Arts & Entertainment
Clearasil ad criticized for stereotypical, anti-gay portrayal
viewers thought a teen in a pink suit representing a pimple was offensive


(Screenshot via YouTube)
A Clearasil ad is receiving backlash for its portrayal of an annoying pimple, which is symbolized as a male teen dressed in a pink suit.
In the ad titled “Pimples Make Terrible Prom Dates,” two teens are excited about their upcoming prom when one girl notices a growing pimple.
“If this turns into a pimple, I will literally die,” she says.
The commercial zooms in on the pimple which is a teen dressed in a pink suit who asks “Who wouldn’t want to go to prom with this?” before kicking out his foot and flipping his hair. The girl applies Clearasil and goes to prom with clear skin and her prom date.
The pimple’s characterization did not go well with viewers who found it an anti-gay stereotype.
“Why are you using an anti-gay stereotype to sell your product? This looks like something that was written in the 1960s. Shameful. I think many young people are offended by this kind of thing these days,’ one person commented on the video.
“An offensive stereotype of a gay man as a pimple? All decked out in pink and whining like a big queen? Really? Why not cast a black man as a blackhead? Are you getting the point?” another person wrote.
Imagine the marketing department brainstorming this @Clearasil commercial. ‘Let’s make the pimple an extremely gay guy in a pink suit and then we’ll kill it so the girls can go to the prom!’ hahaha. https://t.co/HBMQg3YrzJ
— Darren Hayes (@darrenhayes) April 10, 2018
Interesting how the annoying, irritating pimple in the new @clearasil commercial is portrayed as an effeminate gay man who no one wants to take to the prom. Is it funny or homophobic? Food for thought. #LGBTQ https://t.co/d2K6wiwX9V
— Darren Stewart-Jones (@D_S_J_) April 13, 2018
Yes it is homophobic and yes @clearasil needs to pull it and apologize. How many gay men worked on this ad and didn’t speak truth to power to shut it down in the conception or subsequent stages?!https://t.co/z044Aa8Hrh
— Jeff Thomas (@hayofray) April 16, 2018

The Washington Blade held a New Year Still Queer appreciation happy hour at Pitchers DC on Friday, January 27.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)














Books
A balanced look at whether to have children
New book, ‘So When are You Having Kids?’ makes no judgments

‘So When are You Having Kids?’
By Jordan Davidson
c.2022, Sounds True, Macmillan
$28.99/356 pages
Your mother lingers way too long in the children’s department.
She sighs over tiny suits and little sneakers, running her fingers along soft blankets, hugging plush animals. You know what she wants but you’re not ready; she might be sure but you’re not. Maybe baby for you or, with the new book “So When are You Having Kids?” by Jordan Davidson, maybe not.

It’s the thorniest of decisions, “one of the biggest you’ll ever make.” It’s personal, but even strangers want to know; the questions start in your 20s and end when you’ve acquiesced or aged, although having kids is not a given or a thing-by-committee. So how do you quiet the busybodies and make the right decision for yourself?
First, says Davidson, ask yourself if you even want children, and after you’ve looked inward, “it’s worth looking outward” at expectations, culture, and things that “shape our understanding of parenthood.” Ask around, to see why others had children but don’t be surprised if you get cliches. Throw out the idea that children fulfill you or that they’ll take care of you when you’re old. Know that genetics, religion, and your parents’ parenting styles will affect you; and that if you’re queer or Black, there’ll be other factors involved in having and raising a child.
Should you decide to the positive, you may still have reservations.
Don’t give in to the romance of having kids; it’s hard work, and expensive in both money and time. Remember that perceptions of good parenting have “shifted over time” and that having a childhood exactly like yours probably won’t be an option for your kids. If you have a partner, communicate your thoughts, hopes, and divisions of household labor and childcare.
Finally, decide how you’re going to become a parent. Will you give birth, choose IVF, adopt, foster, or kick the decision down the road?
Says Davidson, the mere ability to ask these questions and decide “is in many ways a privilege.”
Chances are that if you hear a screaming baby, you have one of two reactions: you cringe and look for an exit, or you notice and shrug. Either way, “So When are You Having Kids?” is a book for you.
There are many, many parenting books on miles of shelves, and a number of books on being childless, but author Jordan Davidson pulls the two subjects together here with thoughtfulness, candor, inclusiveness, and a refreshing lack of judgment. This is a book that doesn’t promise answers, though: it’s meant to give readers – whether they want kids, don’t, or are ambivalent – an in-one-place, balanced look at myths, truths, pros, cons, and rarely-considered points for an informed decision. It also, perhaps most importantly, offers comforting reminders that there is no right or wrong, no matter what Mom says.
“So When are You Having Kids?” is like having a big sister to bounce ideas with, or a break-out session in your living room. It’s like asking Baby Maybe questions you didn’t know you had. It’s help when you need it in that department.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
Photos
PHOTOS: SMYAL for the New Year
LGBTQ youth services organization holds fundraiser at Red Bear Brewing

The SMYAL Young Donors Committee held a fundraiser for the LGBTQ youth services organization Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders (SMYAL) at Red Bear Brewing Company on Thursday, Jan. 26.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)




















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