A Very Gay Oscars (for lack of better terms)

For the LGBT community, the Oscars last night were a very moving, positive experience, as they watched the crowning moments of Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn, who received wards for their work in Milk. Dustin Lance Black's acceptance speech for Best Original Screenplay was a poignant and powerful one: "I want to thank my mom who has always loved me for who I am, even when there was pressure not to," he said, nearly in tears," But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight, who have been told that they are less than by their churches or government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours." Sean Penn, too, delivered a meaningful speech, alluding to the Proposition 8 ballot and the Westboro Baptist Church who had picketed outside the awards, "For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame, and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone." It was a victorious moment for the community to hear them spoken about in such favor by these influential people, in such a far-reaching mainstream fashion. The emotional responses of Dustin Lance Black's and Sean Penn's colleagues by way of applause and close-ups on their impassioned faces were a great sight to behold as well, to see that so many prominent figures in our culture were so supportive. In that same audience was gay rights activists Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, who were portrayed in the film Milk. The two of them donned White Knots on their outfits, the symbol of Marriage Equality. Most of the cast of Milk wore them and even ANne Hathaway's father had one on his tuxedo. At the Spirits Awards, there were even more celebrities who sported these ribbons on them. Hollywood is one of the driving forces behind the movement for marriage equality, for reasons like Milk, the White Knots, and earlier moments like Brad Pitt (who inevitably attended the Oscars) who donated $100,000 in September of 2008 against the passing of the ban.

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My Conclusions:

• Anne Hathaway was in the movie Brokeback Mountain, the acclaimed gay film that Heath Ledger starred in. Last night, Heath won the Oscar posthumously for his Joker.
• I want a White Knot.
• This is the first time that I actually watched the Oscars all the way through.
• Also, Penelope Cruz won an Oscar for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, in which she plays a bisexual painter.

PETA: Pretentious, Eccentric & Trashy Advertising

PETA or People for Ethical Treatment of Animals is an organization that is built on very good intentions to encourage vegetarianism/veganism and anti-animal cruelty, but they seemed to go about it in such a way that is not helping their cause, but rather, causing some (including myself) to be disillusioned by the movement. While I am not discrediting their efforts for neglected and abused pets or furthering exposure of the poor conditions and callous treatment of animals within the meat market, they seem to have strayed from their intended purpose of inspiring others and reaching out to them to help these creatures, by reducing themselves to utilize lowbrow methods of attracting recruits that turns others away. As you can see, many of their ads and public rallies include people parading around in close to nothing, and while I condone radical protest for a good cause, the way to go about it is not undermining people to be easily manipulated by sexuality. Although I believe that sexuality is something that should be embraced, it certainly should not be used as it was in the PETA ad that was to be aired during the Superbowl this year but was pulled for its overt adult content. It featured scantily clad vixens crawling towards and licking a pumpkin, rubbing vegetables on their body (even suggesting masturbation with asparagus or broccoli, intercourse with a gourd, etc.), and even took it to the point of blatant self-petting on the breast while one of them was about to eat a veggie. The Superbowl is a testosterone-laden event so the provocative material must have been aimed to this audience, but it is also family-oriented since it aired on NBC, available in an estimated 112 million households and I am sure that many of them are in suburbs, where it can be witnessed by sensitive viewers.

It is offensive to me that they would condone the belittlement of sexuality to nothing more than a ploy to get endorsements and it is highly tired out that they would

use these images to manipulate people who they seemed to have undermined as being mindless perverts. Whether the greater population is just that is up to speculation, however it is not hard to argue that PETA has lost sight of their cause. It seems that the "Vegetarians have better sex" ad stems from a study that they are concocting that connects vegetarianism to virility, but it stands that you cannot quantify the quality of sex. Also, diet can be responsible for lower sex drive, but carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores alike can have theirs negatively affected by their nutrition, no matter who they are. But vegetarian diets tend to correlate with higher rates of zinc deficiency, which may lead to lower testosterone levels and sex drive.

