Crosswords5 mins ago
If you are/ were to be gay
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would you find a poem where a dad is homophobic (and says 'you bl00dy queer' amongst other things) to his son, offensive?
I'm now looking through my anthology to find it but I think its by Carol Ann Duffy.
I'm now looking through my anthology to find it but I think its by Carol Ann Duffy.
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Its about a teenager who is growing up and gets hsi ear pierced etc etc but i don't think that the dad is homophobic and the boy is actually gay, reading it again, its just that my friend who is, thought that it was a homophobic poem.
the dad thought that it was bl00dy queer that the son had got an earring and longish hair (which my friend also has both of).
the dad thought that it was bl00dy queer that the son had got an earring and longish hair (which my friend also has both of).
A poem is a story. Someone expresses something, perhaps from their own experience. It doesn't mean promoting it as a way to behave. Indeed sometimes the portrayal of this kind of thing in context can make a very strong statement about acceptance.
The most beautiful portrayal of the interactions between a young gay man and his father was The Sum of US with Jack Thompson and Russell Crowe. The movie is a credit to both actors and all those who made it. Well worth seeing.
Some lines in that movie could seem offensive taken out of context so I would not presume to judge upon a single line from a poem.
The most beautiful portrayal of the interactions between a young gay man and his father was The Sum of US with Jack Thompson and Russell Crowe. The movie is a credit to both actors and all those who made it. Well worth seeing.
Some lines in that movie could seem offensive taken out of context so I would not presume to judge upon a single line from a poem.
Poems even those meant to be offensive are often less so than prose.... but is it any worse than Phillip Larkins classic that starts' They f*** you up your mum and dad...one I love by the way...sometimes poetry can make a strong statement but the restrictions of structure and metre etc can dilute a message, because I think you look at the words not only as meaning but as pattern. At the same time the effort needed to craft a poem can sometimes add weight to words, That is why I think that is why it is the best vehicle for romantic sentiment and memorial pieces. I'm gay as are many of my friends, we can choose to read a poem or ignore it, if I was offended I am more likely to write my own hopefully funny one as a rebuttal and try and get it published...I will try to find the one you are posting about on google may come back on this one..
My father thought... from book of Matches by Simon Armitage
As Jack said, context is all,, more illustration of the generation gap and how a choice made by a young man is not understood by an older person who had his own preconceptions . I don't think it is offensive, I am sure even today fathers up and down the country have similar reactions to sons coming home with piercings,
As Jack said, context is all,, more illustration of the generation gap and how a choice made by a young man is not understood by an older person who had his own preconceptions . I don't think it is offensive, I am sure even today fathers up and down the country have similar reactions to sons coming home with piercings,
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