I found a provocative and interesting post by C.J. Pascoe and Tristan Bridges, published first on Girl w/Pen! and then republished on HuffPost Gay Voices (link below). The authors have some great points that need to be out in the public dialogue, although I find their title, “Bro Porn: Heterosexualizing Straight Men’s Anti-Homophobia Stances” misleading and their post disappointing given that it doesn’t offer what it promises.
What do the Warwick University mens rowing team and Macklemore have in common? They are all young, straight, attractive, white men taking a public stance against homophobia and receiving a lot of credit for it. This development seems to contradict a great deal of theory and research on masculinity as well as conventional wisdom, which has consistently shown homophobia to be an important way in which young men prove to themselves and others that they are truly masculine see here, here and here, for instance. Upon first glance it seems that Macklemore and the Warwick University rowers are harbingers of change. They’re young, straight, white men for whom homophobia is unimportant and undesirable, which might suggest that homophobia is no longer a building block of contemporary forms of masculinity. Indeed, such a reading may be part of the story.
Don’t get me wrong, a number of valuable points are shared in this post, and deserve discussion, but as with any post, the whole premise deserves to be considered, and in my opinion, the authors miss the real issue by trying to include criticism of Ben Haggerty (Macklemore) with their otherwise valuable insight.
Personally, I’m really over the Macklemore bashing. As an artist myself, I am outraged at the personal attacks against him, rather than a direct focus on his artwork, a song called “One Love.” Anyone working in the context of Queer Theory, or Queer anything as these authors are, ought to be cognizant of this failing. Shame on Pascoe/ Bridges.
I’ll organize this post into two parts- 1) The attack on Macklemore, and 2) The really valuable insight these writers name as “Bro Porn” which I am renaming as “Male Heterosexual Privilege.”
Attacking Macklemore
Pascoe/ Bridges likens Macklemore to Warwick University rowing team, because he identifies as straight in his same-sex anthem, “Same Love.” (bolded emphasis is mine)
The attention that the Warwick boys received echoes that directed at Seattle-based hip-hop artist Ben Haggerty (Macklemore) upon the release of his hit song “Same Love” in 2012. The song, a ballad of support for gay and lesbian rights, was recorded during the 2012 campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in the state of Washington. It reached number 11 on Billboard’s “Hot 100” chart in the U.S. and hit number 1 in both New Zealand and Australia. The single’s cover art features an image of Ben’s uncle and his partner Sean. Macklemore, who “outs” himself as straight in the song’s opening, claims that the song grew out of his frustration with hip-hop’s endemic homophobia (though this assertion has been critiqued as a narrow and racist reading of what constitutes hip-hop).
Aside from how this comparison is like comparing apples to oranges, their point is really to attack Macklemore’s claim as to why he did the song. But they really have it all wrong. Macklemore doesn’t really out himself as straight. The lyrics demonstrate this: (bolded emphasis is mine)
When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay,
‘Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight.
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She’s like “Ben you’ve loved girls since before pre-k, trippin’ ”
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn’t she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, “Yeah, I’m good at little league”
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
The video is below. Macklemore outs himself as a youth who questioned his sexuality because of myriad stereotypes prevalent in the common culture. I suppose one can question if this was real or a construction to help the song seem rational, but such questioning is as deplorable as when homophobes question a LGBTQ’s person identity as being a “choice.” To dismiss Macklemore’s lyrics as “outing himself as straight” demonstrates a real failing on the author’s part.
The authors also allude to other criticism that Macklemore’s representation of hip-hop is “narrow and racist,” yet this too is a failing coming from a professor capable of meaningful scholarship. Even a rudimentary listening to hip-hop will find a of homophobic content. Is there more than that out there? Certainly, but one can not help but recognize the degree to which there are anti-gay lyrics and sentiments abounding in hip-hop and elsewhere. (Consider Alec Baldwin for example.)
Male Heterosexual Privilege and Bro Porn
I’m going to speak about Bro Porn because I think that is an awesome descriptor for a phenomenon that needs exploration. Macklemore isn’t a part of it, but it is a very interesting subject. Too bad Pascoe/ Bridges hadn’t remained focused in it alone. Here is the real money shot for Pascoe/Bridge:
Could the Warwick men be doing something analogous? That is, could posing provocatively and sensually to fight homophobia work to undergird their own heterosexuality? Their heterosexuality is so overpowering that any notion that they might actually sexually desire one another is laughable.
And what’s missing from their commentary is why is it that a contemporary gay male culture is so willing to accept and support this heterosexual male privilege? Why is it that we as a culture buy into propping up heterosexual privilege and pretend it is about liberation from the same qualities that promote bullying? These ideas go unexplored possibly because to investigate them is too difficult in a quick blog post. The average blog reader doesn’t want to be so challenged to think complex thoughts.
Pascoe/ Bridges’ rationale is as problematic here as it is with their attack on Macklemore. Consider how laughable this is:
Sociologist Pepper Schwartz argues that for heterosexuality to be successful, it needs to be applauded and celebrated by others.
So does this mean that if we fail to applaud heterosexuality, it will fail? Really? I think not. Sexuality and heterosexuality is specific are biologically driven forces, and won’t really be impacted by the degree to which one is applauded or not. What will be impacted are the socially constructed trappings of masculinity. And in our popular culture there are many trends and ideas that can be discussed to consider how images of masculinity are changing. Consider for example, Bronies. The Bronie movement may be extremely non-sexualized while the efforts of the Warwick men is highly sexualized, but both speak to changing demonstrations of men’s comfort with how they express their masculinity.
The most disappointing miss for me is how Pascoe/ Bridges overlooks the male privilege issue as they mention the differences in the Warwick men’s and Warwick women’s efforts. The women’s team nudity was condemned. This isn’t about gay or straight, but rather this illustrates how what is acceptable behavior is mandated by men. Men control the definition of freedom and sexual behavior. Men can make themselves objects of sexual desire, but when women chose to do this they are condemned.
Negotiating Masculinity
Macklemore, Bronies, the Warwick Rowers, and Chris Kluwe among others, in my opinion are negotiating new boundaries defining masculinity acceptance, and sexual expression, and with any negotiation, there is an element of experimentation and exploration involved. It can not be argued that even ten years ago, the Warwick men’s efforts would not have been acceptable in popular culture. Merely research the work of photographers like Maplethorpe and Herb Ritts to see how enmeshed male nudity, homoeroticism and a closeted subculture was. Even today male modeling is not a welcoming environment for gay, bi or queer identified men as it relies upon hyper-characterized ideas of masculinity.
For me, all this speaks to a changing acceptance by straight men towards homosexual desire. In other words, it is becoming more acceptable for guys to accept and admit that men are attracted to men as well as that guys are attracted to women.
If you haven’t read Pascoe/ Bridges, please do. despite my criticisms, there is good stuff in there, and they deserve credit for uncovering this important issue and beginning a needed dialogue. Let’s hope they dig deeper and continue the discourse.
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