Camp guys and the whole "lifestyle" thing

I've been meaning to come here for a while to post a thread asking camp guys something. The question is: why? Why do you behave the way you do? Why do you need to behave in such an effeminate manner?

Being a gay dude who acts like any other dude on the street, but who is still very open about his sexuality, I find it absolutely confusing and frustrating when I see guys who act like total fairies. What is the need? To me it seems as though these types of guys are just taking a step back on progressive attitudes and acceptance of gays. In the same way girls who behave like bimbos are taking a step back on progress made by feminist activists, it seems that guys who behave in such a manner are doing the same.

So that's it - my question is why do you do it? Are you aware of the detrimental effect it has on on "community"? If I, as a gay guy, find it frustrating and annoying seeing that phony shit, I don't find it surprising that conservative straight people find it annoying as that is the only type of gay person they're ever exposed to.

Also...the term "lifestyle" used in reference to being gay. Is that really necessary? It seems as though so many gay people make such a massive deal out of their sexuality that they describe it now as being a "lifestyle". The only thing I see in being gay is that I find men attractive instead of women. That is it. Nothing else to it. Why make a big deal out of it? The homophobes make a big deal out of it too so why should I? Of course I will stand up for my beliefs, but I won't shove it in other people's faces. Being gay is a very tiny portion of what makes me who I am and I just don't understand how it can dominate one's persona so strongly.

Excuse the dodgy writing and possibly badly phrased points. I don't want to come across as being agressive, just straight-forward and interested. I'm also aware of the necessity of such openly gay men were back in the 1960's when the GLF was about, but these days...Be open of course, but also make a good example. Don't reinforce stereotypes.

 

too much perez hilton

 

"Don't reinforce stereotypes"?!?!?
Well, Excuse me Mister Self-righteous! Who got your knickers in a twist I wonder. I didn't realize that I was embaressing you by acting the way I do. The demeanor I choose to portray is an accurate reflection of how I feel like behaving. If I have a little swish in my walk, it in no way, shape, or form is in any case a reflection of my ideas of what the "lifestyle" is. It is me. Gay or not. I think it's downright insulting to call my, or anyone else's for that matter, "phony shit".

I could just as well ask you the same question. Why do you act the way you do? And if I wanted to get all snickery about it I might ask you why you're "straight acting"? Is it out of fear? If you whistled a show-tune would your jock friends beat you up? Or is it cause you're trying to impress Daddy, and show him your not a faggot like the rest of us?

No, I don't think it's either answer...for the record. I'm just guessing here, but I'd be confidant to wager you act the way you do just because it's the way you want to. Same here pal. No need to project onto me your own inability to grasp that some people are different. Lighten up.

Realize that we are all in this same boat together. The thing that bonds you and me to the same cause is that there are people out, real living human beings with voting privaleges and AR-15 semi-automatics, that want to burn you at the stake just as much as me. Regardless of which one of us plays football, and which one of us dances in a chorus. (I played nose guard in High school btdubbs). I'm from the south. I see them all the time. So do you real want to pick a fight with the guy on your side just because I shop at H&M and wear Versace?

So when you happen to see one of us embarrassing gay's remember. I might be different than you. We might have completely different idea's of what's fun and interesting. I might have a lisp and you might have a scar. But in the end of the day, I'm the one on your side. So before you throw me to the curb in the name of "progressive attitudes". Take a deep breath, muster some tolerance for those who are different than you, and realize I'm only asking for the same thing you want--acceptance.
It's the Golden rule, man.

Since when did being gay, mean I had to act like anything at all?

 

Wow, great point and counter-point.

Being a guy who does not come across as gay (and who hates to be labeled as "str8 acting") I can see the chagrin at all the flambouyant gay men who unfortunately stand out and are the usual representative for gay men because of the media search for something different.




However as semajbn4 mentioned, his flamboyancy or whatever clues ID him as an effeminate man is not an act either. I have, over years of exposure to gay ppl been friends with such and know it is just their nature. Some men are that way. Should feel sorry for the poor str8 guys with that demeanor get labeled wrongly as being gay.

Maybe I don't get out in the young ppl venues any more but I do watch the news and TV and movies and it either doesn't seem to be so many of the nelly queens portrayed, or I've just become accustomed to it and don't notice.

