According to this editorial, "Straight Talking," a Harvard student group got their knickers in a twist over Jada Pinkett Smith's comments. The lovely actress from the Matrix trilogy was stressing how one can overcome the obstacles life presents to ultimately achieve one's dreams. Very motivational stuff. Said Smith:
"Women, you can have it all--a loving man, devoted husband, loving children, a fabulous career. . . . To my men, open your mind, open your eyes to new ideas, be open."
But this is Harvard, land of the hapless Larry Summers, so, yep, someone's going to be offended.
Among the campus groups affiliated with the foundation [which hosted Ms. Smith and the event at which she spoke] is the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters Alliance, or BGLTSA, and it didn't like some of what it heard. A co-chair of the group, Jordan B. Woods, told Ms. Friedman that part of Ms. Pinkett Smith's speech was "extremely heteronormative, and made BGLTSA members feel uncomfortable." In other words, Mr. Woods and others in BGLTSA explained, by focusing on a heterosexual relationship, Ms. Pinkett Smith took such a narrow view that some in the audience felt left out. Nobody called her a homophobe. Through ignorance, she just came off as "insensitive."
There's a new one: heteronormative. Pardon me for asking, but isn't normal that which applies to most members of a class? And if 90-98% of the members of the class Homo sapiens are heterosexual, doesn't that by default make heterosexuality normal? Furthermore, if a species can only reproduce heterosexually, then, um, that would make heterosexuality, um, normal.
But that's just me. Er . . . and biology.
Posted by Clifton at March 4, 2005 09:37 AM | TrackBack