I’m writing to express my distaste and outrage about the column entitled “Grindr lovin’ had me aghast” by Emma Woodhouse, which was included in your Friday March 2, 2012, issue of MOVE Magazine. In it, Ms. Woodhouse discusses the iPhone app Grindr, which allows gay men to meet other gay men in their area.
The article starts with the author pulling out a laundry list of gay stereotypes and expressing them in the most offensive way possible without actually using slurs. She then goes on to say that the Grindr app is exclusively used for gay men to hookup, perpetuating yet another stereotype, that gay people are promiscuous.
She goes on to say that she actually faked a profile on Grindr, in order to “study up” on it. The fact that she used another friend’s picture is completely heinous: so what if he doesn’t go here? Someone could still know him, and she could still be outing him (of course that’s assuming he’s gay and not out). Perhaps she did get his permission, but she never states that, setting a precedent for other journalists saying that it’s A-OK for any random student to use any random picture for similar purposes (excellent journalism ethics might I say). Her usage of this “study” she did to cast judgment on the gay community is, to put it lightly, misguided.
She, as a heterosexual woman (who I assume from her tone does not possess a degree in gender studies), lacks a certain insight into the politics in the life of a gay man. There are facets that she clearly doesn’t understand, like the fact that not every gay person is out, and that Grindr can be a way to meet people and simultaneously protect identity.
As a gay man, I was personally offended by her suggestions that, because I am gay, I must listen to Lady Gaga constantly, give better fashion advice than a model and be incompetent at lifting weights at the gym. Furthermore, her use of an acronym for “Gay Best Friend” and her constant stereotyping completely tokenize gay men as a group, and I would go so far as to say dehumanizes us.
That’s not even mentioning the tone of the entire article, which insinuates that because I am gay, I must be concerned exclusively with fucking every guy within a 10-mile radius (and so what if I am? That’s no one’s business but my own and the person or people I’m sleeping with.) It’s slut-shaming at its finest.
My advice to anyone reading this article is to educate yourselves about these issues by stopping by the LGBTQ Resource Center in G225 of the Student Center (across from The Maneater). For even more information, attend Safe Space Training, which the center facilitates three times a semester.
—Theodore Tushaus,
theodoretushaus@gmail.com
With contributions from Paul Reeves,
par7v7@mail.missouri.edu
