Voting Now Open for Icon Challenge 162 at Otherworldlyric

[red_satin_doll]

http://otherworldlyric.livejournal.com/222404.html

What it says on the tin - vote now for your favorite entries in the challenge contest (link above because I'm away from home and this PC hates me *grrr*). And then check out challenge 163 now up. I may have to enter that one as well because I'm having way too much fun with this; and the song lyrics the mods choose have endless possible uses.

I'm eager to see which icon win - and in fact I don't care if I win because I'm genuinely pleased with the icon sets I did for this challenge and I can't wait to share them with y'all.

In other news - a friend told me this morning that Ellen Page, self-proclaimed "little Canadian", just came out of the closet. Which, no surprise to me (my dyke detector was off the charts when I saw her in Juno) but I'm still tickled lavender because it's still a risky thing to do, even if more states in the US and more countries around the world have gay marriage laws. (Spain? Uruguay? SRSLY?) Things really are getting better but in terms of discrimination and prejudice we're not all the way there by a long shot.

Kudos to eilowyn btw for turning me on to Ellen's fierce feminist politics and humor a few months back.

Comments

[kikimay]

Maybe because people who know her personally also know who she's dating or things like that? I don't read gossip and I didn't know much about Ellen Page, except that she was an awesome feminist (And that's because Tumblr gifs XD) so I really didn't have a clue about her sexuality and I also didn't care enough to know. (I really think that we should respect celebrities' privacy)

The detector thing sometimes works for me, but especially with men. I don't know, I'm more intuitive about them. I think that it's true that women have a more fluid sexuality and also it's confusing because of society standards. We're supposed to look "feminine" to attract men but I also know many heterosexual women who are more "masculine", I guess, and still prefer men. Also we can mix things much more easily these days: a woman can cut her hair really short and still look very feminine. (In my case I have really short hair but I like to wear skirts. XD)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

(I really think that we should respect celebrities' privacy)

Sure - except when they use their own private life as PR to hawk their projects. But we're not talking about helicopters flying over a private event or peeping in the bushes anyway. This is about the line between privacy and "secrecy", which implies something shameful, that must be hidden away. We still treat people - and relationships - differently based on orientation.

the fact that ellen has to "come out", that the concept still exists at all, says a lot. there's still a lot in invested in actors and celebrities to hide who they are.

The only way to fight it is to keep saying it, keep speaking out, keep demanding legal and social parity until the idea of "coming out" no longer even exists.

Also we can mix things much more easily these days: a woman can cut her hair really short and still look very feminine.

Oh yeah, definitely. We can wear masculine things because masculinity is the preferred mode of being; it's ok to have masculine trappings but not be too masculine (butch). OTOH men wearing make-up, skirts, etc is still a big no-no because feminity still carries the taint of being shameful or "less than". I love mixing it up myself but if I were a man it would be almost impossible except in private (secret).

[kikimay]

I agree. I think we should generally respect other people's privacy. When it comes to famous people I find kind of irritating the some fans' behaviour (Like when they want to know everything about their favourite actor/actress/whatever and so they bitch about their idol's love interests, like: "I don't believe that bitch is so lucky to be with *insert name* It's too good for her!" Like they actually even know the person behind the persona!) I guess it's okay in wanting to know some trivia or being curious, but there is still something that should be private. (But I also think so because I'm a very private person and I understand the need to keep things for myself)

Different thing is what Ellen Page did and I think it's important to speak so openly and bravely about homosexuality, especially in a society that still censures it.
Also true about men wearing feminine things/make up. Some people are still making a big deal about pink shirts! Because true men are nothing like women. ù_ù

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

(Like when they want to know everything about their favourite actor/actress/whatever and so they bitch about their idol's love interests, like: "I don't believe that bitch is so lucky to be with *insert name* It's too good for her!" Like they actually even know the person behind the persona!)

Ten years ago I was a mod on a forum/board for a fan of a celebrity who got remarried and HOLY SWEET POTATOES - not so much on our board (we monitored it very carefully) but in the general fandom there was an incredible amount of "how dare he marry her!" All of it coming from women I may add. Like YOU ever had a chance with him, lady? *shakes head*

But there is this insatiable need to be "intimate" with our idols - to possess them, but also to feel elevated by them somehow. Perhaps on some level we're using them to fill the hole left by the belief in gods. But we forget they are human beings who fuck up like everyone else and have the same wants and needs as the rest of us.

I think it's important to speak so openly and bravely about homosexuality, especially in a society that still censures it.
Also true about men wearing feminine things/make up. Some people are still making a big deal about pink shirts! Because true men are nothing like women.

Just YES to every word of this.

[kikimay]

But there is this insatiable need to be "intimate" with our idols - to possess them, but also to feel elevated by them somehow. Perhaps on some level we're using them to fill the hole left by the belief in gods. But we forget they are human beings who fuck up like everyone else and have the same wants and needs as the rest of us.

Very wise. I also think it's true because we treat these celebrities like heroes from the myths.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I also think it's true because we treat these celebrities like heroes from the myths.

Yes. We NEED heros, we need stories, we need to share our stories - but we also need to be part of something larger than ourselves. It's a human need, it's in our hardwiring.

And this can be a very healthy impulse - to help, to share, to build, to fight for social justice, to hold someone when they cry or need someone to lean on, to celebrate as a community, etc. But it can also be very unhealthy, as the obsession with celebrities shows - the feeling that one is "less than" & "worth less" but the feeling can somehow be mitigated through a celebrity.

And there's the fact that in our culture today, people are considered "worth less" unless we are rich, famous successful - we're losers. Do we believe that in our hearts? Not really, but the message is conveyed over and over. That if you're poor, if your unemployed, if you don't have the world at your feet, then YOU DIDN'T TRY HARD ENOUGH. So somehow those who "made it" must possess some magic, and if only we can get a little of it to rub off on ourselves.

I also suspect there's an addiction aspect. I have friends who are fans of a particular male country singer and they go to all of his concerts, meet him in person at every chance. And these are healthy, well-adjusted people but there is something so powerfully magnetic about that singer. I suspect that celebrities are both sponges and mirrors - they soak up all the attention (energy) they receive, and the ones who can handle it well shine the power and attention (energy) back outward.