Escandalo de Lesbianas!

So I was at the grocery store a couple years ago when I saw a Mexican tabloid with the screaming headline: “En Escandalo de Lebianas!” Complete with photos of Selma Hayek and Penélope Cruz. According to the tabloid in question, these two were involved in a torrid affair – escandalo!!!

I don’t know why, but that phrase just rolled off the tongue in such an awesome way – try it! Escandalo de Lesbianas! Say it like ya mean it – like it’s shocking, like it’s bigger news than the Kennedy assassination! Next time I was at the store, I grabbed a copy, chopped it up and scanned it. The result, seen below, is fine-art printed on a great big sheet of watercolor paper and framed in my living room. More on this below the pic:

I suppose what interested me about this was the breathless-ness of it all. Working in the arts and in fashion, for decades I’ve worked with all sorts of creative and business people. A fair amount of them gay. And coming from the uber-hetero world of high school (my first industry job was around my 19th birthday) it was enlightening to work with folks who were openly gay.

And the amazing claim of “la fantasia de todo hombre… mujer contra mujer!” (translation: “The fantasy of every man… women against women”) seems to be an awfully broad stereotype. I tend to resist generalization, especially in copy writing!

But… if I had to generalize about the gay people I’ve worked with, I’d have to say that – overall – they tend to be more empathetic, caring, loyal, and passionate about their work (be it advertising design, hair and makeup, apparel design, styling, or entrepreneurship) than the average joe. All qualities you’d hope to see in anyone. So my fascination with this particular tabloid cover – and its over-the-top sense of shock and amazement – isn’t about making fun of a particular life style.

But I am a little amazed at the fact that people would still see such a life style as, well, an escandalo.