Wow.
VIBE just published a story called “The Mean Girls of Morehouse.” The title itself is….um, yeah.
The story is basically about a group of Morehouse “men” who like to dress and act like women. It talks about the dress code that was created a couple years ago that the school hoped would combat the growing reputation of Morehouse being gay as hell. Fairly, the story also talked to a group of gentlemen who are also gay Morehouse students, but don’t act like women.
Living in Atlanta, you can’t even been homophobic anymore. Gay people are everywhere down here. Its on you how much you let the presence bother you. I don’t know where they be at, so I’m not really around them like that. And the places that I do know where they’re at…I just, don’t go. If I’m hungry as hell waiting on my food at a restaurant, and a group of gay dudes come in smelling like Flowerbomb, I don’t get up and leave on some Jim Crow shit, I stay and eat my food. I don’t let these cats alter MY life.
That said, I think too much attention gets paid to these type of dudes. Yeah, its cool to be aware of what’s going on in the world so you can figure out how you want to maneuver or raise your kids, no doubt. But sometimes, I think we are giving these cross-dressing attention whores exactly what they want. One of the guys in the story (who is 6’4 and over 200 pounds) said he is going to transfer from Morehouse to a larger school in Florida where nobody will notice him. Bullshit. I don’t care where you’re at in the world, if you walking around looking like Michael Strahan in a dress…people are going to notice you. Which like I said, is what these cats want at the end of the day.
If you don’t want to be picked on or singled out, if its soooooo difficult for you to go outside and go on about your day, guess what, you wouldn’t do things to draw more attention to yourself. And to me, that has nothing to do with them being gay. Gay people don’t get stared at anymore. For the most part, people have learned to accept it. Only time they may get a stare is if they are doing some obnoxious shit like wearing tight ass clothes, playing grab ass or making out in public. Hell, straight people get stared at and pointed out for doing the same things, because its out of the ordinary and obviously a very public and a for the most part inappropriate display of affection and “expression.”
So when I see cats like the “mean girls” complaining about getting called out for how they dress, I really don’t have a heart for them on it. People aren’t bothering them because they gay, they are messing with them because they are some damn weirdos. If they didn’t want the attention drawn to them, they’d stop doing things to get attention. So, as well written as this VIBE article is, it also gives cats like these exactly what they want, attention for being weird.
Weirdos want attention. That’s why they dress up like Space Troopers on the weekend. That’s why they dye their hair pink. That’s why wear green jeans and yellow sneakers. That’s why they do drugs in public and try to get mad when they get arrested. That’s why Trojan makes glow-in-the-dark condoms. Weirdos, rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, simply want attention.
One of the cats in the story said he was disappointed in Morehouse because he thought the school was about making vast contributions to society, not about dress codes and sexual orientations. Yeah ok. But how about you make some contributions first before you start trying make people feel a certain way for not wanting to be around your dress wearing ass.
I’ve mentioned this in blog posts in the past, but I don’t have a problem with gay people. I just have a problem with the ones who feel every time they don’t get their way, get fired from a job or cut from a basketball team its because they’re gay. And I guess in addition to that, I have a problem with obnoxious ones who do shit for attention. But the way society operates now, we can’t even get mad when they get rewarded for their behavior and bask in it.
Homosexuality is becoming a tired and old debate in itself in the Black community anyways. Gay people are here and they aren’t leaving or disappearing into thin air either. Like I said earlier, its on you you let it effect your life. I don’t go to Lenox Mall and complain about too many gay people being there. Shit, I just, don’t go. And really, it ain’t about too many gays being there. Its because I can’t afford most of the stuff there anyway.
The real problem in the Black community, as it pertains to sexuality, is the Down Low phenomenon that puts people’s lives at risk.
But yeah, I’m done rambling, read the piece for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
READ: The Mean Girls of Morehouse
i think “been” s/b “be” in 2nd paragraph. Way to get a response piece up SO fast. Good chopping it up w/ you at the west coast stage at AC3/Masquerade.
Keep doin what ya doing
“I don’t care where you’re at in the world, if you walking around looking like Michael Strahan in a dress…people are going to notice you.”
I almost choked on my gum when I read that. Hehe. Good stuff as always MG.
My thoughts exactly. I was really confused about why they would go to an all male school and then get mad when they cant look like a girl. That makes no damn sense to me.
This article is hilarious. You always put your own sense of humor in it but the line “a group of gay dudes come in smelling like Flowerbomb” seriously almost made me fall out laughing. MAURICE GARLAND=REALEST WRITER IN THE SOUTH!
Great article, just I wouldn’t go putting this whole problem on gay people, this a crossdressing problem, straight ppl do it too, any dude thats want to dress like a man can not expect ppl who have no idea why they are doing that to understand them or be comfortable with it, it’s not natural, if a woman dress up like a man it’d be the same thing….
