The "republicans are gay" thing doesn't seem to be getting any better

[cthulu2016]

There is nothing particularly funny about the Rick Santorum thing. There never was.

What's at the heart of the thing?

Is it hilarious because it tags Santorum with something of which he does not approve? No. In that case a goole-bomb of Santorum = increases in food stamps would have been just as hilarious.

It is "hilarious" because it tags Santorum with something people think is really gross and think is really GAY. And, truth be told, that many people think is really gross to some degree BECAUSE they think it is really gay. (The numerical majority of acts of anal sex are heterosexual, of course, but the cultural association is 99% gay male.)

Of course some gay people laugh at the "republicans are gay" jokes, but when a lot of straight people just can't stop laughing at "Santorum surging from behind" it is very much like men making coarse jokes about menstrual blood... it's not really all that funny (or even notewothy), so why is everyone laughing? The humor is driven to some degree by the hostility and/or disgust of difference and contempt for that difference.

When someone jokes that a Republican is a cross-dresser the joke is not that Republicans are hypocrites. That is 10% of it. What makes it a JOKE is that cross-dressing is considered laughable.

Marcus Bachmann is effeminate and that makes him a laughing stock. Ha, ha. Dude is gay. That is ostensibly funny because he is an anti-gay crusader but the real comic force of it is driven by a general sense that being effeminate is funny. (And taboo) Without that cultural second-class, gross, weird, contemptible vibe there would be no joke.

Think it through. It is ALWAYS in a negative context. Nobody ever says that Alan Grayson is so awesome he is probably gay.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. The derogatory comment "You are so gay" that kids use nowadays is baffling to me

At a time when gays are beginning to attain a more equal status than ever before in our history, kids came up with this. How does this sh*t get started????

[WingDinger]

3. It is to shame less than uber masculine boys.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. Oh. I hadn't thought of that. Part of the bullying generation. Disgusting. nt

[DataException]

21. That's been around forever....

I was in middle school in the 70's and everything bad was "gay" back then....

[Sarah Ibarruri]

23. Yep, this is gay, that is gay, you are gay, he is gay. However, how come females are not said to be

gay? In fact, it seems that the men who most use the term gay derogatorily are obsessed with the idea of women being together. Makes me want to kick their collective asses, really.

[DataException]

24. Men are not necessarily obsessed

with women being together. They are obsessed with supermodel women being together. It's a whole fantasy thing where they imagine themselves being in the mix....

(in my opinion..)

[Sarah Ibarruri]

25. Yeah well, whether it's super-models, 16 yr old anorexics, or whatever, if a man is anti-gay

he has NO business being interested in seeing women having sex with one another. They either shit or get off the pot. In the least, they should pretend to not be such inconsistent little twits.

[jberryhill]

27. Homophobic men like lesbian porn because...

...watching straight porn requires them to look at another man's apparatus, and they are not comfortable with that.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

28. I don't know about that. I think homophobic males are hypocrites and have mental issues of

some kind or another.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

29. Come to think of it, this admiration by straight males of lesbian porn is the most heinous example

of female sexual objectification I can think of. As bad as making women wear a hijab and not allowing them to do anything without permission.

[jberryhill]

31. All straight men are muslim now, are they?

[xchrom]

2. it's unfortunate that dan savage started the santorum schtick.

but this is a thing i've complained about on DU for a long time.

dan didn't necessarily do us a favor.

[jberryhill]

8. "didn't necessarily do us a favor"

Who is the "us" in this context?

I never got the memo explaining how anal sex is somehow a "gay" act.

By "us" do you mean the set of all persons who engage in anal sex? That set is predominately heterosexual.

[xchrom]

16. Cause there's a lot of hetero anal sex humor out there, right?

Especially where it concerns men.

Prison rape jokes.

Drop the soap jokes.

Etc.

Heteros by virtue of numbers engage in most everything more than lgbtiq folk do - but heteros aren't plastered w/ negative stereo types around those things the way lgbtiq people can be.

[jberryhill]

17. Ummm... yeah, I know a few

But I'm not going to post them here.

