Gay Life in Canadian Cities

[SignalHillHiker]

KW: Straight up edited your post (my section quoted in it) thinking I was editing my OP. Sorry. I changed nothing about what you wrote. lol

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper
I've always found 'reality tv' somewhat fascinating, if somewhat contrived. My first fav from back in the day was The Real World. Survivor, Amazing Race, Big Brother, which are ultimately popularity contests....

Originally Posted by YYCguys

A bit off topic for the thread, but how is Amazing Race a popularity contest? This, and the Canadian version, are the only reality shows I do watch specifically because they are NOT popularity contests. The teams arrive at the mat on their own merit and skill. There is no voting off the mat done here at all.

ya, as i was writing the post I was thinking of when lead team gets to pick which team behind them gets to do a U-turn and that this may eliminate teams earlier by other teams. But calling Amazing Race a popularity contest is probably unfair on the basic principles of the show.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

and just a tie in with some earlier Big Brother Canada posts here..a friend that works for Big Brother Canada goes to Western Cup every year & I saw Kenny and Andrew from Big Brother Canada at the Western Cup/Apollo dance at Hotel Arts on the weekend
..even saw Rihanna staying at the hotel at last years Western Cup/Apollo weekend! =)

That is awesome! We didn't make it this year as Colin had rugby and a rugby-related poker night/party that we needed to attend, as it was the first one this year. Glad to hear it was a cool time though.

[SignalHillHiker]

Opera on the Avalon made a bad advertising choice:



A friend of ours politely let this very LGBT-friendly organization know their advertising campaign might rub people the wrong way and Opera and the Avalon responded in minutes (via Twitter) apologizing and saying they'd get the billboards changed (most of them in St. John's are electronic, so it's not a big expense).

So the issue was over amicably for all involved, until, of course, the Very Serious MUN Students (TM) caught wind of it. Now it's blowing up, the media is getting involved... people are throwing around Facebook posts with "social constructs" and "privileged words" in them again - all while using words many others in our community find outdated and offensive (such as "queer", shudder, hate that one).

B'ys, **** OFF! Don't torture an LGBT-friendly organization for a simple mistake they thought was funny and would encourage us to attend, especially after they already apologized and are changing it. Move the **** on.

[eemy]

I kind of liked the sign, personally. I can definitely see how some people would be offended though.

[kwoldtimer]

I'm sure the SMQs won't be deterred from attending. If St John's is like the rest of the world, they make up almost half the audience!

[ue]

Fuck political correctness.

[freeweed]

Oh man, that just reminded me of a joke from my childhood. Something to the effect of "what's the easiest way to get to St. John's?" "By fairy".

Probably was considered a lot less offensive given the mores of the 1980s. I never really realized that it wasn't just some anti-NF joke until just now (to be fair, I probably haven't thought about this joke in 20 years).

[SignalHillHiker]

It's funnier just as "by ferry". I love non-jokes.

People are losing their ****ing minds. I can't believe it. CBC is on it. The Telegram is on it. Facebook is ALL over it.

They're saying the word is as bad as f**, which it isn't.

Other people are saying it's exactly the same as, "with more stupid Newfies than Newfoundland", etc.

B'ys... lighten up. Sure, it was an advertising miss... but there aren't two camps here. Opera on the Avalon is very closely linked with the LGBT community. It was an inside joke in a setting that was just a little too wide... but it wasn't meant to ridicule or insult.

[MonkeyRonin]

Everything offends someone or other these days. Anything from television to music to advertisements to sports to politics - so long as it's reached a wide enough audience, no matter how benign, I guarantee there is some critical theory analysis that accuses it of being racist or sexist or homophobic or transphobic or being a case of some sort of "privilege" or what have you. Look no further than the uproar around #CancelColbert in response to his satirical organization mocking the offensiveness of the Redskins football team, for example. At times, it all just feels like a big competition to see who can be the most offended or feign the most oppression.






The effect of all which only serves to further divide people and/or lead to "oppression burnout". It's hard to care anymore when everything is offensive - why bother trying to accommodate anyone when it'll just offend another? More and more most people are simply going to ignore any occurrences or accusations of racism/sexism/homophobia/classicism/etc. 'cos 9 times out 10 it's just some contentious wanker offended that they had their delicate feelings hurt. But then there's still that 1 other time where it'll happen and go unnoticed. One of those "boy who cried wolf"-type scenarios, I suppose.

