I wanted Hillary to win from the very first moment the New York Times divulged her candidacy-in-the-making back in 2004. My obsession with her had nothing to do with her politics: She tends to hold Centrist-Left positions, and is corporate-oriented, interest-group-serving. Hardly a treat for my radical-left politics (as if anyone that wasn't nominated by the Green party would be). Yet, somehow, this woman has captured by awe and infatuation.
I couldn't put my finger exactly on what drew me in, until i read this poll this morning, that showed (to my horror) 80% of Gay men in NY supported her for presidency.
More importantly, it dawned on my that her imposing presence, dominant personality and somewhat hawkish political stances exuded sex-appeal (or Wonderlust, or whatever new coined term-du-jour).
This is somewhat consistent with my choices of childhood heroines. I always felt sorry for Snow White, yet I could never get myself to denounce her Queen Step-Mother. The Queen spelt elegance, extravagant beauty, and perhaps, a hint of Evil: qualities that for some reason I find (till this day) v. appealing in women.
Case-in-point: I recently rediscovered the poise and power of Nina Simone's voice on a scenic trip in my manager's car, back from Jersey. In reading her biog
raphy, I discovered her psychotic tantrums, her violent behavior and her dominant presence, onstage and off. The discovery only crystallized her iconic stature in my eyes. (Also, yet again, she too apparently had a huge gay following).
raphy, I discovered her psychotic tantrums, her violent behavior and her dominant presence, onstage and off. The discovery only crystallized her iconic stature in my eyes. (Also, yet again, she too apparently had a huge gay following).Perhaps the roots of this fascination lies in the community's collective pyche: marginalized by society-at-large (and historically deemed subversive), is it no wonder that we idolize characters that were on constant defience of roles adhered to them by society? Hillary in shedding the skin of Mrs. Clinton and stepping out of his shadows, not to mention daring to be the first Ms. President!; Nina, rejecting her Methodist upbringing and singing the Songs of the Devil, even denouncing 'Racist' America alltogether and relocating to the South of France; The 'Evil' Queen, the antithesis of Snow White who optimized mid-century WASP women of good upbringing and good breeding: Soft-spoken, plain-beauty, child-like, do-gooder, simple-minded, Virgin..and White.
Defiance and insubordination, are sexy traits.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment