Another dumb joke by Jay Leno | Golden Skate

Another dumb joke by Jay Leno

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John King

Guest
Another dumb joke by Jay Leno

:mad: Last night on the Tonight show,Jay made a joke where the punchline was that Brian Boitano was getting breast implants.For years Jay was saying that all male skaters were gay,now he's insinuating that Bri Boi is a transsexual!
This is going beyond humor,it is encouraging the stigmatisation of male skaters,including young ones starting out.How many would-be champion skaters have been subjected to all the taunts of 'faggot', 'sissy', 'fairy' ,etc.,to such a dgree that they couldn't take it any more,and gave up?
I suggest that every parent of a young novice male skater should send a letter to Jay telling him how their sons were bullied at school,some even beaten up,and ask him whats so funny about that.
 
J

Joesitz

Guest
Re: Another dumb joke by Jay Leno

Jay just delivers the lines. Check out who the joke writers are. I'll be some of them are self-hating queens.

Joe
 
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Ptichka

Guest
RANT about stereotypes

First of all, I totally agree, and it's not just skaters. I mean, how many mothers would dare send their sons to ballet school? We all <em>know</em> the dancers are all gay (with Baryshnikov as some kind of a mutant)!

Secondly, Jay Leno makes a living by exploiting prejudices and stereotypes. Luckily, it is now politically incorrect to joke about the races, so at least we are not getting that. The manly vs. girlish sports, however -- that's a whole other story!

Third, stereotypes often become self-fulfilling prophecies. Let me give an example I am most familiar with: I am a software engineer, and the field is totally dominated by men, even though women are not discriminated against per se. Interestingly, when computer science first became a popular major in the early 80's, there was almost a parity - 40% against 60%, now it's more like 20% against 80%. What happened? Well, a stereotype developed, claiming that only nerds become programmers, and that a girl must be really geeky to go into it (you can't imagine how many times I get the "You are a programmer? But you are so pretty!":mad: ) So, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy, since girls became afraid to go into this field for fear of being labeled a geek. Actually, it is even deeper than that. It is almost like girls believe that if they go into programming (or another "manly":eek: proffession), they will somehow miraculously become geeks.

So it becomes a self-fulfulling prophecy. Every year I help out with a program that introduces high school girls to possible carreers in technology, science, and medicine. I usually get an assorment of girls, from those who just go on a program because it's a fun field trip, to those who seriously can't choose between astro-physics and artificial intelligence as potential carreers (I am <em>not</em> exaggerating); I get some girls from very impoverished schools, where at most they consider a 6-months program after they graduate from high school, and I get other girls from very welll-to-do schools, who are thinking Masters and beyond. Indeed, a large percentage of the girls who already know they are going into a technological field are what you might call "geeks".

I think it's the same thing with ballet/skating/gymnastics. Boys are afraid to go into it for fear of being labeled "gay". Same as with girls and programming, it goes deeper than that, since boys are almost afraid they will <em>become</em> gay if they go into a "girlish":eek: sport. So those who do go into it are often those who are not afraid of it, since they are gay to begin with.
 
F

FetalAttraction

Guest
Context please!

Please give the full, relevant context to what Leno said about 'Tano. One should never incite a protest without giving the full details.
 
S

SingAlto

Guest
Leno

Making fun of male skaters. That's so original, Jay. :rolleyes:
I bet Brian wishes he'd never helped Jay out on one of his silly skits back in 1995. This is the thanks he gets. :(
 
R

RealtorGal

Guest
Re: Context please!

<span style="color:red;font-family:helvetica;font-size:x-small;">Ptichka, on behalf of moms with daughters, thank you for your work in encouraging them in science, etc. Science is my 8 year-old's favorite subject in school, and she and her dad actually do science experiments at home--they've built generators, batteries and other goodies which she then shares with her class, to the total delight of her teacher. There is definitely a stereotype out there, and we are losing lots of talent because of it.

