aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Sunday, February 18, 2007

You show me your affection and I’ll show you mine!

I’m quoted in the NYTimes today, in a beautifully written article in the Styles section, A Kiss Too Far?

In it the Times’ writer, Guy Trebay, uses the recent outrage over the Snickers ad to look at the double standard surrounding gay public displays of affection:

Football is probably as good a place as any to look for the limits of social tolerance. And the Snickers commercial - amusing to some, appalling to others and ultimately withdrawn by the company that makes the candy - had the inadvertent effect of revealing how a simple display of affection grows in complexity as soon as one considers who gets to demonstrate it in public, and who, very often, does not.

The demarcation seemed particularly stark during the week of Valentine’s Day, when the aura of love cast its rosy Hallmark glow over card-store cash registers and anyone with a pulse. Where, one wondered, were all the same-sex lovers making out on street corners, or in comedy clubs, performance spaces, flower shops or restaurants?

Trebay found me after reading a post from last summer, On PDA (Public Displays of Affection).