Beyond No Homo: Calling Shenanigans on "Gender-Bending" Reality Show
I'd be lying if I said that when I heard about a reality TV casting call asking "Do you bend gender roles? Do you go against the norm?" I truly believed a show was going to focus on folks who reject prescribed ideas of gender and sexuality. But just in case there was a show that wanted to feature, to make visible, people who go against the grain when it comes to gender and sexuality (dare I say...gender outlaws?), I investigated.
Here's the description for Straight as a Board:
Just because you’re a man who likes pedicures, or a female gym teacher, that doesn’t mean you’re gay, does it? If you’re sick of your friends constantly trying to set you up with members of the same sex then it’s time to set the record straight. A new reality series is casting people that are ready to put all the rumors to rest. Just because you’re a guy and like show tunes or a girl and play softball that your not hiding your sexual preferences in the closet.
While this might look like a show that is interested in challenging gender roles, my next thought about the casting call (that is, after "What kind of friends set you up with people you're explicitly not into?") was that this show is about straight people. They're clearly not interested in, God forbid, actual gay people-femme lesbians, or non-effeminate gay men-who also do not fit what society expects in terms of gender presentation and sexual preference. Or, heaven help us, people attracted to...both men and women!
Read the rest at Bitch
Here's the description for Straight as a Board:
Just because you’re a man who likes pedicures, or a female gym teacher, that doesn’t mean you’re gay, does it? If you’re sick of your friends constantly trying to set you up with members of the same sex then it’s time to set the record straight. A new reality series is casting people that are ready to put all the rumors to rest. Just because you’re a guy and like show tunes or a girl and play softball that your not hiding your sexual preferences in the closet.
While this might look like a show that is interested in challenging gender roles, my next thought about the casting call (that is, after "What kind of friends set you up with people you're explicitly not into?") was that this show is about straight people. They're clearly not interested in, God forbid, actual gay people-femme lesbians, or non-effeminate gay men-who also do not fit what society expects in terms of gender presentation and sexual preference. Or, heaven help us, people attracted to...both men and women!
Read the rest at Bitch