So, remember when Britney Spears and Madonna kissed at the 2003 MTV awards, and everyone was so freekin' excited about it? Well apparently that doesn't go over so well when it's two men kissing. Adam Lambert (American Idol runner up and openly gay singer) recently pulled a "Madonna and Britney," and received some pretty negative feedback.Lambert was singing his new song "For Your Entertainment" at the American Music Awards when he kissed a male keyboardist, fondled a dancer and had another dancer briefly stuff his face in Lambert's crotch.
Lambert's actions prompted many complaints to ABC, who then canceled his TV appearance on Good Morning America.
Why are Britney and Madonna allowed - even encouraged - to get away with a very public make-out session, while it's completely unacceptable for two men to do the same thing? Why are homosexual acts between two beautiful women applauded, while homosexual acts between two men are shunned? Double standards surrounding homosexuality are really starting to get on my nerves. You know we live in a fucked up society when we're more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than two men holding hands.
So what did Lambert have to say about all this? "Obviously, I respect [ABC's] decision — they gotta do what they gotta do... It's too bad, I think there were a lot of fans who were excited to come see me. [ABC] probably had a lot of pressure coming at them from certain people who weren't happy about it."
He goes on to comment that "there are a lot of double standards as far as that goes... We've seen female pop and rock performers do that for the last 10 years. They've been very provocative, owning their power and sexuality. You just don't see men doing it very often. And I'm hoping to break down that double standard with this number."
All I have to say about this is... You Go, Adam! Own your sexuality and BRING IT! If America ain't ready to handle a gay man spreading some love... fuck 'em.
Yeah! Seriously, such a perplexing situation! I'm not a fan of this fellow's musical character at all and I generally try to steer clear of musing over heavily embellished pop-culture, but I appreciate that Lambert's response to ABC's action is both diplomatic and informed. This is such a deep-rooted double standard that even though we like to consider ourselves part of a rather progressive society, incidents like this (and public reactions to them) prove that we are clearly not as enlightened as we could be.
ReplyDeleteI want to see more men get comfortable with their sexuality. I have never really been a great advocate of aggressively flaunting ones sexuality though; Britney and Madonna's thing was not exactly inspiring either but, in the least, I think it's time America and the world wake up. People will be who they will be regardless of how much we want to pretend otherwise.