The Trouble With Kanye

If you know anything about Kanye, you know he loves his Balenciaga sandals and neon. Some people think he looks moronic. Some people think he looks awesome. Apparently, some people think he looks “gay.”

Blogger Elizabeth Gates at the Daily Beast noticed how homophobic and racially motivated some commenters’ replies were about recent paparazzi snaps of Kanye and his entourage at Fashion Week. “Only gay guys wear that [crap!]” one wrote. “Bootylishious,” wrote another. But this isn’t anything new. Two years ago, 50 Cent made waves when he complained that Kanye got invited on “Oprah,” not him, which he said proved Middle America would be OK with their kids being gay.

“People wanna label me and throw that on me all the time, but I’m so secure with my manhood,” Kanye told MTV. It’s not like gay men can’t be “secure in their manhood,” but we wish Kanye had said, “Anybody should be allowed to dress any damn way they please.” They used to be. Gates noted black men from Duke Ellington to George Clinton to Andre 3000 embraced ostentatious fashions before Kanye, and their crazy outfits were hailed as original. Gates asks, “How did the community that once welcomed Little Richard become so violently judgmental? And why, in 2009, is ‘looking gay’ in the black community even an issue? ... It seems that just as we settle into our most modern America yet, the tradition of black fashion has been lost.”

We think its wack that enjoying shopping and loving fashion are considered to be the past times of women—and gay men. Sometimes, the worst way some people can think of to insult someone else is to say a man must be like a woman. But maybe the host of an MTV reality show can stop us from pulling their hair out: Gates turns to Fonzworth Bentley, host of MTV’s “From G’s to Gentleman,” for answers. Homophobia against Kanye will ease up, but it’s going to be slow, Bentley said. “If you put a little bunny in a pot of boiling water, it jumps out quickly,” he explained. “But if you place the bunny in the water and turn the heat up slowly, the bunny will cook. You understand?” [Daily Beast]