“I just have a problem with the ones who feel every time they don’t get their way, get fired from a job or cut from a basketball team its because they’re gay.”
Same could be said about black, hispanic, asian, shit every race sometimes feels if something don’t go their way it’s due to their race or religion….
Mr. Garland,to quote Keith Olbermann,”You’re too arrogant and stupid to know that you’re arrogant and stupid.” And here’s why.
One. To state that,”Mean Girls”,Get Too Much Attention”,is one of the reasons why the following Morehouse Man is famous: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/2256755/detail.html
Two.To state that,”Mean Girls”,Get Too Much Attention”,is one of the reasons why We,as Afro-Americans,rank number one in the following area: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/
Three.To state that,”Mean Girls”,Get Too Much Attention”,is one of the reasons why one will see a growing trend in the following: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Why-Bridget-Sued-Her-Husband-for-12-Million-Dollars
It’s why many gay,black men,choose to go on,”the down low”. So folks like yourself won’t clown on them…
But hey…what the fuck…we as black folk have took,”talking instead of doing”,to an art form for generations. Therefore,we’ll talk about this;and,sweep it under the rug,like so many of our problems….like this: http://www.championnewspaper.com/news/articles/595lawsuit-accuses-bishop-eddie-long-of-sexual-coercion595.html
@M.Dillon
M.Dillon, to paraphrase Shawn Carter, “do you fools read articles or do you just skim through them.”
It sounds like you already knew what you wanted to say before you even read anything. Just like how the Morehouse President wrote a letter to VIBE after only seeing the title and not reading the story.
When I say “mean girls get too much attention” im talking about fools who enroll in all male colleges, carry themselves like women and get mad when somebody tells them “hey man, stop wearing skirts, make up and perfume.”
As I said multiple times in the post, I don’t have a problem with gay people, but I do have a problem with dudes dressing and acting like women. That type of behavior is just stupid. I’m all for expression, but some “expression” is just over the top and are obvious cries for attention from attention whores. Attention whoredom doesn’t discriminate, its equally annoying from everybody. And these cats are no different.
Am I promoting non-tolerance of homosexuality? No, if you READ what I wrote, you’d see the couple of times that I mentioned that it makes no sense to be homophobic in Atlanta and learn to accept that its not going anywhere.
If you READ what I said, you know that I feel that going back and forth and arguing about folks being gay is a tired discussion and that more focus should be given to attacking the problem of the same deceitful bi-sexuality that you linked to in your comment.
I’m no expert on the psychology of gay dudes who go on the down low, and honestly I have no respect for them whatsoever. But, I think it would be safe to say that they aren’t going on the down low because they are afraid of “folks like myself” clowning on them. No, they are going on the DL because they are afraid of the consequences of living a lie to their families that they are putting at risk.
I’m assuming that this is the first time that you’ve visited my site. Because if you were a frequent visitor you would know that I am not for sweeping subject under the rug. You’d know that I expose news, facts, injustices regularly on this blog. Another reason why I’m assuming that this is your first time visiting this site is your sassy little opening.
All opinions are welcome around these parts, but the name calling is not. Save that for the next time you go to the hair salon.
Great point of view Maurice, I suppose my only criticism is that not all weirdos are attention whores. Because something isn’t for you, it isn’t always weird — some people think its weird to pray 5 times a day.
I have gay friends who lives their lives as gay men, but without the tiki torch sign saying “look at me, i’m gay.” They don’t fake the life they lead, but they don’t fight for attention because of their lifestyle being “alternative.”
Gay or straight, everyone doesn’t need to know everything about you and your life — there are subcultures for everybody. If you cross dress or dressing up as a furry, there’s a group for you that prevents you from making this your life 24/7.
“I’ve mentioned this in blog posts in the past, but I don’t have a problem with gay people. I just have a problem with the ones who feel every time they don’t get their way, get fired from a job or cut from a basketball team its because they’re gay.”
Have you ever been fired from your job because you’re gay? Have you ever had a landlord tell you that you can’t rent from him because he does not like gay people? Have you ever been told by a hospital staff that you are not welcome in your partner’s hospital room because you are not considered family? These sorts of events happen to gay people all the time because the laws in this state allow it.
But hey… as long as you don’t have a problem with gay people you can’t see, hear or smell, I guess that makes you “tolerant.”
Wow, except for the sassy opening, I concur with everything M. Dillon said (and that’s only because I don’t know you well enough to make that statement).
You said:
“As I said multiple times in the post, I don’t have a problem with gay people, but I do have a problem with dudes dressing and acting like women. That type of behavior is just stupid.”
You must realize how intolerant that statement is. Why should a man have to constrained by someone’s cookie-cutter image of what a man should be? What if your own son one day express himself in this way – one can only cringe at how you would handle it.
