tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post514945493103132515..comments2024-03-27T03:35:18.721-04:00Comments on Pansy Poetics: Should I Call Myself a Gay Poet or a Poet Who Happens to Be Gay?Steve Fellnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11383222975171349962noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-40804745465694849942009-04-08T14:24:00.000-04:002009-04-08T14:24:00.000-04:00I tend to think of myself as a poet who happens to...I tend to think of myself as a poet who happens to be gay, an artist who happens to be gay and who as a photographer works with the male nude a lot, and a musician who happens to be gay.<BR/><BR/>But I don't mind if people think I'm a gay poet, gay artist, etc. I've been called all those, and it doesn't bother me at all. "Gay poet" is a label that puts one in very good company. And I readily admit to being influenced by gay poets such as Cavafy, Whitman, etc.<BR/><BR/>The one realm, interestingly enough, where it doesn't seem to come up, or bother anybody, is "gay composer." There's a whole list of good and great composers, and composers who completely changed music via their inventions, who were gay; but we still tend to think of them as composers who were gay, rather than as "gay composers." Maybe the closet is deeper there, as some have opined. But perhaps it just doesn't matter as much, because is more abstract, less verbal, less overtly erotic in a gendered way. Music can be VERY erotic, but it seems like everyone is able to respond to it equally, whatever their gender or preferences.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-34726393024366405152009-04-04T19:00:00.000-04:002009-04-04T19:00:00.000-04:00Steve-- "And when my students click on the links t...Steve-- "And when my students click on the links to your blogs, they'll immediately like me more because you both are cool." I totally want this as my tag line. :-) Thanks!<BR/><BR/><BR/>CK-- "I'd still prefer to just be known as a writer or poet. That's another piece of equality we should be working for."<BR/><BR/>I understand what you are saying. But, in a way, to be gay and acclaimed, and for people to say gay poet, well, I think there is something to be said it. Something said for people having to say a gay person has done something noteworthy. This might sound odd for some people, but I live in the south, and outside the city of Atlanta, well, we are behind the times. <BR/><BR/>When Doty won the National Book Award for Poetry, I was stoked for two reasons. (1) I adore the work of Doty, and he is such a kind soul. His success has NOT polluted his attitude. (2) Doty is very out and proud.<BR/><BR/>I love it when gay win awards, etc. It gives LGBT youth role models. When I was growing up and trying to distance myself from being gay, I can't remember anyone alive that was a role model for me. I love that so many LGBT peeps are successful--- kids who are in nonaccepting homes can point and say, I want to be like Mark Doty. I want to be like Kay Ryan. These kids have people of role model quality to point to when their parents want to point at the bathhouse types as what their kids will become.<BR/><BR/>OK-- I'm in super ramble mode, and I'm going to blame it on the headache medication. <BR/><BR/>Hopefully, I have made some sense.Dustin Brookshirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13921094348461306365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-54795047685963365522009-04-03T16:03:00.000-04:002009-04-03T16:03:00.000-04:00The problem with this question is that this is a n...The problem with this question is that this is a no win situation. If you only come out as a writer, plain and simple, no titles attatched, then you have to consider that you may lose an audience that you are seriously trying to reach. If you want to make a connection, or (knowing you) want to impress another gay writer and show them how awesome you are, is that possible without coming out and saying, "Hey, look at me, I'm a gay poet!" <BR/>You have admitted yourself to being drawn to other gay poet's writing. You can't be the only one, so if you don't adapt that title, who's to say another gay man would pick up your book and read it? Then again, who's to say he wouldn't?<BR/>On the other hand, by shouting to the world that you are in fact a gay poet, you are boxing yourself into a hole. However, as we discussed the danger of names before, this is going to happen no matter what. You can never be only a "writer". You're either a gay writer, a women's lib writer, a fiction writer, a non fiction writer...you're soemthing, and in having that label you will ultimately push away several potential audiences, no matter what.