Sam, you are
I liked Sam Smith from the first time I heard him sing. I was like 'WHO IS THAT?' immediately. The voice was so absolutely distinctive I had to stop and listen. It was as if Adele and Boy George had had a baby and he was singing. Some people find his voice a tad too dramatic but to me, he sounds great.
It's also fantastic to find a queer man singing in mainstream radio and watching him be successful is a great vicarious experience. Fame got to him after doing some of the usual jobs (a waiter, I think he was) and he had some close encounters with social media that made him shy (like when he was nominated for that James Bond theme) . But now he's back and he's been active giving interviews and posting on social media.
One of the things that called my attention is that he's talked several times about his struggles with body image and about finding himself to be in between genders. He's often mentioned that he does not see himself as a man or as a woman. He sees himself (and I keep using 'he' because he has not expressed the desire for another pronoun) as nonbinary.
Isn't gender fascinating? I'm always excited to find out that somebody finds themselves able to be free to express who THEY feel they are. We are very quick to attribute gender and sexuality to people. We see secondary sexual traits (beards, boobs) and immediately assign a tag to that person. We never think about how people feel about themselves. Nowadays, I find that freedom to self-declare gender well, liberating. The binary is constricting and imposed. Gender roles as socially constructed and I'm all for some gender anarchy.
We need to learn to see people that are non-binary and remember it's not about us but about them and how they feel about themselves. It's not what makes us comfortable. It is about what makes them feel good about themselves.
So while you think about that, what if we enjoy Sam's voice a little bit more? He's great at crooning, but I'm partial to his dance bangers.
Cheers!
XOXO
And my all time favorite just because it's my birthday:
Hey, Happy Birthday! May all your Sam Smith dreams come true!
ReplyDeleteHa! Thanks , darling!
DeleteI always liked what Chaz Bono said about gender, that it isn't between your legs but between your ears.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. Like sex, gender in in the brain 😎
DeleteWhat? God isn’t perfect in her design of humans? In spite of what the religious nuts say, there is much more to gender than body parts. The brain has its own idea as to who we are and we must respect the individual’s identity.
ReplyDeleteOh, and happy day, babe. Another year older and another year finer!
XOXO 👨❤️💋👨🎂
You know the wingnuts have a black and white view of the world. Dumb mofos. And thanks, bae 😍
DeleteI like Sam Smith's music, but was never a huge fan. But is refreshing that out artist are finally being shown respect. What does muff diving on another woman, or sucking another mans dick have to do with talent?????.
ReplyDeleteI know right? As if who he lays with affects his talent to sing? People are dumb.
DeleteOne of the big problems with art is that we have all been trained from an early age to see it as heterocentric. Things are changing though, and the things we used to keep in the closet are coming out. And they're very good!
ReplyDeleteThey are! And duh the arts have always been teeming with the gays!
ReplyDelete... estoy en el trabajo y no puedo oír la a buen seguro buena música que hay en este post, pero.. ...¿He leído que es tu cumpleaños?... ¡Pues un enorrrrrme abrazo, amigo mío,! mucha salud y muchos éxitos a todos los niveles para ti ¡Que lo celebres muy bien!
ReplyDeleteGracias, Angelito! 👨❤️💋👨
DeleteY no te pierdas escuchar a Sam Smith!
The general public is not comfortable with people who don't neatly fit into the 2 acceptable genders. I agree with you that its best to consider the reason(s) why some people do not feel completely comfortable as a single gender. Its not about us; its about them.
ReplyDelete