Maybe you should take a moment to think about what acceptance really is.
You also said:
“I’m no expert on the psychology of gay dudes who go on the down low, and honestly I have no respect for them whatsoever. But, I think it would be safe to say that they aren’t going on the down low because they are afraid of “folks like myself” clowning on them. No, they are going on the DL because they are afraid of the consequences of living a lie to their families that they are putting at risk.”
You should have stopped after admitting that you’re no expert, but yet you dive right into the wrong conclusions (as people do when they don’t understand the matter).
YES, men hide their persuasion because of people just like you. They’re not afraid of living a lie, that’s just silly because that’s what they ARE doing. You’re saying they are living a lie because they’re afraid of living a lie. That’s why I said you should take a second because that actually makes sense to you.
Bottomline is there is a whole montage of different but beautiful sorts of black men. Until people like you learn except and love them all, the down-low, the Eddie Longs, and the little gay boys who off themselves will be with us for quite some time.
Throw away the fake cookie-cutter image of what a black man is. It’s tired, worse than useless, and is actually hurting people.
Some people seem to get it, some don’t. I totally agree with MG and the point he is trying to make. At this point in time nobody really gives a damn if you’re gay or not. That’s not an issue anymore, especially in Atlanta. The problem comes when these folks act like what their doing is cool. And to be honest, the over the top flamboyant, look at me I’m ‘different’ act is tired as hell. MG is right, they all want attention.
The same can be said for many groups; I get tired of the over-the-top pro-black act the same way. I know we’re black and the world aint fair but so what. You don’t have to announce it everywhere you go.
@Todd: This is the EXACT point that needs to be made. You wanna cross-dress and whatnot? Fine, there’s places in Atlanta where that is fine and dandy, just not at Morehouse.
@Taylor
yo. I apologize for being old-fashioned and not being with the times. i had no idea that dudes who shop in the men’s section at the mall are now considered “cookie-cutter.”
There is also a difference between what I said, and what you read. Perhaps we have different definitions of what “DL” is. When I say DL, im not talking about cats who simply keep their business to themselves, i have no problem with that. im talking about dudes who date/marry women, start families and then go back out on those streets and mess with dudes and bring drama and disease back to their households, i have the same level of disdain for straight husbands who do the same. deceit is deceit.
brah, i know alot of cats from all walks of life. it sounds like we agree that everybody doesnt have to look or dress the same. but skirts and make up dawg? im sorry, cats cant expect not to get laughed at or treated differently for doing that.
Lord!. I honestly don’t where all the hostility and drama is coming from! The article DID NOT say ” I don’t like gay folks or every gay person should come out the closet.” Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the article was more about being an attention whore, than being a homosexual. People wanna pull bits and pieces from the article then go off on some tangent, that shit doesn’t make any sense.
“Bottomline is there is a whole montage of different but beautiful sorts of black men. Until people like you learn except and love them all, the down-low, the Eddie Longs, and the little gay boys who off themselves will be with us for quite some time”.
What the hell does that have to do with the article? I did not read “I don’t ACCEPT gay people or I hate gay people in the article”. Stop reading what you wanna read and read what is on the page.
There are people who feel like they can’t come out the closet or live on the DL (men with wives and families sleeping with men on the side), but its not because of MG’s article. I mean lets get real, the closet and down low men are NOT the ones wearing skinny jeans, stilettos and tutus like the article discussed, so lets save the drama for another day aight?
Oh a side note: When are you gonna speak on Eddie Long MG?
The only thing that I disagreed with on the article is the “wierdos want attention” statement. I wholeheartedly disagree. Every individual has their own classification on what is wierd or what isn’t really the norm on what is seen, but I don’t think its fair for you to say that just because someone is different, and its seen as wierd, that it means that they are attention whores. Im sure none of those guys woke up in the morning and said to themselves “Ooh I just cannot wait for all the faggotry and slander im going to get when I put on this outfit” I honestly don’t think it works like that.
As a black person, I don’t like sports, I don’t listen to mainstream hip-hop and the artists I do like probably no one has ever heard of, Id rather read a book than watch a football game, and because of speaking proper words when I talk, Im considered by many to have a “white voice” or being an “oreo”
On those miniscule characteristics alone, im classified as wierdo all the time. By family members, by friends, by lots of people. Its hurtful at times. and its not because I simply “want attention”.
Just because a person does something different from what others do, doesn’t follow a trend, or a subculture, may consider them being “wierdo” unfortunately. But it shouldn’t automatically consider them being an “attention whore”. If a person goes out in a dress, or with pink hair, or with goggles instead of glasses, and has the mindset that they don’t give a shit about what others may think of them, then that nullifies that statement that they “want attention” because they could care less.
Thats just my thought. Wierdos as a whole don’t want attention.