<BR/>So I say, if you're out, loud, and proud, proclaim it! But be prepared to take the good and the bad that come with it.Brandi Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06240975046382995044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-83108267329971045792009-04-01T11:32:00.000-04:002009-04-01T11:32:00.000-04:00I happen to be gay, but all of my writing does not...I happen to be gay, but all of my writing does not necessarily focus on the subject. I'm fine being identified as a "gay poet" or "gay writer," not that I can really do anything about it. People of all sexual orientations will put you in a box whether you want to be there or not. Being gay is only part of who I am. I'd still prefer to just be known as a writer or poet. That's another piece of equality we should be working for.Collin Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03777180960376039699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-66975705426657835472009-04-01T00:15:00.000-04:002009-04-01T00:15:00.000-04:00Hi Dustin and Charles,I love rambling and teasing....Hi Dustin and Charles,<BR/><BR/>I love rambling and teasing. That's what I hope this space to be. An immature playground. And sometimes we're a little rough. Hopefully. And when my students click on the links to your blogs, they'll immediately like me more because you both are cool.<BR/><BR/>SR,<BR/><BR/>I'm pro-sexualization! I think it's different for a straight woman than a queer male. Take porn for example. A lot more gay men do it because it's fun. Straight woman have to make a difficult choice for a variety of reasons. But I'd love to be objectified. My life can be over once that happens.<BR/><BR/>Stephanie,<BR/><BR/>I hope you're publishing like crazy. You are talented, I'll never read your book because you're not a queer male, but I'm sure I'll hear good things about it.Steve Fellnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383222975171349962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-48321801847607088472009-03-31T20:49:00.000-04:002009-03-31T20:49:00.000-04:00Charlie Jensen-- You write poems about the show TH...Charlie Jensen-- You write poems about the show THE HILLS! Your poems are like totally gay. (I was trying to channel a valley girl there.) OK-- I had to tease you! <BR/><BR/>(Steve-- forgive my teasing/rambling on your post.)Dustin Brookshirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13921094348461306365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-13278364639431467482009-03-31T20:14:00.000-04:002009-03-31T20:14:00.000-04:00I'm not a lesbian, but, from my female, hetero, fi...I'm not a lesbian, but, from my female, hetero, fiction-writing point of view, I wonder if an insistence on self-identifying as a gay poet or a gay (or straight) anything over-sexualizes people (is there such a thing as being oversexualized?). For example, often, because I am a woman, many men examine my body parts and think sex. The glazed eyes, etc. and the fact that they haven't heard a thing I've said. Bla bla bla, I might as well be saying. Why would anyone want to put themselves in that place?<BR/><BR/>Or perhaps what I'm saying, Steve, is that you and I are so much more than just who we want to sleep with, right? <BR/><BR/>Why put ourselves in any more little boxes than the world already does?SRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974408699828290076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-58134424992516027152009-03-31T17:49:00.000-04:002009-03-31T17:49:00.000-04:00Steve Fellner, what's up!!Great post. I want some...Steve Fellner, what's up!!<BR/><BR/>Great post. I want some lesbians to weigh in on this.Stephanie Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17745691711567675960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-29257026052884349052009-03-31T17:14:00.000-04:002009-03-31T17:14:00.000-04:00Thoughts on this:~I had this conversation with a c...Thoughts on this:<BR/><BR/>~I had this conversation with a colleague yesterday and said many of these same things.<BR/><BR/>~One of my teachers said something about "the gay sensibility" in poetry, and I said, "There's only one?"<BR/><BR/>~I may be a gay poet, but my poems aren't necessarily gay. Sometimes they're about gay experience in subject, sometimes not. But I think that no matter what, all of my experiences of the world are viewed through my gay glasses. I don't have the privilege of taking them off, or pretending like they're not there.Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222297450888695352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360167919886596728.post-3366213484105749402009-03-30T21:36:00.000-04:002009-03-30T21:36:00.000-04:00I have no qualms about calling myself a gay poet--...I have no qualms about calling myself a gay poet-- I'm quite happy to do so. <BR/><BR/>I can understand why someone wouldn't want to be known solely for being a gay poet. I see it as about the same as actors being type casted. People want to see themselves as more than one thing.Dustin Brookshirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13921094348461306365noreply@blogger.com