Jose (Director of Mun2 Digital) says: March 1st, 2007 at 8:50 am Hey Daniela, It was great to read your post and know that you’re enjoying our clips. Let me clarify: in the case of RBD, the word “gay” was used repeatedly by the audience in reference to a group that is perceived by many of them as very plastic – moreso than the Backstreet Boys ever where. Moreover, that clip was an audience question round-up: we literally cited the audience’s words. I do take your concerns about using the word gay in the “Spirited Away” review seriously. My opinion is that this review is so obviously over the top, so ridiculous in every way, that whether we used a fat joke (as you suggested) or a joke about effeteness (as we did) they would be interpreted as inane, childish jabs. You’re not going to find support for homophobia in our content and I encourage you to keep me to that pledge. best, Jose ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you Jose, for taking my concern/question seriously. I have never considered any of Mun2's content to be homophobic, and whether or not I agree with Mun2's public acceptance/usage of "gay" as an appropriate jab (childish or not), I still love Mun2. ~ Daniela  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So friends, to keep this entry completely "gay" AND put things in perspective, did you hear about the "that's so gay" lawsuit? excerpt: But school officials say they took a strict stand against the putdown after two boys were paid to beat up a gay student the year before. ...We have to be aware how words and action are connected. If you attend a school where no one corrects your usage of gay as a putdown, and the very students who use this term end up beating the crap out of a student, isn't the school being negligent to not try to educate their student body on what hurtful language is? The lawsuit by the girl's parents is just proof of failure on the school's part to take preventive action (through education, discussion) in the first place. this sums it up for me: [excerpt]

A confusing set of terms Derogatory terms for homosexuality have long been used as insults. But the landscape has become confusing in recent years as minority groups have tried to reclaim terms like "queer," "ghetto" and the n-word.

In recent years, gay rights advocates and educators have tried teaching students that it is hurtful to use the word "gay" as an all-purpose term for something disagreeable. At Berkeley High School, a gay student club passed out buttons with the words "That's so gay" crossed out to get their classmates to stop using them.

Rick Ayers, a retired teacher who helped compile and publish the "Berkeley High School Slang Dictionary," a compendium of trendy teen talk circa 2001, said educating students about offensive language is preferable to policing their speech.

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I intended, and still intend, for this personal blog to share my interests and information about my creative projects. There is definitely a slant towards new media/social media going on in most of my blog posts, but sometimes (like this entry and the last), I am going to bring up issues that are important to me that might be a combo of new media and politics.

The personal is political, right? Happy Thursday :)