Observance

Strange as it may seem, for my observance I chose a gay club called “Tiger Heat”. I will admit that this coincided with my gay friends birthday and while it may have been his decision, I figured that I might as well capitalize on it. My reasoning really was to step outside the box and see the world through a different set of eyes. I will admit, being a straight man in a gay club was a little awkward, but the girls we took with us defiantly provided a some sanctuary. But enough blathering, to my observances.
In a world that sees heterosexual couples as the standard, and in a country where homosexual couples is just starting to become an accepted idea, this little club turned out to be a doorway into another world. Or rather, opposite world. One, the go-go dancers were men in underwear. Two, I’ve never seen that much dude in one place. Three, it was one of the best clubs I’ve been too.
I suppose your wondering about now what I am getting at. Well to put it plainly, the romantic comedy. Romantic comedies are portrayed as boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Very much a heterosexual ideology. And yet, I believe this is still a valid idea, the only thing I would change about this statement is the sex to gender. Granted, we are each a male or a female in sex. But a new form of thinking has been coming out in the idea of Gender. Gender is not the same as sex. Sex is the difference between an X and a Y. Gender on the other hand is whether a male or female is more masculine or feminine in nature. Couples tend to have a masculine and feminine person or even switch at times. The point is that this seemingly odd club, going against the “norm”, is a new look at popular culture. Because of course, the question we must ask is “to whom is this popular”. Well from my observations, there were a few differences in this setting but for the most part, people were the same. The “girls” (gender wise here) were dancing in the middle with the “guys” scoping them out. Exchanges were similar to those in a club, perhaps a little bolder. However, its what wasn’t the “normal” club that struck me as interesting. I have never had a case where the men’s bathroom line was longer then the women’s. The bar had some of the best service. Probably what shocked me the most was that the music was good. A little to much Pink played but then again its not my usual sort of place. As for similarities, you still saw a lot of single people milling around looking for someone to dance/connect with. Some people were obviously couples and had been for some time. Others still went around flirting a little with everyone. Dress attire ranged from button downs and jeans, to t-shirts and jeans, to just jeans, to underwear. I suppose it depends on what your looking for. On this I thought was very interesting was the style of clothing. I will admit that there is a certain “gay“ image that society determines is gay. I honestly didn‘t see this “image“ all that much. In fact, I saw some very interesting couples that were multiracial, others that were dressed very hip hop gansta, and still others that were dressed up. The diversity here was amazing. It was an eye opening experience because its as if we went from high culture (the straight club), to low culture (the gay club). I did not anticipate having fun, but did surprisingly.
On to more in depth observations. When I walked in to the main dance area, I noticed a very tall guy that caught my attention. Mainly because he was really tall and looked uncomfortable. Then as I came around front when my group passed him, I noticed him clutching this girl that was closer to half his size. It was an interesting sight. Her having a great time, him looking like a fish out of water. Must be straight I thought to myself. I secretly wished him luck knowingly full well that I probably looked the same.
Throughout the night I caught myself looking at these huge screens where music videos were being played. There were balconies up there, and many couples too I found out. One caught my eye, mainly because they weren’t moving to the beat of the music like everyone else. Instead, time seemed to have slowed for them and they were too caught up in each other to care. As the turned in they’re orbit of each others mouths I realized that it was two guys. I instantly thought afterward that it shouldn’t be that surprising in a gay club. Still what caught me off guard was the fact that you never really see a homosexual couple show that much affection and feeling in public. Generally, most of their displays of affection are usually behind closed doors. It struck me as sad, for seeing the level of pent up passion the two obviously held, made me realize that they probably aren’t accepted outside this place. Tonight was special in the sense that they could go somewhere and not be afraid to show how they felt. Love is a beautiful thing, but it is a sad reality to see it caged.
Now the reason I brought in the idea of Romantic Comedy is because this genre does to a certain extent, emphasize the “correct” way of meeting someone. It generally is a heterosexual idea but if you put sex aside, the ideas of love and meeting people are the same. Everyone is looking for this special kind of relationship. Romantic comedies both hinder and guide us on what a relationship should consist of. The thing about Romantic Comedies is the same as this club I ventured into with my friends. Its thrilling and exciting and funny, but then the novelty wears off at some point. And pretty soon, you realize that all either one is doing is building a cage to protect you and keep you from the outside world. Very much like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Our ideas are safe inside the cage, but at the same time, nothing will change if we remain in the cage.
Popular Culture is what is current and relevant in today’s society. Change is brought about when people go against this norm. Yet you cannot bring about change from above. High culture can only go so far. Rather you must start from the ground up, and change the low culture to the new high culture. Real change is possible, but you must play by the rules of the popular culture machine to achieve it.