But how does the Santorum re-definition amount to "republicans are gay". Is there some labeling of him as gay?

My sincere belief is that it was a reaction to his "man on dog" thing, and his bizarre reaction to anything he considers to be an unusual sexual practice. He lumps the use of contraceptives into that basket as well, and I think we can also take it as a given that his views on contraception have nothing to do with his views on homosexuality, other than a general belief that all sex should be procreative (thus lumping into his "deviate sex" definition a whole lot of heterosexual sex).

[Enrique]

5. it's like "scumbag"

using "scumbag" as a derogatory name does not imply any disapproval of heterosexuality. It's just a disgusting thing to call someone.

[jberryhill]

6. How is an anal sex reference "gay"?

It probably goes without saying that more straights engage in anal sex than gays, on a purely numerical basis.

Santorum has a fascination with sexual practices he considers immoral - including the use of contraceptives.

However, you appear to be the victim of an unexamined assumption of your own in asserting that anal sex is "REALLY gay".

Can you elaborate more on that?

[justiceischeap]

7. Just FYI, I know many gay men who do not have anal sex.

So, it really isn't just a "gay thing."

[jberryhill]

11. Of course

And that's what mystifies me by the OP's assumption that the redefinition of "Santorum" has something to do with "gay sex", as if there is some mode of sexual stimulation which is somehow exclusive to gay partners.

[cthulu2016]

10. You could refer back to the OP

where your question is answered.

The association is cultural, not my personal view. Humor exists in cultural context.

If your contention is that the Santorum reference is not perceived, culturally, as primarily gay and gets extra grossness points thereby then you are simply mistaken.

[jberryhill]

14. Hmm....

I don't see how "gay Santorum" is any grosser than "straight Santorum".

Aside from "how I perceive it" and "how you perceive it", what is your reference for determining who is "simply mistaken"? Have you conducted a poll of some kind?

[Scootaloo]

15. Funny, I always assumed the santorum gag was due to him being a disgusting mess of shit

I'm sorry, you don't get to make an assertion and then defend your assertion with that assertion. That's a circular argument. "I say it's bad, and it's bad because I say so, and if you argue, you're wrong, because I am the final authority!"

[DataException]

22. heh heh.... heh heh....

you said "santorum gag"....

heh... heh...

[Marrah_G]

19. Really.... you think most people don't automatically think anal sex = gay?

Do you really think that? Do you think when people hear of a male in regards to being the receiving end of anal sex that they assume there is a woman with a strap on? Do you really think that?

I am trying to figure out where you are coming from on this and I have to say your posts on this thread leave me confused.

[jberryhill]

26. I don't know what most people think

The Santorum definition says nothing about "a male in regards to being the receiving end of anal sex", so I don't understand why you bring that up.

Straight people engage in anal sex. Straight people engage in oral sex. Personally, there is only one person I think about when I think of sex of any sort (well two people if you count me), but that's just me.

I can't speak for "most people" and neither can you, but if someone refers to anal sex or oral sex, no, I don't automatically equate it to "gay".

So, when someone refers to anal sex, most people think of lesbians? Really?

[LiberalAndProud]

9. I am weary of it.

I guess I never got the joke. Whatever merit it may (or may not) have had, the Santorum joke has worn very thin -- juvenile and puerile. I will happy to see it fade from our lexicon.

Your last line -- right on target. +infinity

[kenny blankenship]

12. This forum's unvanquished thirst for Santorum will brook no limit!

No word or mortal hand can set the ocean's bound, nor stay the running tide. More Santorum they cry the cupbearer, Give us Santorum all around!

[Marrah_G]

13. It's always frustrating to see people from our own party doing this

The Gay= Bad comments are more hurtful then they realize and always ends up saying far more about the person then the target of their comments.

[Blue Owl]

18. Not familiar with the "Santorum thing" -- will have to google it

n/t

[Withywindle]

30. Well played. n/t

[snooper2]

20. I think I had a little santorum on me last night but it was only due to the splash

I was alone LOL