England's So So Gay Magazine Explores Sexual Racism

(Photo courtesy of SoSoGay.org)

It's hard, laughable almost, to take seriously a magazine's intent to thoughtfully explore the subject of sexual racism among today's LGBT community (given how few ethnicities and races appear in the edition this story made headlines). But it is a serious subject and one, no matter what the editor's intent, should be looked at with more frequency and not less.

Sexual racism is a very serious problem in the GLBT community.

Andy Wasley has a piece entitled "Professional Prejudice" in the most recent online edition of England's So So Gay Magazine. It's a look at the 'not-into-black-guys-sorry-just-a-preference' that swept the stomping ground of primarily gay males looking for a hook-up or more.  Andy mainly focuss on the experiences and rumination of Manesh, a 28-year-old man from Surrey who is half-Sri Lankan:

"‘On the internet, communication isn’t face-to-face, and that makes it a lot easier to say something that’s hurtful. On the scene in general, there’s a culture that makes it okay to say “I’m looking for this, I’m not looking for that.”  That sort of turns people into tick boxes.  I think that makes people less aware of the impact of those views.’  He suggests that people could prevent offence by expressing themselves differently. ‘I can’t say that everyone has to find me attractive, but they could put things positively. Phrase it as a preference for something, rather than an exclusion of something else. It’s nicer to read a preference for something than something negative about me, but I also think that’s actually more realistic.’"

Wasley goes on to quote Gaydar and Grindr, two of the most popular mobile hook up sites with predominantly white men and whom issue stock 'we-don't-tolerate-racism' responses without going on to discuss how that has manifested itself.

Of course, that's the writers job, and in this case I think Wasley has failed to really delve into the causes and motivations of the phenomenon. After all, we're not born saying: "I'm not into black guys." Where does he think that comes from? What can we do to change that? How do we combat the 'it's-just-preference' mindset.

And until Mr. Wasley does, I'll stand by their right to call themselves so-so.

Via: SoSoGay.org

© 2012, Victor Hoff. All rights reserved. Menofcolor.blogs.com

Comments

[Zee Jai]

As one of the commenters on that article points out, there's also plenty of "no caucasians" profiles on sites like BGCLive, which even allows users to filter profiles by race.

[Victor]

At its as wrong there, too. But, like porn, BGCLive formed when they saw there was a - for lack of a better word - concerted effort to exclude them. It happens/has happened in every medium from television to radio to internal mobile hook-up sites.

[Victor]

*Internet hook-up sites*

[cdt]

Isn't a bit racist / prejudical to say just because a person won't sleep with a person of another race they are a racist. Or that they do. It is how do they act else where in their lives. I find orientals unattractive and wouldn't date them. Blacks are attractive, but not all. My husband, black is totally white boy sexual.Why don't we say since we are gay we are sexist. Hate women as the lesbian feminists say.
I find many things unattractive, fat, effeminacy.
I'm sure there are guys you won't sleep with, republicans, guys with Hiv, etc.
As for racism I've seen more racism directed against me, white by blacks, especially in the US than my husband ever experienced. Some of the stupid lies about slavery. Ie the US was a holiday camp compared to most of the Caribbean which was a death camp 5 year average life span of a slave there. The white just pulled up with their ships in Africa and the black moslems loaded their ships, and made Arab Oil money off the trade. As a note any not sold because they would not convert to Islam at the end of the season were killed.