Tracy Baim

The Lesbian Lens

I tend to view the world through lesbian-colored glasses. I know it can distort reality, and I tend to see LGBT even when it's not there. That's what happens when you cover a community for 24+ years ... things just always seem queer.

But a lot of pop culture can be viewed through such a lens these days. The hot new video "Sober" by Pink surely has some lesbian undertones ... well, at least self-infatuation undertones. But it is hot.

Then I came across the simply beautiful, and beautifully simple, music video by Sara Bareilles, "Winter Song," with Ingrid Michaelson. See http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?artist=2005059&vid=324143 or click here.

It is an animated video featuring two females living in an isolated cabin in the middle of winter. Can you say "lesbian"! It is about love and the change of seasons, and they go out planting and playing together, sometimes holding hands, sometimes lovingly looking at one another. Hearts are everywhere, including as symbols on their rosy cheeks. The words are absolutely a love song, maybe to a woman, maybe to nature -- who knows, who cares? "My voice a beacon in the night, my words will be your light, to carry you to me." "This is my winter song ... cause you're not where you belong ... inside my arm."

Yes, this could be a video about friendship; but my lesbian-colored glasses see a heartwarming winter love story between two women. It doesn't matter how you view it; it's just an excellent music video, and a wonderful song for these cold and snowy holidays in Chicago.

"Is love alive?" they sing. Yes, it is, despite Prop 8, despite Rick Warren, and despite the blistering cold of winter.

If She Were A Boy

Beyoncé's wonderful "If I Were A Boy" video and song is a study in gender dynamics through a heterosexual woman's viewpoint, but it could have gone a lot further. Maybe in the next video we will see a natural progression for Beyoncé.

Some choice words: "If I were a boy, even just for a day, I'd roll out out of bed in the morning and throw on what I wanted and go ... drink beer with the guys ... and chase after girls ... I'd kick it with who I wanted and I'd never get confronted for it ... If I were a boy, I think I could understand, how it feels to love a girl, I swear I'd be a better man. I'd listen to her, cuz I know how it hurts, when you the lose the one you wanted cuz he's taken you for granted, and everything you had got destroyed. ... If I were a boy ... I'd put myself first, and make the rules as I go."

What a wonderful twist for Beyoncé ... but she does have other options. Let's dissect.

First, when Beyoncé wakes up, she could truly just throw on anything and still be a gorgeous woman. Second, she should be able to make her own schedule and hang with the girls anytime she wants, she is an adult. Third, she can chase after girls. What is stopping her? She says she thinks she could love a woman better as a man, but why wait until the next life for that? There are plenty of women who would oblige right now. Anyway, it is one tough song from an always interesting entertainer. There were some undertones that could have made it even edgier (for example, the partner in the car at the end, when the man gets into the car, could have been the same man that Beyoncé was with earlier; meaning her character was envious of a man, not a woman), but it still works.

Speaking of hot women singers and making choices, loved the recent Queen Latifah interview with The New York Times Magazine. See here for a great story where she doesn't actually deny anything. A quote: "One topic of persistent speculation on the Web is Queen Latifah’s sexuality, particularly a supposed romance with a female trainer. She has never addressed her relationships publicly and was in no mood to start. 'I don’t have a problem discussing the topic of somebody being gay, but I do have a problem discussing my personal life,' she said. 'You don’t get that part of me. Sorry. We’re not discussing it in our meetings, we’re not discussing it at Cover Girl. They don’t get it, he doesn’t get it' — she gestured upstairs, toward Compere’s office — 'nobody gets that. I don’t feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don’t care if people think I’m gay or not. Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway.'” Hey, if it worked for Jodie Foster all those years, why not for the Queen?