So what is PETA's justification for their ad? Well, they claimed that eating meat can lead to cardiovascular disease and obesity, but these ailments are not reserved just for the meat-eater. Also, in the September Issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, it was recognized that a woman's ability to have an active sex life is not influenced by weight based on data from a 2002 National Survey of Family Growth that looked at the sexual behavior of more than 7,000 women. Dr. Bliss Kaneshiro, who was a student at the time of the study at Oregon Health & Science University (now an assistant professor at the School of Medicine at the University at of Hawaii), with the help of Oregon State professor Marie Harvey's expertise, conducted this study and realized that their research contradicted with the commonly held stereotype that weight affected sexual behavior. Kaneshiro said the data showed that overweight women were more likely to report having sexual intercourse with a man, even when she was controlled for age, race, and type of residence. 92% of overweight women reported having a history of sexual intercourse with a man, as opposed to 87% with a normal BMI (body mass index). Therefore, in Kaneshiro's on words, their analysis "demonstrated that obese and overweight women do not differ significantly in some of the objective measures of sexual behavior compared to women of normal weight."

Furthermore, PETA had decided to continue their "sexy" trend with their "Girl-on-Girl Make-out Tour". I am not sure how this has anything to do with animal rights and while it may raise some eyebrows, it seems that they will unblushingly continue this exploitative tour, which is basically two girls dressed in bikinis, lip-locking on a mattress on a city corner. While some may assert that this furthers the LGBT interest for being so open about it, it makes it difficult for an outsider to be particularly sensitive and serious about either cause. Especially since the two girls were probably paid to kiss each other. It is absolutely shameful how atrociously bad PETA is at treating women's issues by objectifying women and their sexuality, and creating ads portraying idealized and unrealistic women. And apparently, according to the top most picture, if you don't shave, you're not socially acceptable, because your bikini line is everybody's business now.

Stop dragging down the gays, the women, and the good vegetarians down with you, PETA!

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My Conclusions:

• A lot of celebrities endorse PETA, including Missy Higgins and Dita von Teese, two people that I love. But also, they have porn stars in their ads. Which means nearly pornographic ads. Ugh.
• I was mind-blown when I saw that PETA protested Tila Tequila for not including animals on her show and not for making the contestants eat miscellaneous animal parts, like "a pig's vagina!!" God, I don't like her. She's not really bi either. They wrote ways around her ending up with a girl on her show and she believes that girls are with girls because they're tired of guys. Lame.
• I'm going to refer to the time Lindsay was bombed with flour and agree with Samantha Ronson who said that that flour could have fed a family and they wasted it. Also, when they ruin those coats, that doesn't undo the fact that those animals died for that coat. It just makes those animals death which already happened, in vain.
• Some of the places I got my info: newfeministmom.blogspot.com, physorg.com, afterellen.com, and other places. So don't kill me, I didn't plagiarize!

Missy Higgins, the Aussie After My Own Heart

Recently, I have been on an indie music fix and what better artist to have stumbled upon than Missy Higgins, a 25-year-old singer-songwriter from Down Under. How I love her so (I will marry her.)!

But what I have realized about the wonderment that is indie is that rather than having the instruments lead a song, it is the vocals, meaning that the musician needs to have a strong, moving voice, especially since the poetry in their lyrics that I recognize of the genre is often times be poignant yet powerful. Luckily, Missy Higgins perfectly exemplifies this, especially in her sophomore album On a Clear Night, released in April of 2007.

Her music ranges from all sorts of emotional and inspirational, but every track is unique in its sounds and meaning, each touching in their own fashion. The greatest part, though, is that she sets a mood with her tone in each song, making her a great storyteller; additionally, like a story, most of her lyrics seem to be ambiguous, therefore allowing for some sort of metaphorical underlay that each listener can interpret personally. However, despite the experience for all being different, she too tells her of her own: of love, life, and its niceties or its bleaker moments.

One particular track that dabbles in all of these themes is “Warm Whispers”, the most heartrending ballad I have ever heard. Its lyrics are not overly erotic, but they are sensuous in this song that I judge to be about an affectionate relationship that though consummated, ends up unrequited at the end. Her lyrics illustrate a beautiful vision of longing and desire, and though it is a very simple and discreet, it is deep in every aspect.

Missy Higgins is very young but she has so much wisdom, but the experiences that anybody can relate to. I expect more from her in the future and I know that she will not fail to steal my heart away again! Oh, I fall in love with her every time I listen to her music. You will too... but remember, she's mine.


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My Conclusions:

• See her live and propose upon meeting her.
• Ask forgiveness for my fanaticism from the Girlfriend.
• Saw a picture of Missy with David Hasselhoff. Haha.
• Other key tracks: "100 Round the Bends", "Steer", "Sugarcane", "Angela", "Where I Stood", "Peachy", and the entire CD. Also, her EPs and her first CD, The Sound of White, is amazing also.
• Oh yeah, this article applies to the most of the rest of my blog, because she's bi. SO I HAVE A CHANCE.