And that is the goal, not to really notice the flamboyant loose guy any more than the guy in denim who sits with his legs uncrossed and says little. Or, maybe living in an urban area, Miami Beach no less, it just all seems so natural.

 

For the record, camp dudes do not do anything for me. Gay, bi or str8, I simply do not find them attractive.

Equally so, I am not into the H&M, Versace, make up and the rest of the shallow talk. (IMHO, that is!)

All of the above are simply my taste and my personal choice. I try to make friends and enjoy the environment of people who suit me. Being my friend is not a public function, and I have every right to exercise my discriminating taste when it comes to people I am spending my time with.

Having said all that, I am perfectly happy that there are camp dudes around. They are a part of humanity which surrounds me, and it is absolutely not up to me or to anyone else to tell those guys how to live their lives.

Like it or not, we live in a world of stereotypes. Every single one of us can be viewed at different times as someone who is re-enforcing one or the other stereotype. Look at the muscle marys! Aren't those guys also reinforcing a stereotype of gay men being only too keen to be supermanly, while doping themselves with steroids and ruining their health for being attractive and sexually desirable. That, too, can be seen as very shallow and totally superficial.

Look at all the jock guys: str8, bi, gay or anywhere in-between! Aren't those guys reinforcing a basically negative stereotype of beer-guzzling frat airheads whose main obssession is to kick the ball against the wall?

The list rolls on to the negativities that are inherent to any and every stereotype from Alpha males across to Bi-closeted guys, to Camp dudes, to She-males, Drag Queens, Sugar Daddies and their Sugar Babes of both sexes and many, many others...

Growing up really means learning to accept your environment as it is, letting other people live their lives as they find fit because you claim the very same right to yourself.

Focus your strength and all your energy towards acheiving your goals, and doing what is right for you. And leave all the space in the world for everyone else to do the same.

KD

 

yeah, i act this way because i like it, it makes me feel good, gives me a sense of comfort, thats about all there is to it,
and if by acting this certain way i bother some people, well that probably sucks for them but im not gonna lose sleep over it
i feel absolutely no responsibiltiy or inclination to change my 'behavior' to fullfill these peoples' expectations of what a 'proper' man is, that my friend is some real "phony shit"

and i really don't see how fitting any of these stereotypes has any detrimental effects on our community, the people who mostly perceive homosexuality as a threat are the right winged and conservative christians, as by threatening the nuclear family structure homosexuality leads to delinquency and social moral decay,
as far as they are concerned, my preferences are bad enough, it doesnt matter if i act completely heterosexual or effeminate

but like i said, i feel absolutely no pressure to conform to certan roles of a 'proper heterosexual male', and it probably saves me a lot of stress,
you only live once, so im gonna do what makes me happy

 

Heh, sorry to get such negative responses back. I didn't really intend for my point to come across so agressively. I accept diversity of course, and I accept the fact that we are "all in this together". I'm glad to see your response because it gives me a better perspective of your point of view.

As far as the "phony shit" comment went - again, sorry about that. That was probably pushing it. I understand that some camp, effeminate gay men are like that just naturally. It isn't fair to criticize another person based on outward projections of their personality as that is very short-sighted and judgemental. Though at the same time, I have noticed that some guys ham it up like all hell. When it goes from being camp to being obviously fake and noticeably exaggerated, I just wonder why people do it. Like I said - girls who behave in that extreme bimbo fashion - why? That DOES go backward on progressive moves made by feminists. Even though they are all women doesn't mean that they are all in the same boat or have the same values or think about the same things. I understand that we are all gay and essentially in the same boat on that front, but in terms of values, understanding and thought we are not. Like you, I don't behave in any way other than the way I am. And I guess that was my point - why do people ham it up.

I hate to admit this but I had been drinking last night and wasn't sober when I wrote the original post so it really probably didn't come across quite properly. Please don't feel that I was attacking you more than just being inquisitive.

 

For the very same reason a dog licks his balls - he can!

Hamming it up is mostly an expression of personal freedom. Possibly a tame challenge to the environment? At times, just a craving for public attention? At other times, birds of the same feather DO flock together... If your gang of friends goes Emo-Camp-Sagging, so do you. Some of the guys are by their natiure very competitive, and may also go the extreme to show that they can outdo other members of the group... I am sure that other reasons may for hamming it up may come up, too...

Whatever their reasons may be, these are good enough for them, and of little interest to the rest of the world...

