Class Stratification and Commodification of Identity
As I was in Hong Kong, my facebook newsfeed blew up with updates from West Hollywood -- it was Pride Weekend in Los Angeles. I mean, if you were LGBT or even if you weren't homophobic, you just had to be there. While I really do find the community spirit and public affirmation of identity empowering, the activities I remember from previous years of participation includes being a [2.5 mile] dancing-intern for OUT@NBCUniversal and acquiring some free rainbow things (my favorite is the rainbow Smirnoff armband tossed in my face when I was 17) while not really being able to do the one thing everyone else seemed to be doing -- drinking at bars.
Similarly Denise Tse Shang Tang discusses how "a lesbian consumer subject can purchase visibility through participation at queer-friendly cultural events" (63-64). In other words, by going to queer bars, or queer cafes, or even buying rainbow decorated paraphernalia at a Pride Parade, you can use what you buy with your money to affirm your identity as a queer person. Thinking about the question of borders, forming communities in spaces that require purchase of coffee or alcoholic drinks are non-inclusive of not only youth, but also people who cannot afford such expenditures regularly.
The visibility of "gay" over other queer/quiltbag groups is not a new idea if we consider what's happening in the U.S. regarding marriage equality. Recently a friend of mine and I went to West Hollywood and discussed how we both grew up in Los Angeles and never really knew about these places until we both left for college. For me personally, I just never had a reason to venture to West LA: I didn’t know anyone who lived there and couldn’t afford any of the things there, plus public transit and parking was terrible.
Alternatively, there were no gay bars in Macau. Or so says google. On the surface, it doesn’t look like LGBT life in Macau is particularly hoppin’. To a foreign traveller, even a diligent one who scours the Internet for public spaces to meet others, they might be told they’d have better luck in Hong Kong, which is only an hour ferry ride away. Indeed this is where even some people from Macau cite first encountering others who are like them (Sim).
Perhaps the most visible in Macau are women migrant workers, who are often recognized in public spaces as butch/femme couples taking a trip to St. Paul’s Square or a casino. Unlike in Hong Kong, many migrant women workers in Macau do not live in homes working as nannies. Sundays in Macau don’t see as many people out and about as Hong Kong, where women take on public spaces on their day off of work. Other than the fleeting sight of such couples, there’s not much access for foreigners looking to connect with other LGBT folk in Macau. Beside bathhouses or saunas, or college parties, as I was told, which cater almost exclusively to men, most of the circles seem private – especially for a non-Cantonese speaking traveller like myself.
But I’m not sure this is a bad thing. Why should I, some rando from the U.S. who’s only there for 2 weeks and who knows no Cantonese, expect access into such safe spaces? For most travelling queer folk who are just looking for the party bar culture as an indicator of being safe to express ourselves, there’s a history that we don’t understand.
Similarly Denise Tse Shang Tang discusses how "a lesbian consumer subject can purchase visibility through participation at queer-friendly cultural events" (63-64). In other words, by going to queer bars, or queer cafes, or even buying rainbow decorated paraphernalia at a Pride Parade, you can use what you buy with your money to affirm your identity as a queer person. Thinking about the question of borders, forming communities in spaces that require purchase of coffee or alcoholic drinks are non-inclusive of not only youth, but also people who cannot afford such expenditures regularly.
The visibility of "gay" over other queer/quiltbag groups is not a new idea if we consider what's happening in the U.S. regarding marriage equality. Recently a friend of mine and I went to West Hollywood and discussed how we both grew up in Los Angeles and never really knew about these places until we both left for college. For me personally, I just never had a reason to venture to West LA: I didn’t know anyone who lived there and couldn’t afford any of the things there, plus public transit and parking was terrible.
Alternatively, there were no gay bars in Macau. Or so says google. On the surface, it doesn’t look like LGBT life in Macau is particularly hoppin’. To a foreign traveller, even a diligent one who scours the Internet for public spaces to meet others, they might be told they’d have better luck in Hong Kong, which is only an hour ferry ride away. Indeed this is where even some people from Macau cite first encountering others who are like them (Sim).
Perhaps the most visible in Macau are women migrant workers, who are often recognized in public spaces as butch/femme couples taking a trip to St. Paul’s Square or a casino. Unlike in Hong Kong, many migrant women workers in Macau do not live in homes working as nannies. Sundays in Macau don’t see as many people out and about as Hong Kong, where women take on public spaces on their day off of work. Other than the fleeting sight of such couples, there’s not much access for foreigners looking to connect with other LGBT folk in Macau. Beside bathhouses or saunas, or college parties, as I was told, which cater almost exclusively to men, most of the circles seem private – especially for a non-Cantonese speaking traveller like myself.
But I’m not sure this is a bad thing. Why should I, some rando from the U.S. who’s only there for 2 weeks and who knows no Cantonese, expect access into such safe spaces? For most travelling queer folk who are just looking for the party bar culture as an indicator of being safe to express ourselves, there’s a history that we don’t understand.
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