Fear and Loathing in Middle America

[Guest StuCotts]

http://www.alternet.org/stories/57490

Go to this site only if you're prepared for a dpressing account of what motivates voting habits in the heartland, or at least some parts of it.

[TampaYankee]

http://www.alternet.org/stories/57490

Go to this site only if you're prepared for a dpressing account of what motivates voting habits in the heartland, or at least some parts of it.

What disheartens me more is that leaders and would-be leaders appeal and pander to these instincts in search of power, no more believing in, much less, living those beliefs day to day. Even worse are the leaders, actual and would-be, that really believe it. While that honesty is refreshing it is also frightening.

I'm reminded that in one of the early debates only three of nine candidates confessed to believing that the Theory of Evolution was valid on its own. That science has the lead role to play in that question. What a vision -- a Scopes Monkey Trial believer in the White House. Not to worry, the other camp is pandering to its own community of crazies.

I've grown to wonder what the USA has become or maybe has been all along while eluding my perceptions. It seems we have many countries in one with little interaction among the constituent communities except around the edges and at election time.

[Guest Conway]

Having grown up in a place that is far closer to Winchester, Va philosophically than it is to say, New York, I don't have the same type of fear of loathing for the simple people of these places that the writer of this book and the author of the reviewing article have for them.

Middle America, especially small town middle America, draws its perceptions largely from images presented to them by the media. For instance, we as gay men are people who dance around in the streets in boas and thongs everyday of our lives in their minds. Why? Because that is the image that the media has presented of us, to them, for years.

There is an article in today's NY Times (a style article) about a former gay couple who own an apartment and business together despite not still being romantically involved. They note that the business that they run is deep in the bible and textile belt of Piedmont North Carolina, a place where it is probably still pretty unusual for someone to come out and live among that community.

They note, and I agree, that once you get to know the folks in places like Winchester, you'll find that they're wonderful, warm and accepting people. Some there may hold religious objections to your sexual preference. But, once they know you, they treat you as one of their own. You're no longer a media image to them. You're a person.

To me, that illustrates that the way for us, as gays, to win acceptance in Middle America and the support of Middle America, is that we have to treat the uninformed with far less suspicion and characterization of who they are than they give us.

To me, the writer of the article is just as uninformed and is basing his characterization of the good folks of Winchester, Va on the same type of ignorance and media manipulation of their image as they have been subjected to in drawing a conclusion as to who we are.

That's unfortunate and certainly doesn't represent the type of thinking that we, as a minority group, need to embrace if we want Middle America to develop a real understanding our lives are very much like theirs in many respects and that there is plenty of common ground that we can find both politically and socially in our lives.

The first steps to progress with folks in places like Winchester, involve exposing those who fear us to the very commonality that we share as human beings.

[TampaYankee]

Having grown up in a place that is far closer to Winchester, Va ...

Middle America, especially small town middle America, draws its perceptions largely from images presented to them by the media...

They note, and I agree, that once you get to know the folks in places like Winchester, you'll find that they're wonderful, warm and accepting people. Some there may hold religious objections to your sexual preference. But, once they know you, they treat you as one of their own. You're no longer a media image to them. You're a person.

I largely agree about the media and about limited acceptance once the gay person is revealed to the middle America community as a person. However, I also suspect that Middle America still possesses a dichotomy of thought when it comes to gays: that individuals gain limited acceptance but the community enlarge is still loathed. Even so, the Freds are making progress for all, one at a time, a day at a time.

In some respects the media also has been responsbile for humanizing gays too. The TV series Qeer Eye... and a other productions and movies , e.g. The Bird Cage, have presented gays to Middle America as human beings. Postive or at least nonnegative exposure in the media over the last several years has fostered a growth in tolerance. As that continues and the generations roll over progress will continue, hopefully. But strong counter influences centered in religious organizations will remain. I don't see that going away.