[ue]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Everything offends someone or other these days. Anything from television to music to advertisements to sports to politics - so long as it's reached a wide enough audience, no matter how benign, I guarantee there is some critical theory analysis that accuses it of being racist or sexist or homophobic or transphobic or being a case of some sort of "privilege" or what have you. Look no further than the uproar around #CancelColbert in response to his satirical organization mocking the offensiveness of the Redskins football team, for example. At times, it all just feels like a big competition to see who can be the most offended or feign the most oppression.






The effect of all which only serves to further divide people and/or lead to "oppression burnout". It's hard to care anymore when everything is offensive - why bother trying to accommodate anyone when it'll just offend another? More and more most people are simply going to ignore any occurrences or accusations of racism/sexism/homophobia/classicism/etc. 'cos 9 times out 10 it's just some contentious wanker offended that they had their delicate feelings hurt. But then there's still that 1 other time where it'll happen and go unnoticed. One of those "boy who cried wolf"-type scenarios, I suppose.

+1

[Architype]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Opera on the Avalon made a bad advertising choice:



A friend of ours politely let this very LGBT-friendly organization know their advertising campaign might rub people the wrong way and Opera and the Avalon responded in minutes (via Twitter) apologizing and saying they'd get the billboards changed (most of them in St. John's are electronic, so it's not a big expense).

So the issue was over amicably for all involved, until, of course, the Very Serious MUN Students (TM) caught wind of it. Now it's blowing up, the media is getting involved... people are throwing around Facebook posts with "social constructs" and "privileged words" in them again - all while using words many others in our community find outdated and offensive (such as "queer", shudder, hate that one).

B'ys, **** OFF! Don't torture an LGBT-friendly organization for a simple mistake they thought was funny and would encourage us to attend, especially after they already apologized and are changing it. Move the **** on.

Until I saw the sign I had no idea that the Pattison empire extended that far . I find that it is both funny And offensive, funnier than offensive, but vastly inappropriate unless it originated from the gay community itself.

[SignalHillHiker]

St. John's Pride has announced some of its major sponsors for this year's Pride Week.

They include, but aren't limited to:

CBC
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
Bud Light
Breakwater Books
Quality Inn

And they're all involved in really big and exciting ways. One of them is even bringing in something major that's often used at the biggest Pride Parades in North America but hasn't yet been seen here.

And huge respect for the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's level of involvement. We knew they'd have our backs, but we never expected the degree to which they're getting on board. Details to follow at a later date.

[SignalHillHiker]

We can't get a break.

First it was taking offense that someone would dare call an individual person "he/she" as opposed to the gender-neutral "they", then it was the use of "tranny" on Ru Paul's Drag Race, then it was the use of "fairies" by Opera on the Avalon...

Now, what are that SAME GROUP up in arms about?

The class system undertones in St. John's new anti-littering campaign. They think it's offense to blame litter on skeets, which implies lower class.



How miserable must their lives be to be up in arms about that? Jesus... just this small glimpse at what their day-to-day must be like is enough to make me depressed.

[kwoldtimer]

St John's - where the "T" in LGBT stands for Trotskyite.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Holy shit these people existed when I was doing my Master's. Someone refused to use the term "guys" and would not shy at telling you why it was oppressive if you did. I also got berated once for calling something (not a person) "lame", because it was "ableist". It did have the effect of turning me off the activist crowd.

[freeweed]

While I agree that these sorts of extremes exist, I find they're very rare and more something to laugh at than anything else. Far, FAR more common are the people who use them as a counter-example to perpetuate their racism/sexism/homophobia.

I currently work with someone who says things like "everyone knows Africans are less motivated workers", and then points to comics like this and says "everyone is just too PC and easily offended these days" and my favourite "I'm just telling it like it is". I won't repeat what he says about women but suffice it to say he'd be happy with an office dress code than banned pants on a woman. He uses words like "proper" and "appropriate" when describing how women and minorities should behave and be treated, all the time. This is a highly-educated, intelligent middle-aged man who has lived in several countries. Not exactly the stereotype hick who you'd think would be like this.

I just try to take the high road and treat people as individuals. Nothing more, nothing less.

Also, that comic is less a take on PC-ness and more a weak lead in to a joke about Batman's orphanness. A pretty good one at that.

[vid]

I know it's not politically correct to say this but in my opinion, white, middle class, heterosexual cisgender men have the biggest victim complexes and the biggest senses of entitlement, often at the same time. It's simply astounding, some of the things they come up with. They believe they deserve everything, and cry when they miss out on anything. They are like children—if someone else has the same thing they have, it's no longer of value to them.

Today I read the phrase "native supremacist" and had to leave the room and walk around for a bit to calm the hysterics.

[ssiguy]

^ sounds like the 50-something Yuppies who feel that defining the world order is their birth right.

[ue]

How can a young urban professional (yuppie) be in their 50s?