KD

 

Uh huh. Okay. I was thinking of it in a similar way actually - your reference to emos and such. I guess savagely camp gay guys are just another sub-culture. I guess the it's the same thing as people changing their outward appearance to be accepted by a group or become part of a sub-culture. I still haven't got a real response. "Because they can" really doesn't explain much. I think there's more to this than we may realise but maybe not. The whole concept of feeling accepted is interesting and could make for interesting dicussion

 

I suppose that I should have toned down the vitriol a little since you did say that you were merely "interested." But I'm sorry, your question hit a nerve.

My parents sent me to speech therapy at age 10 to try and correct my lisp. For 4 years I had to sit with Ms. Trish Searcy every weekday at 2:30 and be put down of for the way I talk. It's not a front, nor am I "hamming it up". If you are truly interested in knowing why I and other men act differently we need to set up some definitions and boundries for what your actually asking.

Interests: All the things I do that have no bearing on the way I act but end up getting lumped in as well. You can't fault me for enjoying Broadway musicals. They are fun. Why? Cause they are. I also play football, and play the cello. And I like to dance and macrame, and I do floral decoupage. And I like guns. I have a Russian SKS, an AR-15, a scoped Heckler and Koch G36,, and a Kalashnikov. My dad and I go shooting on the weekends. I also collect antiquarian books from Europe (specializing in 1790-1870).
I don't think that scientifically or anecdotally you can argue that my interests play any role in my sexuality or vice versa.

Effeminacy: I am naturally effeminate. I have a softer voice although for most of my life I have controlled it to sound deeper. I usually get away with having a strange accent from my constant efforts to alter my lisp because I have a slight British twang that I picked up from my British Father. I'm not particularly manly in the way I walk either. And my laugh is somewhat girlish because I have a tendency to giggle (although in highschool I always punched anyone who said that. I chuckled goddammit!) I talk abnormally fast. And I tend to be very energetic about things. My friends call this "bubbly" They also call it being like a girl. It's not something I have ever tried to do, nor is it something I ever intend to stop. Again, natural behavior.

Camp: Finally there's this thing called "Camp" which as I understand it is a little bit different than just straight effeminacy (no pun intended). Camp is dramatic, and it's flamboyant, and it's energetic, and it usually involves lots of hand gestures and references to "Girlfriend! YOu know it!"

Am I campy?
...
Yes, a little. But, and here's the kicker, only when I let my guard down.

Only when I let my guard down? What does that imply? When I feel freer, When I feel less inhibited, When I don't have the pressure to conform to other's, When I'm not concerned with what people are thinking; then my campy side comes out to say hello.

That means, Dear Andy, that it's not an act when I act campy. It's me being who I am to a greater extent than before. Why is that so? I can't give you a real answer. Because just like the other bits we've been talking about this is part of personality development. What makes you, you. I'm a grad student in psychology. And after 4 years I can't answer that question for you succinctly. The best I can do is a three credit hour class for the next 4 months, at 1220$ per credit hour. Personality Theory PSYC-315. I'm the TA.

We act this way because we want to. At some level we are getting psychological catharsis from our interests and our behaviors. We wouldn't do it if the consequences if it was a loss leader.
Those guy's that ham it up? They act that way because they want to. For the same reasons we do. Are they being "obviously fake"? I don't think so. I just told you myself, that if I'm relaxed I get a little campy. What if they are just the truly uninhibited? You can't judge these people's behavior without knowing them individually. Without analyzing their motivators for their actions. They are getting some sort of natural positive gain from their actions. Who are we to criticize?

We all act a certain way, to produce what we as individuals consider positive internal or external indices, they have found a way to behave that over time has given them reinforcement. You do the same. Your behavior is no less fake than the campy guys. I mean that seriously. You may not believe me but it's true.

I hope this somewhat answers your original inquiry. And other's may disagree, but from my personal experiences as an effeminate gay guy, and the studies I've undertaken here at school. It's what I know to be true.


p.s. And in regards to you proposition that "bimbos" hurt the feminist movement. I would disagree, and so would any true, diehard, intellectual, feminist herself. It does not go backward on the feminist movement.

