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"The fact that you are not shocked...is the PROBLEM..."
Posted by: portenopete 09:24 am EDT 08/24/19
In reply to: re: despicable? - ryhog 12:01 am EDT 08/24/19

Sorry ryhog. I don't know how old you are but I am 53 and I grew up in a world where homophobia- among other ills- was commonplace and acceptable. Sniggering at aspects of gayness was the norm and it didn't necessarily imply virulent prejudice or hatred, just discomfort and unfamiliarity. Hell, if I met a 5-year boy today studying ballet something wry and snarky would spark in my brain and my eyebrow would reflexively rise a smidge.

I remember my father flying into a rage when I was watching Rudolf Nureyev on The Muppet Show. (I didn't even care about dance or Nureyev himself; I was just watching the fracking Muppet Show.)

Even at the age of ten I could see he was scared and effed up by something he sensed in me (my burgeoning homo-identity) and perhaps something he feared about himself.

I'm glad we don't live in an age where such casual, jovial belittling is the norm. But having been reared in it I can't get so upset about a moment that seems pretty minor. Lara Spencer was reared in that same world and a trace of it was revealed. It seems like she's paid her price. If she persists in her mockery, then by all means, ABC: can her and bring back Joan Lunden.
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re: "The fact that you are not shocked...is the PROBLEM..."
Posted by: ryhog 09:41 am EDT 08/24/19
In reply to: "The fact that you are not shocked...is the PROBLEM..." - portenopete 09:24 am EDT 08/24/19

I am slightly older than you, and of course it was worse. Thank you for sharing your story. Yes, people have long-ingrained reactions. But people, especially those in positions of responsibility and influence, are obliged to counteract those antiquated markers by training them out of their behavior and speech. I have a friend who grew up in a household in which the n-word was used regularly, without any overt racism attached. Would you excuse her use of it because she was "reared in it"?

One more point here: this is not about Lara Spencer. (I barely know who she is, as I long ago stopped watching TV, especially in the morning.) It's about media. The ABC culture is the villain here; she is just one symptom of its toxicity.
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