Sunday, October 12, 2008

Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff did a PSA about using the word "gay" as a derogatory term:

There are some obvious issues with the PSA, aside from its good intentions. There is the insult on the end about the girl wearing the skirt as a top being akin to being called gay. It was catty and uncalled for. And as much as I appreciate what Hilary Duff is attempting to do here, I much prefer this Think B4 You Speak ad:

I think this one makes the right decisions about how to approach the situation.

What I don't like about the Hilary Duff ad is that not just that it shows girls in a stereotypical setting, Girls do shop; but the catty nature of Duff's reply and actively engaging in that particular mean girl behavior goes farther to reinforce one negative portrayal of a group while defending another group. I love the second one because it places the entire analogy on who these people are and how demeaning and hurtful it is to take one aspect of a person -their sexual orientation or their name- and make it an insult. It removes any indication that the insult is based on something the person has done but something the person is, and how wrong that is.

2 comments:

John said...

Truth be told, I think I liked the Wanda Sykes one the best. Take that, sixteen-year-old guys with stupid mustaches!

mikhailbakunin said...

You're only insulting what a person is if you subscribe to that lefty pinko-liberal notion that gays aren't making a lifestyle choice.

"Oh, they're born that way! It's ignorant to ridicule them!"

Please. Even if they are born that way, there are many groups like Exodus International that can harness the power of Jesus Christ to cure them of their homosexuality.

Maybe it's about time you go read your Bible and repent.