Twitter, Frank Ocean and the “Violence of Heteronormativity”
by LaCharles Ward | special to NewBlackman(in Exile)
As we all know, homophobia, like racism, is omnipresent in our society. It, again, akin to racism, is embedded in a culture that labors to both minimize and ignore the experiences of GLBT members in our communities. Similarly, sometimes this homophobia can, at times, be inadvertent; notwithstanding, it is still homophobia steeped in a society that is quick to place the “Other” label. As I wrote in my senior thesis, marginalized bodies, especially bodies of GLBT members, are discursively and socially regulated and controlled via hetereonormative discourse that is informed by homophobic views and attitudes that silently discipline bodies for behaving in societally deemed “abnormal” ways. It is at times a discourse that is obfuscated in a language that is not quite overt homophobia but is completely covert homophobia—that equally harms GLBT bodies.
This silent homophobia became very present after (before and during) the recent emotionally moving, courageous and candid open letter by Frank Ocean about his sexual identity. I noticed this homophobia (not for the first time however) throughout Twitter, which to be honest, prompted this essay. It was both disgusting and disheartening to read tweets from individuals expressing such virulent homophobic sentiments that were coated in a decorum of I am not homophobic but… A discourse that is very analogous to how we talk about racism today I am not racist but… (Bonilla-Silva, 2006), that is, in a coded manner. Recognizing the importance of marking my identity position, I write this as a heterosexual Black male, who has spent most of his academic career pushing back against (and being pushed back by) oppressive structures such as racism, sexism, abilism, gender and sexual violence, homophobia, and heterosexism.
I am reminded of the poignant words of Audre Lorde on oppression(s):
Any attack against Black people is a lesbian and gay issue, because I and thousands of other Black women are part of the lesbian community. Any attack against lesbians and gays is a Black issue, because thousands of lesbians and gay men are Black. There is no hierarchy of oppression.
Many of the tweets that I read ranged from blatant homophobic tweets to more inconspicuous (or, subtle) tweets. In a world where masculinity is caricatured and driven by a discourse of heterosexuality, men who deviate away from a presumed and/or performed heterosexuality are chided with oppressive epithets. It becomes less about marking what a person is—a presence—and more so important to mark what a person is not—an absence.
This is similar to what has been happening with what some might hail as the “Frank Ocean Controversy;” yet, to be quite frank, its only a hullabaloo because it diverge from the road frequently taken (read: heteronormativity), especially in this particular type of culture. Twitter has been dubbed the place to be for all things pop culture and even to confirm someone’s death, the latter is quite sad. I digress. Given its importance, I argue that it might be a productive space to illuminate, challenge and even subvert discourse(s) that oppress members of minority groups, such as members of the GLBT community.
Let’s take a few different tweets to help illustrate my above writing. For example, in a tweet sent out on July 11, 2012, one Twitter user stated, “now that Frank Ocean came out all of a sudden dudes don’t listen to him but they were the same ones singing Novocane [a earlier song featuring Frank Ocean].” In this person’s tweet it is quite apparent that they are pointing out a behavior that from their perspective can be interpreted as homophobic. One, it implies that because Frank Ocean acknowledged that he fell in love with a man -- now men who once listened to him have decidedly stopped listening to his music due to his sexual identity. Second, we can see that the very act of not listening to his music after his announcement is in act of homophobia albeit possibly inadvertent—though, I think it’s intentional.
Another user tweeted, “ @Frank_ocean yo gay ass lol #Illumnatti” and someone else tweeted “Now Ive seen a lot of shit I got questions @frank_ocean are u the female or the dude w/ your boo?” In another tweet, that is both sexist and homophobic, one user writes, “man, I have a truck load of women who would literally die if they found out that nigga Frank Ocean was gay…#igottaknow,” here, it is quite clear that this comment is palpable homophobia—the assumption that if Ocean is indeed confirmed gay (by the Twitter gods) then women would (literally or figuratively) die. Yet, in another tweet, a user wrote this about her/his brother: “ my brother told me I can’t play Frank Ocean in his car he talkin bout he gotta get his mind right before he listen to it” marking quite aptly, the user writes, “smh such a homophobe.” I mean, the very fact that this person has to “get their mind right” before they can listen to an album of someone who has just identified as being in love with another man should send flags of unadulterated homophobia. It’s a shame that this is happening but it is by no means anomalous.
In addition to these comments, I’ve have also read remarks that exclaim that they would prefer Frank Ocean use gendered language that would conform to the heterosexual norm (i.e. Frank Ocean should use “her” instead of “him” or “girl” instead of “boy”). Such request(s) may not readily seem homophobic to a general eye, perhaps its just a fan’s request; nevertheless, it is just a subtler form of homophobia that has been blurred by a polite collocation.
To be clear, more than ever, Twitter became a stage for performance(s) of heterosexism—a marking of territory if you will. To secure their heterosexuality many users voiced their dissent to the recent news of Frank Ocean’s sexual identity, especially within the Black Twittersphere. Rather than embracing another Black man who (though not the only one) opened up in an environment steeped in homophobia about his sexuality most shunned and even refused to support his music. Put nicely, this is a sad reality.
Communication scholar Gust Yep (2003) reminds us that heteronormativity is the invisible center and force that creates, sustains, perpetuate, marginalize and oppress the voices and bodies of sexual others. In this way, Twitter became a disciplining mechanism to those who veered away from a heteronormative center—in essence, heterosexuality. Users, albeit unintentional, attempted to control the body of Frank Ocean, and, by extension, the bodies of other GLBT individuals’ vis-à-vis violent discourse. As men and women, we must move beyond a heterosexual lens in which we employ (allow) to make sense of our world. If we continue to remain silent around homophobia and heterosexism, even if we are not certain, we remain part of a system that reproduces it. Speak up and speak out, for as Audre Lorde reminds us, “silence has never brought us anything of worth.”
Writer’s Note: I am not the first person to write about this. Members of the GLBT community have already begun to speak on and/or write about Frank Ocean and his recent narrative. I don’t believe that I have a right to speak about “coming out” but I do believe that I have a duty to speak out against homophobia, heterosexism, sexism, domestic violence, racism and other forms of oppression. I have provided a few links below:
Tim’m T. West -- http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2012/07/deepdickollective-co-founder-timm-west.html
Darnell L. Moore -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/darnell-l-moore/anderson-cooper-frank-ocean-gay_b_1653017.html
Summer McDonald -- http://www.blackyouthproje ct.com/2012/07/coming-out-stories-on-frank-ocean/#more-26607
Recognizing the violence of language, I have opted out of posting more tweets, as many are extremely inappropriate, disparaging and frankly, hateful. Read more here: http://hatetweetstofrankocean.com/
References
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2006). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Yep, G.A. (2003). The violence of heteronormativity in communication studies: Notes on injury, healing, and queer world-making. Queer Theory and Communication, 45(2/3/4), 11-59.
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LaCharles Ward is a Masters student in the Department of Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University- Carbondale specializing in Intercultural Communication. His research and academic interests lie at the junctures of race, gender, identity and communication.
