Ok, I’ll admit it, sometimes I like to watch 0prah when I get home from work. Not all the time, but she often has interesting guests and she’s just so… out there. I’d watch Ellen if I could (gotta support the team), but she is on too early.
This week, 0prah devoted a couple of shows to the camping trip that she and Gay1e took to Yosemite. As they were heading into the pop-up trailer at bed time, Gay1e said something like: this will add to those lesbian rumors! We got a chuckle out of that.
I’m of two minds on the whole 0prah and Gay1e thing. Here’s what I think:
1) They are gay and 0prah is building up to the big reveal at the end of this, her final season. She has been having a lot of openly gay people on the show talking about coming out. She could be preparing, laying the ground work, getting her audience ready. But she could also be building compassion for others, participating in her own way in the ‘It Gets Better’ movement. I mean, 0prah has been an advocate for the gays for a long time. But, why? Because she is a good and accepting person or because she is gay but can’t risk her reputation? Could go either way, right?
2) They are not gay. They are best friends who have lived together, traveled together, had all kinds of adventures together but, because they are single, middle-aged women, well, they must be gay. This attitude is prevalent and it makes me mad. Why can’t two women just be friends? Why can’t two middle-aged, single, lifelong pals be just that… friends through thick and thin, but not lovers. My best friend of over 35 years is straight. We have lived together, traveled together, had all kinds of adventures together but never been lovers. How can this be?
I used to try to explain to people, when they assumed that Lisa and I were girlfriends, that no, we were just friends. They would say, “Oh no, I didn’t think that!” while their faces said, ‘why is she hiding it? It’s obvious that she’s gay’. Well, yes, I am gay, but my best friend is not. Too bad for her, but that’s how it goes. Even my own grandmother assumed that Lisa was my girlfriend, which was sweet in an accepting kind of way, but incorrect.
So, two women who choose each other’s company over that of a man’s are suspect. How dare we not need them! The patriarchy is threatened by all of this woman power stuff. How tedious, how tired, how last century is all that? Didn’t we already fight that battle? Yes, we did, and we still are fighting it, and we have never won and it’s not over.
What am I trying to say here? Well, first of all, I’m saying that I don’t care if 0prah and Gay1e are gay. I hope for their sakes that they are and that they can come out but that’s just my pro-gay bias. Mostly, I am trying to say that old patterns of thought need to change and people need to quit judging by whatever archaic standards they were taught in the previous millennium. It’s time to stop with the attitude folks! I’m not going to go into my feminist diatribe ~ but believe me, I could! I am just fed up with this old, useless crap. Women can be friends with each other and it has absolutely nothing to do with men. Don’t get your feelings hurt fellows, it’s just not about you all the time.
