After the shocking headline and the first three paragraphs proclaiming a new lesbian revolution in America today, though, the piece admits that there are no real statistics to prove the thesis. The whole claim is merely based on the anecdotal stories of the "experts" that Oprah.com dug up to substantiate the tale.
The piece starts out talking of the "new kind of sisterly love" that is "in the air," details the several Hollyweird "stars" that have loudly involved themselves in lesbian relationships, and declares that as a society "we've arrived at a moment in the popular culture when it all suddenly seems almost fashionable -- or at least, acceptable" to become a sudden lesbian.
Yet... and yet there is this short admission:
Statistics on how many women have traded boyfriends and husbands for girlfriends are hard to come by.
In other words, folks, please just accept Oprah.com's claim as "truth" despite the fact that they have NO stats and NO proof to prove it.
The ridiculous piece goes on to give the anecdotal evidence of several "experts" that proclaim it a certainty that women everywhere are leaving those evil, rotten men for the soft embrace of a new girlfriend.
But, it is interesting that the entire piece focuses on the Hollyweird notables that have been struck with sudden lesbian syndrome and who’ve taken up with their softer side yet doesn't really talk about the real world at all. If one were to restrict study to Hollyweird, one would think that all sorts of unhinged, way out, and insane "trends" are the state of the country. I hate to bust Oprah.com's bubble, but the country isn't Hollyweird.
Just because some starry-eyed "stars" like Cynthia Nixon have tried on a new, kitschy trend in sexuality doesn't mean that it is happening all over!
This piece is pure junk. But it does reveal a certain moral direction that the entertainment media would love to see became a true national trend. I guess lesbian Oprah fans everywhere are just hoping that if they state as a fact that lesbianism is a growing trend, despite that they have no evidence that it is a true statement, then maybe, just maybe it will occur anyway.
So, like Oprah.com and CNN, I think that I'll proclaim my own "new" trend even though it doesn't exist. OK, here goes: my "new trend" is that more people than ever are turning to Warner Todd Huston's salient opinion pieces on NewsBusters.org to guide them in their everyday lives. There, that's settled. It's now a fact. Well, why shouldn't I be able to make things up out of whole cloth just like CNN and Oprah.com? What am I? Chopped liver?
Besides.... I'm a lesbian too. I like chicks, myself. Does that count?
Editor's Note | Related Item: Erin Brown's March 24 NewsBusters piece, "'O' Magazine Goes to Bat for Lesbian Love."
