Bloodyelbow and Crusading: Why it doesn't help to look for social issues to complain about.

in his interview with Heavy, Megan Olivi said, “As a woman, it was not a pleasant sight.” And Dana replied with, “Imagine how us guys feel.”

He was wearing multiple layers of trunks, (which aren’t as revealing) to really make sure he wouldn’t have a wardrobe malfunction.

(He has a better gimmick though, as he sometimes even removes a layer of those trunks after every round. haha)

Great post, well said.

Dana’s a very macho dude, and he’s very sensitive about his machoness. Usually guys like that are uncomfortable around homosexual material because they can’t tolerate anything that deviates from normal masculinity. I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to make a connection between Dana’s absurd reaction and homophobia.

I mean, there’s something going on here. He didn’t give Ebersole $70k because he didn’t like the aesthetic of a man in his speedos.

“Your homophobic! No your homophobic!”
For fuck sake…what a pitiful sight. I had no issue with the article, I’m always down for a different well argued opinion, it keeps me open minded. But the comment section got ridiculous quick. Then it just became hilarious.

They let me put up my titty posts so B.E.’s cool with me, even if there can get to be a bit of a holier than thou flavor here at times.

Let’s clear up a couple of things…not wanting to see a dude’s nutsack flopping around does not make you homophobic, in fact, equating wanting to see a dude’s nutsack flopping around is probably more homophobic. Basically, you are saying that this what gay guys want to see, that they are simply pervs who are hoping some guys balls fall out on TV. I would guess that most gays who were watching would also have been put off by that ridiculous, mocking display. So, if I am put off by a fat chick falling out of her clothes, does that make me gay for not wanting to see naked lady parts? This whole argument is ridiculous.

Next, I love Fagan’s writing, but this was an obvious attempt to rile up the readers. How can someone write that article and then turn around and make the comments that go along with TWIQ? Which, by the way, I have no problem with.

I completely agree, that if a situation arises, where homophobic, racist, religious remarks, etc… are used, then absolutely the staff and us readers should speak up. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those instances and kudos to Micah and anyone else that points this out. We all have enough problems to postulate about without creating them from nothing.

There is a homophobic undercurrent to Dana’s disgust with Hallman’s speedos that exists whether people choose to acknowledge it or not. That undercurrent could possibly be attributed to Dana’s awareness that many MMA fans are homophobes, or it could be an underlying homophobia possessed by White himself. I have no idea.

Aren’t they the same shorts that Minowaman wears for every fight? And didn’t Dan Severn become a UFC hall of famer while wearing manties? To be a fan of grappling / BJJ / wrestling requires a certain perspective on man-to-man physical contact that transcends homophobia, no? In light of that, I can not see why so many people were offended by the banana hammock.

Because there are plenty there to find right on the surface. If you’re looking too, you’re gonna tire yourself out.

If anything, it made him look like a clown and that i sunproffessional. Not exactly the image you wanna give to sports media outlets when you are trying to legitimize the damn thing. Maybe it is b/c of homophobia itself that White was so fucking pissed given how stupid bigoted people suddenly crawled out of the woodworks to bash Hallman, and that is bad for bussiness.

Either way, I don’t care. I don’t watch wrestling b/c it’s silly, and I don’t want to have to watch that nonsense on tv. hell, even from hot chicks fighting, I don’t wanna watch it period.

Dana’s statements aren’t really reprehensible in and of themselves, and I’ll agree both that accusing the man of homophobia based solely on them is at the very least premature and also that there’s nothing wrong or intrinsically homophobic in disliking watching Hallman wearing those speedos.

However, the degree of indignation displayed by Dana, along with his own jokes and past history, as well as the reaction of some of the posters here doesn’t seem to be justified by what is, at worst, a joke in very poor taste by Hallman. If White’s statements are too little to indict him as a homophobe, they still seem indicative of some degree of homophobia. As others have noted, there’s a difference between disliking the damn speedos and being indignant. The second seems to require an explanation and homophobia looks the most probable.

The people talking about homophobia here aren’t referring to a hatred or fear of gays, but to a certain mindset in regards to appropriate sexual roles and masculinity, which excludes those that don’t conform to what is seen as “normal” and does its best to repress them. It may not even be the best term for it, but I think it’s pretty clear that this is the point of the argument.

Now, do I believe Dana White’s reactions to this incident are indicative of this kind of homophobia? I do. In fact, I suspect he’s even more homophobic and in a more conventional sense; the “faggot” thing is a very sore spot with me. However I will agree that just based on the Hallman thing people shouldn’t accuse the man of anything. Still, there’s nothing wrong with any discussion that has the potential to broaden people’s minds and bring a social problem into focus.