Gay Media

ThisisMykeHawk

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This is something that has been grinding my gears for a really long time now. Open any gay magazine and inside,all you see are ads featuring gay white men. Occasionally, they will throw a Spanish person in the ad but he will be so light he might as well be white. Do Black gay men not go on cruises and buy slutty underwear?!?!?! Because from the looks of these ads,I'd say NO.

Now,I'm not saying these two companies have never used Black models. In the past 5 months,I've actually found one Andrew christian ad that featured TWO Spanish models. And Atlantis Cruises has two photos with Black guys in them but I'm not sure when those were actually taken.

I don't at all believe it is the sole job of any company to represent every facet of any community. I mean,where would it end....gay midgets,gay siamese twins, Justin Bieber? But as a money spending member of the gay community,I'd like for once to see someone who looks like me in these ads. You want me to spend my dollars on your crap but nowhere in your ads do I see beautiful,strong Black men looking back at me, getting their asses soaped up or frolicking in the waves or playing grab ass in a locker room or having an intimate sleepover with 4-5 other gay guys.

They say in advertising,you buy into the ad because part of you wants to FUCK the model selling you the wares,the other half of you wants to BE them. Well,I freely admit I have a weakness for white men but I don't have a racial preference when it comes to who I choose to date/sleep with but when it comes to gay media, people of color are left out of the advertising commentary,it subliminally says there's something wrong with being Black. Or worst yet...we're invisible.

From a social standpoint, it bothers me because right now the gay community is fighting a big fight for marriage equality. And we're all supposed to stand up and sign the petitions and stand in the rallies and add numbers to the fight but at the end of the day,you don't even acknowledge us in the bars, clubs, advertising, tv shows or porn. If we want equality everywhere, we need to start by having equality in our own community. We need more images of all parts of our community to be seen. Until Then...
 

erratic

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Unfortunately, racism, unacknowledged privilege, and white supremacy are alive and well in advertising aimed at LGBTQ folks. You'd hope that a community that is so aware of being discriminated against would be less prone to it, but even though I think the matter is so prevalent mainly because of the people who produce the ads, there's no getting around how privileged white skin is.
 

Phil Ayesho

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Do some math.

Male African Americans are 6% of the population... less than one sixteenth.
Of the male population, Gay men are 9% of the population.

So black gay men are approximately 6% of 8% of the population.
That's One sixteenth of One eleventh of American males.
That's a small fraction of the US population.

Now factor the cost of an Ad campaign... especially one that is targeting the gay population, and so already limiting its demographic severely.

And consider the placement... what magazines are these ads to be placed in? What is their circulation and what demographic subscribes to these magazine?

While gay Blacks might be one sixteenth of all gay men... the magazines might only show a 2 or 3% Black readership.


Its NOT about prejudice... its NOT about racism...

Advertising is about MONEY and Demographics.

Its the same reason so few "black" movies are made.


Do real research by checking every page of every gay publications and Count the number of Black men you see in ads aimed at the gay community.
I'll bet you it comes pretty close to one in sixteen.
 

erratic

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Do some math.

Male African Americans are 6% of the population... less than one sixteenth.
Of the male population, Gay men are 9% of the population.

Apart from disagreeing on principle, I don't think that math adds up.

If male African Americans are 6% of the US population, and males account for approximately 50% of the US population, that means male African Americans account for approximately 12% of the men in America. So, it would follow that 12% of the population of gay/bi/queer/etc. men identifies as African American.

Now, since more people identify as African American and LGBT than do white folks in America (check it out), that means that - by purely mathematical logic - that representation should be well over 12%.
 
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erratic

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Apart from disagreeing on principle, I don't think that math adds up.

If male African Americans are 6% of the US population, and males account for approximately 50% of the US population, that means male African Americans account for approximately 12% of the men in America. So, it would follow that 12% of the population of gay/bi/queer/etc. men identifies as African American.

Now, since more people identify as African American and LGBT than do white folks in America (check it out), that means that - by purely mathematical logic - that representation should be well over 12%.

Augh, epic math fail.

This is what I get for wading into incendiary topics. I'm out.
 

martin60018

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Most large companies do surveys of their customer demographics and play heavily into it. I am a bigot yes. Asians are completely missing from these ads. Catholic Hispanics dont dare wear anything that might come off as gay. DL blacks do not either. Lets, just skip the Asians, cause they are so small and skinny anything would look baggy on them. What is left? a large majority of twinky very out and in your face white boys. If I had an underwear company, I'd target that market as well, not the boxer shorts crowd. anyways, what pant sagging closet case will wear a pair of boxers with "COXSOX" on the waist band? (or any perceived gay brand)
so why waste ad dollars on a crowd that will not buy it?
just my 2 cents anyways
 

Phil Ayesho

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Apart from disagreeing on principle, I don't think that math adds up.

If male African Americans are 6% of the US population, and males account for approximately 50% of the US population, that means male African Americans account for approximately 12% of the men in America. So, it would follow that 12% of the population of gay/bi/queer/etc. men identifies as African American.

Now, since more people identify as African American and LGBT than do white folks in America (check it out), that means that - by purely mathematical logic - that representation should be well over 12%.

Advertising is about real numbers.
Sorry.. 12% is the percentage of total African americans.

The Men would be half that number.


Of those men, only a certain percentage are gay.
Of that percentage, only about a third are in the prime adult years. ( 12% African Americans also includes children, and the aged, who are not big purchasers of gay products )

THAT is the number of people targeted by Black gay male advertising.

Your approach would be correct, IF gay advertising was equally aimed at Gay women AND gay men... but , rather specifically, those are separate markets. Gay women are not going to respond to ad's featuring gay men, and vice versa. The 6% figure is correct.

It is even lower than that, when you factor in age related demographics.

Once more... its NOT prejudice. Its the fact of the cost of advertising versus the return on investment.


Open up a copy of Jet magazine. Because of THEIR subscription base, ALL their ads feature African Americans.