Labels: Social and Personal

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7:09 PM (16 hours ago)


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"Be wary, guys, of the presence of polarization in discourse. There's a lot of it around lately -- Republicans versus Democrats, civilized folks versus terrorists, us versus them, etc. I've been reading the terms straight, gay, heterosexual, and homosexual here with some frequency lately, and until these are well-defined in a meaningful way, their use might well be more polarizing than productive.

If we in this group are all males that have some common bond, let's be thoughtful about the use of terms that focus on our differences. Polarized conversations aren't usually rational ones. But they sure can make feelings run a powerful course. bk"

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Hey,
Pedro here.
First Thank You for that posting that.

For me Gay is a political term not an identity.
There is a group of people in our society who
fall in love with members of the same sex.
These people are discriminated against in a variety of ways
and are even targets of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse.
The term is one Gays came up with them selves as a way of
being able to stand togeather in the political world.

I used to be Gay but when you're Gay there are all
these meetings you have to go to,
all this furniture you have to buy,
the designer cloths to keep up with,
the Ikea catalogs to go through,
and the music sucks.
Now Sick of It All. That's a band!
Oh my God!
The "Blood, Sweat and No Tears CD it's just... um...
But I digress.
Anyway,
I've heard the word Gay used as
a description,
an identity and a put down. By "Gay" and "Straight" alike.

Today I am intermittently Gay.
As someone who believes in progress and social justice I
am committed to being available to be of service to every community
who wants it and to bring different communities together.
Outside of the social there is the personal relationship.

I had a great conversation with a new male friend
a few years back. Talking about his last girl friend
and relationships in general.

At one point I said that

"...I bond romantically and sexually with men and ..."
then I gave my perspective on relationships.

He then went off topic to mention
a friend he knows "...who's Gay..."

He immediately went to the G word.


My reasons for saying that
"I bond romantically and sexually with men."
is because it's more descriptive of the experience
I have had and want to cultivate in my life.

What bothers me are not the labels folks put on them selves but the entention behind there use of it.
If it's to discribe themselves, or to be a part of a community, or to
bring about a mostly positive effect on in the world, Bee-U-T-Full.

It's when they use a term to devide themselves from other human beings and /or to pronmoite a discriminatory attude that already exists.

Like more leftist then though Gay folks who call themselves "Queer" so thay can seperate them selves from Gay folks assimilationists because they want to get married.

Or men who want to have intimate relationships with other men
are looking for a label to add that can be used as an excuse
and a tactic to put down "Gay" men.
"You see, we don't have this kind of sex so it's not really Gay."

This taking advantage of bigoted attitudes that already there
I feel is part of the problem that Men who want to
help our society appreciate the contribution that
Male Male friendships/love can bring need to address.

Yes, my way of expressing my self is kinda clunky.
I mean "I bond romantically and sexually with men?"
What am I from the 19th century? OK...
so I do write with a fountain pen.
But that's not the issue here.

Hmmm... WHat was the issue?
Hold on while I re-read this.
Blah Blah Blah... "Gay is a political term..."
Blah Blah... ",,,Ikea catalogs..."

Oh yea, I asked my self for a while "Who am I?"
Over time I came up with the line I give now.
this may change over time again.
But for now it's what I'm comfortable with.
Weather it "works" to make myself understood without
a website and political/religious sound bites is yet to be seen.

Pedro of New Jersey.

+ + + + + + + + +

The Power of Myth in Action: A Short Essay and an Example

“To understand how myths work, let’s take a look at the sub-culture of punk rock.
Punk history doesn’t need to be “remembered” (i.e., written down for everyone by the experts),
for it is all present every time a punk band plays and, drawing on a tradition longer then any of
us could possibly remember, recaptures that ageless, timeless frenzy that makes punk rock
matter in the first place. The facts and details of the past are absolutely irrelevant, and could not
themselves enable any band to do this; the band must simply recognize the timeless, crucial
element that made there predecessors music matter, and learn from them that it cannot be
caught the same way twice. All those punk history books just weigh you down, and become
obviously immaterial when a band is in front of you doing it.That passion you can still see in that
wild abandon of the best punk bands, is an ahistorical force if anything is – it isn’t something that
can be explained in terms of history and tradition: what they are drawing on is above all a
tradition of violating tradition, of breaking taboos in order to broaden the world. Thus, when it
works, the myth of the punk band that destroys and liberates through musicis
not a restrictive archetype,
not a confining “identity”,
but a model that enables action”

From “Days of War, Nights of Love; Crimethink for Beginners” 2001

+++++++++++++++++++

“OK, here's a true story.

A couple of years ago some friends of mine The Bouncing Souls, and two other bands

The Dropkick Murphy’s, and The Dwarves they were going on tour. It started in Canada.

The show starts and the kids are dancing around. And the bouncers, described as

‘football player jock types,’ were literally slamming kids on the ground because

they didn't like the way they were dancing. So the kids revolted

and literally jumped on top of these guys.

The bouncers got disgusted and left. The owner of the venue cut the power and called the cops.

So the copscome and the kids are sitting on the floor chanting‘Sham 69, Sham 69, Sham 69...’

For folks that don't know Sham 69 is a punk rock band going way back who wrote a song titled "If the Kids are United They Will Never Be Divided."

But that's to long to chant so they did

"Sham 69, Sham 69 Sham 69..."

And the cops arrive and one takes a bull horn and shouts "BE QUIET!"

Silence! Then,

‘BE QUIET, BE QUIET, BE QUIET...’

those kids started chanting ‘be quiet.’

Those kids were united by a song.

And someone from the Dropkicks said to the police ‘If you just let us play, things would be fine.’

And the cop said that if they performed they would be arrested for inciting a riot: if they sang a song, they’re inciting a riot!

The singer for the Dropkick Murphy’s went on stage and told the kids that they were going outside

and that they would perform an acoustic set in the parking lot. And that's what they did.

They went outside, they performed in the drizzle, the kids danced and sang along, and even the cops had a good time because they didn’t have to mace anyone.

But those kids knew that they had the power.

And they had a choice as to who they would give there power to.

That's what music does….”

Pedro Angel Serrano51% Positive Magazine: Issue #1