The ideals of the feminist movement, and indeed any other civil rights push, is that equality is of the utmost importance. That equality is for everyone, not those that act in a preconceived, "respectable" way. True equality and freedom, means having the ability to act however you choose and having others judge you based on those actions and not on any other stereotype. "Bimbos" have just as much right under feminist ideology to act in a way that is authentic to their desires as a female professor of modern literature. If they want to be slutty or purposefully stupid it is the highest expression of their freedom. Ultimately, it might reflect badly upon other women currently, but the goal is not to remove those women, but to change the societal constructs which reinforce the stereotypes that women should have to act like anything at all. When "bimbos" and intellectuals can stand side by side and be judged by their own standards, and revel in their individual womanhood, without the need for society to use them as a demonstrative for other's behavior, feminism will have won what it's fighting for.

 

I think your opinion is extremely judgemental. There is always going to be some form of behaviour that you or others dont understand or like but thats your problem. Why shouldnt people be able to behave however they like. Why should anyone have to conform to some narrow mold of how men should or shouldnt behave according to society. That sucks. You might not like it or find it irritating and the person doing it may have some issues or be affected by certain things but still they are free to be however they like. I dont believe its damaging for the community at all, thats a ridiculous notion. If society looks down upon the gay community for being camp then society needs to get the fuck over it.
I have many different kinds of friends. Some are very camp and some are very butch. Some are in between and I love them all. The OTT camp ones can be a bit irritating at times but I still love them and allow them to be who they want to be. "Straight acting" (for want of a better word) is far more irritating. 'Straight acting' guys are just the opposite extreme. Why do they need to 'act'? Are they afraid to reveal their true self? What are they hiding? And who the fuck decided that straight men have a monopoly on masculinity anyway??Im gay and Im masculine, does that mean Im straight acting? No it does not! I can also be camp if I want to and Im not afraid of that or what anyone else thinks.
Personally I like balance. Im not here to fit into any mold. Im gay, Im free to be anything I want to be. I think you should judge less Andy and accept yourself and others more or would you prefer it if everybody pretended to be 'normal' like you?

 

As a straight guy,I always wondered why some gays were so flambouyant also,however I never judged anyone over it. That behaviour fascinated and entertained me. I figure there is a continuum relative to the actions/behaviours of gays like all other segments or groups of people in society. Some very mild and some on the radical end. All your posts have been very informative. People are people and that's about it. Some of my best friends are---(just had to throw that in).

 

Okay, first off: the OP did admit he was drinking while writing the original post. That speaks volumes. However, I think a really good point has been brought out into the open. Are so-called "queens" a menace to the gay movement?

I think not. In fact (if you research the evolution of gay rights), you will discover that drag queens and the like -- were the ones that profoundly made a difference in how our legal and civil rights -- ultimately became something we can call our own. Anybody remember Stonewall? Anybody remember Oscar Wilde and Quentin Crisp?

Gay Camp is not mere entertainment. There's also a significant political purpose behind it. So even though certain folks might prefer that queers imitate straight masculine stereotypes: don't ever forget our shamelessly effeminate heroes. In other words, Oscar Wilde and Quentin Crisp. How brave and fearless -- those two. It takes more bravery to be a queen, than to be a "butch" sailor or soldier -- society mindlessly worships masculinity. Period. So I support our brave (and effeminate) queens. They truly have the biggest balls. Big time.

--QP

 

I think lots of people who subvert norms of a stereotype that general, "normal" society has about maligned, misunderstood, and marginalised groups of people, harbour some hostility against the people who fit into that stereotype. This is usually either because they feel others will expect them to fit into this stereotype, or that the stereotypical behaviour reflects badly on them.

I am female, born with an intersex conidition, and was brought up as "male". Up until recently, I was medically diagnosed as "transsexual". During most of this time, it seemed like I wasnt getting taking seriously by the people treating me at my clinic. I always had a strong suspicion that this was due to the fact I don't fit the transsexual stereotype. I also recently discovered, Id been put on a starting hormone dose for many years. When I found this out, I was very angry, and also put it down to the same thing. My suspicions were actually confirmed when one of the therapists said that because I wasnt behaving, and especially dressing in a certain way, that it appeared that I wasn't genuine, when I said I was actually female. And that was why I wasn't being given the further help I needed. When it eventually emerged that I'm actually mostly genetically female, the huge irony of my previous treatment certainly wasn't lost on me, or the people treating me. Although I am now being given proper treatment, I still harbour a lot of bitterness at the way I was treated purely because I failed to fit into a narrow stereotype. Who knows? If I wasn't physically intersexed, I'd probably still be being prejudiced against now.

