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13 Apr 2012

It's the two fellas on the left that make this pic

This pic of American troops bathing during a lull in fighting on Saipan, 1944, by photographer Peter Stackpole (*snigger*) is hot anyway, but when you notice the homoerotic horseplay on the left it's even hotter. (Or homoerotic mutual hair washing? "Cos they can't be actually... Nah...)

(thanks Tom)

fellas | photography | military | world | history
Comments 4

06 May 2011

Killing Bin Laden and the gay pornification of the US military

Watching the US over the past few days since the killing of Bin Laden has been a weird experience as the jingoism has been turned up to eleven with crowds of meat-heads chant "U S A! U S A!" Though of course not every American is fist pumping in the streets.

To be clear, I'm not for one second loosing any sleep over the death of a psychopath like Bin Laden. Sure, if I were Queen Of The World I'd have preferred to see him captured and brought to trial, but he was in a broad sense waging war on the US and in that context, he lived by the sword, he died by the sword. However, it's not just unseemly - it's disturbing - to see people out on the streets chanting and cheering the violent death of anyone no matter what the circumstances. It cheapens all life.

Of course it's all tied up in the US' particular brand of nationalism, and its fetishization of its military, which we've discussed before. Why the military is so central to US identity isn't simple to explain. The trite answer is that the US has been involved in a war of some kind pretty much continuously for the last century and with that has had dead soldiers coming home to devastated families for a century, but then so has Britain and it certainly doesn't fetishize it's military in the same way.

Its particular brand of fist-pumping jingoism (ironically also found in totalitarian regimes) is also hard to understand from our perspective. Perhaps Europeans are more wary of nationalism in general given our bloody and recent history. Perhaps we're less insular because we have no choice but to be. Perhaps the US is more jingoistic because it hasn't seen war on its own soil in living memory. Perhaps the US, a nation of immigrants and myriad cultures, needs to fetishize the flag and the nation in order to bind such disparate peoples. But then shouldn't a nation of immigrants be more outward looking? These are big questions, ones I'm not qualified to answer.

On another note though... I am certainly no military expert, but is taking ten years to track down and kill one bloke when you are the world's most powerful military really something to be chantingly proud of?

Anyway, the US media has gone on an orgy of military worship since Bin Laden's killing. Specifically, they have gone on a gay porn orgy over the "Seals" who went in and killed him. The New York Times illustrated it's gushing piece, In Bin Laden's Compound, Seals' All-Star Team, with the gay porn shot above. The Daily Beast got in to a total gay tizzy, explaining how you too can get an awesome "buff" Seal's body by following their tough and sexy exercise regime. And then to drive the message home, they have a gallery of cute seals - half the cuddly animals, half the butch porn-y soldiers.

But just in case you thought all Americans were "U-S-A!" chanting fist-pumpers and the woman who wrote the article I linked to at the top was an exception, check out the reaction of these weary New York commuters to one guy's vain attempt to get a post-Bin Laden chant going. And just in case you think the chanter is being ironic - he's not, as he makes clear in the YouTube information.

(NYT article - thanks Caroline. Cute Seals gallery - thanks Thomas. YouTube via Broadsheet)

usa | world | politics | military | porn
Comments 3

10 Sep 2010

Californian judge rules that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is unconstitutional

One of the most remarkable things about the US, when viewed from Europe, is the huge role that the military plays in the national conscience, in a way that's difficult for an Irish person to grasp. One reason of course, is that the US armed services are huge and have rarely not been involved in a war to some extent somewhere around the world in the last century, but that only goes some way to explain it. After all, our neighbour Britain has similarly been involved in most of the same wars, and yet doesn't fetishize it's military in the same way. The reasons are historical and social, and deep.

(Of course the US fetishizes all the "uniformed services" to a much greater extent than we do - firemen, police, park rangers... I'm sure somewhere out there some sociology student has examined that, and no doubt gay pornography made for good reference material)

So from our perspective, it can sometimes be difficult to grasp exactly how big a deal the issue of gays in the military is for Americans, and the American gay community in particular. Which is why the fact that a federal judge has ruled that the "DADT" policy is unconstitutional is a really big deal. No doubt the fact that it was a Californian judge will bring out the right wingers complaining about meddling liberal judges etc.

Interestingly, the judge ruled that not only is the ban on gays in the military unconstitutional, but also that it harms the effectiveness of the forces, saying that it had a "direct and deleterious effect''. She also pointed out that troops suspected of being gay were allowed to finish their deployments abroad, with investigations and discharges not occurring until their return, demonstrating "that the policy is not necessary."

usa | military | gay rights
Comments 0

13 Jul 2010

Are you in the US Army and don't understand the "homosexual conduct policy"?

Are you perhaps a commanding officer with a suspected queer under you but have trouble reading policy documents? Or are you the queer and are unsure what will happen if you get caught and would like it all explained with pictures? 

