what I would consider solid ground for the basis of an argument. The quote reads "The first act of homosexual love, then, is impersonation.". No surprise here, I also disagree. I've been in what I would consider three serious relationships thus far in my life, NONE of which I would consider any form of impersonation. I've always prided myself on being my own individual and have usually always done things on my own terms, peer pressure be damned. To diminish an entire sexual population as a gaggle of followers is insulting. It's unfortunate that Mr. White and Mr. Weber don't seem to have lived a positive homosexual experience. While it's very easy to fall into the trap of saying that 'all gay guys are the same", even I'm guilty of this at times, it simply doesn't ring true.
and lastly, really all the article proves is that gay people are just like everyone else. We all like what we like and sometimes it's very particular and not all inclusive. That's what makes the world go round. How boring life would be if we were all attracted to the same things. The expression reads "variety is the spice of life" for a reason. The author should be concerned as coming off as bitter and focus on being in the happy, committed, interracial relationship he claims to be in.
Comment away!
Weber took a very misguided approach to what had the potential to be a decent article. But by repeatedly using his experiments on Grindr as his primary backing for his allegations, he diminishes his credibility. As you so accurately put it, Grindr is indeed a sex site before anything else. And as a result, I find it laughable that he cans make his claims with such conviction based on his activities via Grinder (and I find it apalling that he will never visit another city because of a loss of admirers on the site). If we're going to do an article abotu Grindr findings, it can be kept short & to the point...."to each his own." If someone has a profile that says "no fats, no Asians , etc" so WHAT! On a SEX site, that person is simply stating that they don't have a sexual preference for a certain kind of guy. Accept it and move on! Take me for example. As a black guy, I am friends with several white guys, who aren't attracted to me (or any black guys for that matter) and I have several friends whom I'm not sexually attracted to. I would NEVER consider them racist because of that, nor would I expect them to consider me racist for the like! We like what we like and we don't like what we don't like.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, how Huffington Post pays someone who obviously lacks the most basic critical thinking skills to write an article like this is beyond me. Then again, it only contributes to my notion that HuffPost is nothing more than "bubblegum reading" and not a site to be taken seriously in any regard. What's more puzzling to me is all the people who think favorably of this article
So, when factoring out the writer's primary source of information for this arcicle (Grinder), it has zero substance and zero purpose. This is not to deny that racism doesn't exist or that racial ignorance is a thing of the past. In fact these are still significant challenges that we still face today as human beings. A compelling case can be made about this and it without the claim that these things are more prevalent among gay people. But this article, for what it's worth is worthless and borders on the lines of small-mindedness. I wouuld challenge this author (and his readers) to be more reflexive going forward and consider a better way to frame their claims and back them with substantial, concrete evidence if they are to be taken seriously.