Now, this is an extreme case of how destructive stereotyping of misunderstood groups can be, but it may make it easier to understand why some of the people in the group who don't fit the stereotype,'s irritation about the stereotype itself. It's the same thing with the tranny/she-male porn phenomena. Most transwoman distance themselves from this, and are disgusted by it. Probably not least because of being potentially associated with that type of thing themselves, by simple minded, ignorant people who don't know any better.

And this is probably why people like the OP are made uncomfortable because of the prescence of ultra camp, feminine men in the gay community. Because sadly, those men are seen as like a ''symbol'' and the norm for male homosexuality by a lot of the general public, people like the OP probably think this is the way they will be expected to act as well. Although in all the cases the anger/irritation at the stereotype is understandable, I think that anger is misplaced, and misguided. Instead of focussing your displeasure at the people who fit into those stereotypes, that anger should be directed at the people who invented those stereotypes in the first place. And use those stereotypes as a way or pigeonholing everyone who is a part of a misunderstood, marginalised group.

Its not people's fault if they fit into a stereotype, the problem is the stereotype even being there in the first place. Unfortunately, a lot of the general public think all gay men are effeminate, and camp, and that all female transsexuals are just glorified drag queens/transvestites. I think the media has played a huge role in this, as they usually focus heavily on the stereotyped images and lives, of those types of people. The heavily prejudiced and biased media, and narrow minded, ignorant simpletons who buy into those conveniant stereotypes are the ones at fault. Not the people who happen to fit into those stereotypes. So, I can understand the irritation of the OP, even though I think that irritation is misguided at the wrong people. There might be a small amount of camp guys who deliberately act that way, but Im sure most of them are naturally effeminate, and are actually being themselves by being that way. Deliberately holding back your true self to go against a stereotype is just as much being a poser, as it is to purposely try to fit into a stereotype.

Besides, I see myself as 100% female, and some gay guys are way more effeminate than me! Even the idea of masculinity and femininity placed on the genders is heavily stereotyped. Generally, I think stereotypes are a very bad thing, and just shows an ignorance and lack of will of the general public to properly learn, and understand about people who are different to themselves. All straight people arent the same, and dont act the same, so why do all gay people have to act the same?

 

Read over most of the posts here..

Sorry for coming across as being abusive, hurtful or unaccepting of diversity. I think this is now bringing into the concept of gender roles and I feel as though my initial post has given off the wrong impression of my position. I understand that some men and some gay men are more effeminate than one another - I am TOTALLY cool with that. Most of my male friends are quite the opposite of the "manly" stereotype. Many wear dresses when at their houses just for fun, and I love that they're so open and comfortable with that. I am not angry at people who behave differently to me or those who behave in a camp manner. Once again - I have four gay male friends who are "camp". I also understand and agree with the fact that it is unfair to lay blame on a certain group in a larger community for hatred expressed toward that community when in fact the people that should be changed are the one's expressing those hateful views.

I think I really should never post on the internet drunk again. I haven't even read what I wrote...it was Christmas and I've been in a savagely low mood as of late and think I felt like getting angry at something (on the internet? Wow -__-' sounds helpful).

I guess what I just found frustrating was the hyper-accentuated camp guys who I've seen on Youtube and the like...The kind of VBloggers who do the whole "OH MAH GAWD GIRLFRIEND" and the flippy hands. That is a very minor group of the gay community and the effect their behaviour has on it as a whole is negligible as many of you have pointed out. I guess any sort of behaviour that seems incredibly affected is potentially frustrating or questionable. Whether it be the "poser rockstar" or "savagely gay gay guy" or "ditzy bimbo".

And some people DO conform to certain stereotypes and groups or become things that they aren't. It seems that everyone here believes that everyone is who they are and they are who they are from a choice of free will. People's behaviour can be influenced by others (dur) quite strongly. As for bimbos - yes, I'm sure you do get some girls who are ditzy, like pink, act very silly and treat men like gods out of their own free will. Feminists were assumedly fighting against the influences and gender roles which reinforced the stereotypes of women as subserviant housewife bimbos.

Not sure if this is all making too much sense. I accept everyones arguments here but there is a feeling of people being too leniant in understanding the generally negative effect of stereotypes on society. I'm not blaming anyone for that but it isn't something to be ignored...It isn't people's fault that they fit stereotypic roles either, as many of you said and it isn't those people's fault that that steretype exists. So basically...

