| re: Let's Make Meat Loaf A Lesbian Icon | |
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Posted by: |
steven_stuart 11:28 pm UTC 11/21/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Let's Make Meat Loaf A Lesbian Icon - Evan 01:55 am UTC 11/21/14 |
| Cool. I'm glad my friend sent it to me and that you liked it. It's interesting. > I actually really enjoyed this. Thanks for posting. > > > Interesting article from a lesbian website that a lesbian > > Meat fan sent me: > > > > Why is there not yet such a thing as a lesbian icon? I’m > > not just talking about lesbians who have become famous — > > spare me your Melissa Etheridges, your Tracy Chapmans. Nor > > do I consider any of the zillion indie female vocalists > > who are beloved within the lesbian community to be > > candidates for iconic status—we all went through our Ani > > DiFranco phases, and the less said on that score the > > better. No, I’m talking about big, loud, fabulous > > mainstream performers who embody a lesbian aesthetic in > > the same way that Judy Garland or Madonna do for so many > > of our gay male brethren. Shouldn’t we have that? We > > deserve to have that! So, in the interest of getting the > > ball rolling, I hereby nominate Michael Lee Aday, aka Meat > > Loaf, to the position of number one (butch) lesbian icon. > > > > Butchness, in women and in men, is an oft-misunderstood > > and maligned quality. This is particularly pronounced when > > the distinction is drawn between butchness and its > > prettier cousin, androgyny. A butch is cruder, more prone > > to grunts and eruptions than an androgyne, and wears less > > eye makeup. But a butch is not simply, uncomplicatedly > > masculine. Butches draw on a wider emotional palette than > > your standard-issue manly man does. They feel things > > deeply, and cannot conceal those feelings even if they > > try. > > > > Although country music is rife with the male variety, > > butch women have never really found a solid place in > > popular culture the way their male counterparts have > > (although, like feminine men, when they do appear they > > tend to be objects of mockery). > > > > More so even than country music’s male butch stars, Meat > > Loaf exemplifies everything that’s grand about butchness > > and lesbianosity in both his music and his public persona. > > He’s portly and tender, macho and heartfelt. When he comes > > in as Eddie in the Rocky Horror Picture Show he seems more > > alien than Dr. Frankenfurter—the only diesel dyke in a > > production full of fairies. Unfashionable and earnest, no > > costume has ever succeeded in hiding him or making him a > > cipher in the manner of a Lady Gaga or a Madonna. Meat > > Loaf is not enigmatic, and no matter how much dry ice he > > uses in a live show, he will never, ever wisp. > > > > Like all butches do, Meat Loaf bends gender along an > > unexpected angle (he’s not masculine, but also beautiful — > > he’s, uh, the other thing). His physical presence is one > > of solidity, even lunkishness, which mean that his > > emotional depths are unexpected and can sink you like an > > iceberg. “This is my anger/this is my shame/these are my > > insecurities/that I can’t explain” he belts and growls in > > All of Me, (a Ben E. King cover, which is also a top > > contender for the most lesbionic song ever written). Or, > > in the song that introduced me to him as an artist, he > > promises that he “Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t > > Do That)” Big Boo-like, Meat Loaf invites the audience’s > > laughter in many of his lyrics and then tries, gamely, to > > laugh along — but in the end he wears his heart too close > > to his sleeve to be comfortable as a subject of mockery. > > His struggle for validation, his yearning to be taken > > seriously even as he plays the jester, all speaks to a > > part of the human experience that most other icons seem to > > spend their lives avoiding. When you listen to Meat Loaf > > vocally pouring his heart and soul into hits like > > “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” despite the fact that > > it is basically a novelty song, it’s right out in the > > open. That’s butch. > > > > Okay, so what little evidence there is about Mr. Aday’s > > political convictions indicates that he may, just > > possibly, be a Republican. The lesbian community takes our > > politics pretty seriously, and so there’s no denying that > > a guy whose single foray into political expression was an > > endorsement of Mitt Romney in 2012 might be a bit of a > > hard sell. But just imagine a world in which, decades ago, > > Meat Loaf had gained the sort of committed, die-hard > > lesbian fandom he so richly deserved. Not only could he > > have served as a role model for young lesbians and > > provided a fashion template more creative than that > > already provided by the nation’s lumberjacks. He could > > have injected some much needed fun into a lesbian culture > > which has, let’s face it, tended slightly towards the emo > > and humorless at times. [Ed. note: HOW DARE YOU] And, in > > return, a lesbian fanbase could have prevented his > > downward spiral, diverting him off the path that > > ultimately ended in Republicanism. Seriously, the man was > > in Hair and the Picture Show — this needn’t have happened. > > I’m going to go ahead and say that he only supported Mitt > > Romney in 2012 because the poor guy felt hurt that the > > lesbians of the world had failed to recognize him as the > > exemplar of the butch lesbian aesthetic that he was born > > to be. > > > > So, why didn’t lesbians embrace Meat Loaf ages ago, when > > he was in his prime? I blame internalized > > homophobia—because it makes a good stock excuse, for > > everything. But seriously, unlike the wild and wooly > > excesses of gay male culture, lesbians have always seemed > > to me to be a little bit reluctant to proclaim our > > identities too loudly when those identities diverge from > > what the dominant culture respects and validates. How else > > can we explain the lesbian tendency to hide ourselves away > > at folk festivals or sparsely attended poetry slams [Ed. > > note: WHAT ABOUT DINAH SHORE, WE DO FUN S--OKAY POINT > > TAKEN]? Rather than claiming pieces of the dominant > > culture and making them our own we take the quiet, > > retiring route, at times to the point of abandoning our > > heroes once they “sell out” or get too popular. > > > > Everything that lesbians value, and everything we can’t > > escape about ourselves, can be found in the career of > > Michael Lee Aday. We are solid physically and volatile > > emotionally. We are not cool. We do not wisp. We have > > spectacularly bad taste in haircuts. We get laughed at. We > > are heartfelt. We are Meat Loaf. > > > > > > > > http://the-toast.net/2014/11/20/lets-make-meat-loaf-lesbian-icon/ > > | |
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