Well relax. This US Army comic will explain it veeeerrry sloooowly for you. With pictures!

world | military | gays
Comments 1

31 May 2010

Betty Grable shows the North Koreans how to do it

Kim Jong Il would love this scene from the 1944 musical Pin-Up Girl. In fact I'm surprised Betty hasn't already been drugged and bundled into a car boot and transported to Pyongyang and forced to perform for the Dear Leader in a crumbling stadium.

military | people | movies | performance
Comments 0

26 May 2010

Dutch, Swedish, and British officers tell the US military to "get over" the gays

It's hard for us in militarily obscure Ireland, where our armed forces hardly impinge on the national consciousness, to appreciate how large the armed forces loom in US culture, and how big a deal the debate to repeal the "don't ask don't tell" policy is there. 

As the US Congress prepares to vote on the issue, three foreign officers have written an editorial telling the US they are making a big deal out of "a giant nothing".

Though we maintain a respect for the American people, their military and political process, we share a sense of puzzlement - and a sort of shock - at the rhetoric we heard surrounding "Don't ask, don't tell."

As Congress prepares to vote on this, we hope our international perspective can be of some value.

The U.S. armed forces are the world's most formidable, with an unrivaled might, and a readiness to accept worldwide deployments to engage in a range of military conflicts that no other nation views with the same sort of international responsibility.

Yet it is also true that U.S. military power depends, in most cases, on an international coalition of partners. Members of Congress don't always seem to appreciate that America's allies are put off in serious ways by the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

For example, units of our own or other armed forces have refused to deploy in some joint operations with U.S. forces, because gay service members would not work with the Americans - for fear of hostile reactions.

Read the rest.

world | military | gay rights | politics
Comments 0

12 May 2010

This is becoming a thing now?

I don't know why the US army is so worried about gays in the military when the straights seem to be doing such a good job at being gay already.

There's a big explanation with this video. Me thinks the boys doth protest too much.

The video is an EXAGGERATED act of a possible future military that is open to any sexual preference. Please don't try to cause us any problems. We're just a few good guys trying to enjoy ourselves and get this deployment over with. No one is gay... that we know of. Not that there is anything wrong with that! (political correctness) I am NOT saying it IS ok to be gay in the military. I am not saying it's NOT OK. As a student film maker I was forced to release this early due to our friend in Afghans lip sinked music video. I have to admit I feel a bit more creative but he has my respect. Making these things around here is really scary because we're taking major risks. You know you love it. Enjoy it. Spread it. Lastly, ignore the copy cats that will soon follow and keep your taste for original creativity.

music | military
Comments 0

01 May 2010

Despite appearances, life is not a video game

This is footage of Dutch marines recapturing a container ship that had been hijacked by Somali pirates, shot by a camera mounted on the helmet of one of the marines. It's kind-of amazing - like one of those 'first-person-shoot-'em-ups' that I see teenagers playing in internet cafes (I know. I sound like such an old fogey...) except those are real bullet casings leaping out of the gun, and real bullet holes in the windows. This is somebody's real life.

Clearly the pirates are well-armed (you get to see some of their weapons at the end) because they did manage to hijack a huge ship, but I wonder do they see helicopters of trained and well-eqipped marines landing and think "Oh shit! We're f@&ked now"? And what happened to the crew of the ship? Are they dead? Locked up somewhere? (Anyone here speak Dutch?)

Of course, even watching this tense clip (the jerking side-to-side motion as the marine tries to cover two angles) the gay in me is going, "Oh look! The Captain has a pot-plant on the bridge. That's nice...". I would be so crap as an eye-wittness. ("I don't remember what the murderer looked like Detective, but there was a lovely clematis behind the dead body")

I wonder were these Dutch marines gay?

world | military
Comments 1

26 Apr 2010

Women, gays, and dogs of war

The Irish Times reports that not everyone is happy that the US military is planning to allow women to serve on submarines, and for a change, they don't seem to have their knickers in a twist about the possible change to allow gays to serve openly. In fact, it almost seems like they're trying to attract gays with all the flirty talk of "man hugs" and "rear end patting"!

“Hormones do not shut down just because you go out to sea and submerge for many months at a time,” says Mason (53).

He says sailors rely on various coping mechanisms to deal with the stress of extended deployments, including man hugs, rear-end patting and other rituals; another veteran cites a tradition in which submariners who cross the equator for the first time are required to strip to their underwear.

“Serving on board a submarine is not a place to be if you are self- conscious or have any doubts about your sexuality,” Mason adds.

“Silliness, male-bonding and what might be considered inappropriate or ‘politically incorrect’ behaviour in a civilian environment are all useful techniques that allow a sailor to endure the difficult living conditions and time away from their families and mainstream life.”

The integration of gay men and lesbians into the military appears to have submariners less riled than the admission of women or the smoking ban.

“Everybody knows there are already homosexuals on our force and I don’t think them being open about it will change anything on a boat,” says another active-duty lieutenant who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

Meanwhile, dogs are already serving with US and British forces in the Gulf and because they're dogs you can put aside all your political uneasiness and just go "Awwww!".

(thanks Tonie/Squirl)

military | world | gender | animals
Comments 1