I think through all this rambling, boring typing I've been doing I've come to the realisation that what I'm annoyed at is the actual stereotype - why it was created, how it is it so strongly reinforced?? - rather than the actual people who fit that stereotype! Please excuse my dumb-assery. That was what I meant but my cognitive abiltiy failed to express in an articulate fashion.

 

For this you can blame the media for creating and reinforcing images.

I have isolated parts of your post to point out an evolutionary force called "Natural Selection."

Whether it be the guys with huge cocks in porn or the women with huge, stand-up breasts in the girlie mags, it is a media construct.

Every month they find more stereotypical big-breasted women, and every porn has that really hung guy. Are all guys hung? Are all women large breasted? The answer is NO.

Those selected by the media are what is portrayed and is what sells. They are the exception and possibly an anomaly but that is the media natural selection.

Same for all those YouTube and Blog images you see and the news camera focus of every gay event. There may be a hundred normal, male looking gay men at an event, but the drag queen will be the one on the news. Because who wants to look at queer guys that look like every other guy? They wanna see Ru Paul.

Oops! I hadn't read this when I made my post. Seems we came to the same conclusion:

 

I'd call that rather UNnatural selection...but that's just me

 

It is a bit sad, that some people face prejudice not just from an ignorant general public, but also from some quarters of their so-called community. Even when I was medically labelled "transsexual", that was never a term I used for myself. Mainly because I just saw myself as female, and also, all depictions of transsexual women I seen in the media, I didn't relate to at all. There are some people within certain minority groups who harbour their own prejudices, and I myself have experienced this first hand. You would think that members of an oppressed minority would know better than to be prejudiced themselves, but there you go. I may be intersex, but I still have empathy towards certain elements of the trans community. But I have also seen that this community is quite divided, in a similar way that parts of the gay community are. I think stereotypes are one of the main reasons for this. (If not the only one)

I can see your point there, I guess. I've always found it funny that ultra camp behaviour like that is equated with femininity. Lots of women don't behave anything like that, including me. I find that behavour quite silly, but harmless really. Though any highly exaggerated personality trait can come off as annoying. But annoying doesnt equate to it being wrong.

I definitely would not disagree with that. I fiercly refused to conform to a stereotype because that wasn't who I was. And I did pay a heavy price for that. But I would agree that certain people do conform to stereotypes, maybe because they feel they need to do that to be accepted. Or perhaps it's a form of defiance against a society who tries to force them to act a certain way. In saying this, there definitely are some people who fall into the stereotypes just because that is the way they naturally are.

Where I think those feminists went wrong, was in attacking the women who naturally were a part of that stereotype, rather than the stereotype itself. I see myself as a feminist, but only in as much as that women should just be themselves, and not feel they have to be a certain way because that is what society dictates. If some women like being subserviant housewives, who am I to say that is wrong?

No, I actually stated earlier that I feel stereotypes in general are a very bad thing. But I can't see those stereotypes vanishing any time soon, as those stereotypes do not negatively affect the great majority of people, so they are not going to care about those stereotypes being there. In fact, I think a lot of the ''normal'' general public actually like the stereotypes, and are reassured by them being there. Because as long as they are there, they can keep ignorantly pigeonholing people when in reality they have little knowledge of the people they are doing this to. Much easier to do that, than to get educated on those matters, sadly.

And yes, it is not people's fault if they naturally fall into those stereotypes, which some do. I myself, used to harbour an animosity towards people who fell foul of stereotypes that I myself was probably expected to conform to. I now attack the stereotype, and not the people who are in that stereotype, but I can understand why there is some hostility towards those people. Although as Ive said, that hostility is misplaced at the wrong people. Those stereotypes shouldn't even exist, and that is the problem.

Well, the media is definitely one of the main reasons those stereotypes exists, and it definitely works in their favour to keep perpetuating those stereotypes. The ''normal'', quiet, members of minority groups will not sell papers, or get viewers. Its the outlandish ones that sells and gets people's attention. Of course, this just fuels stereotypes, and perpetuates narrow minded views about misunderstood groups of people. It is also not unknown for tabloids to greatly exaggerate, or even invent ''facts'' for sensationalist value. While this can definitely be very detrimental to members of those minority groups, it is no skin off their noses, or most of their readers/viewers.