As for Jay, well, he insults everyone in the news. He's just an equal opportunity insulter! </span>:)
 
D

DORISPULASKI

Guest
Re: RANT about stereotypes

Ptichka, Are you in the Society of Women Engineers? Sounds like their program. Before I retired, I was. I know what you mean about the software stereotypes, but you know, it extends to all female engineers that we are supposed to be geeks. of course, I am a geek, but that doesn't count.

I hate this stereotyping.

Leno needs to sit through diversity training.

dpp
 
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eliza88

Guest
Re: RANT about stereotypes

Leno is an equal-opportunity insulter. I never watch him, I don't think he's very funny and I can't deal with his triple-sized chin!

Honestly, I don't know why more boys/men don't go in to dancing or figure skating more--it's where all the babes are! Really, look at how attractive the majority of dancers/skaters are! They should brag to their friends that they got to touch so-and-so's butt!

eliza88

PS--science and math tend to be my 8-yr. old daughters favorite subjects. I work in a lab and every time she visits she sets up little experiments (calls them her "research projects").
 
J

Joesitz

Guest
Re: RANT about stereotypes

Ptishka - nice contribution to this piece. Letterman, btw, is always, in a joking fashion, calling Mike Piazza of the Mets as gay. How about that? A gay baseball player? They probably exist but we'll never know about it.

Marcel Gomes, a top dancer with American Ballet Theatre says that being gay and in Brazil does not go well together. He prefers USA which is more tolerating of gays. He adds that most of the male dancers in ABT are not gay.

BTW, would you enroll your little daughter into Tennis School?

Joe
 
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FetalAttraction

Guest
Re: RANT about stereotypes

Joe,

There have been gay baseball players. Most came out after their career.

John,

If you're going to accuse someone of making an ignorant and harmful statement, please tell us what the actual statement is. Besides, I could use a good laugh about Brian Boitano becoming Brian Girltano.
 
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heyang

Guest
Re: RANT about stereotypes

It does have a lot to do with parents. My father was a research engineer at IBM. When selecting a high school curriculum, he steered both my brother and myself towards sciences and advanced math courses. I was one of many females in the class - I would say it was 50-50. A college friend was given the choice of Ballet or Karate while growing up - she chose Karate and is an electrical engineer. Other than our careers, neither of us have 'masculine' traits. Both our parents were open minded about what was gender appropriate.

If parents allowed their children the options, imagine what the world could be like.
 
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LADSKATER

Guest
Re: Another dumb joke by Jay Leno

Come to think of it have you ever seen Boitano with a girl friend? At any rate, Jay Leno was "out of line." But what do you expect from a late night tv talk show host? Leno owes Boitano an apology.

Ladskater
 
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SingAlto

Guest
And your point is...

Have you ever seen him with a boyfriend?
 
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ladybug

Guest
Re: And your point is...

Good point SingAlto.

Fetal

I didn't hear the remark but when I came into the room my husband said Leno said something about Brian Boitano getting implants. There was more to it but I got angry because he seems to always refer to Brian as gay. Brian being a favorite of mine doesn't make it easier to take. I don't care what Brian is. It is his own business..not mine or Jay Leno's. Brian is the last male Olympic Champ in the U.S. We should be proud of him ..not make fun of him. After watching Nationals, I think he may be the last Oly Champ in a very long time.
 
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MasterF

Guest
Stupid Leno

I am raising two male figure skaters and while they may never become world champion I hate all of the insult or insinuation that because you like figure skating you some how have to be gay. Parents of male skaters do have to be careful about how their skating presentation develops over the years. Their is artistic like kulik or yagudin which is great and then there is the Johny Weir or Jeffrey Buttle artistry which I am not a fan of. Skaters sometimes do not help to improve the image that has been ingrained in so many people.
 
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FetalAttraction

Guest
Re: Stupid Leno

Can't condemn Leno until I know what he said. Maybe he gave a perfectly legitimate reason for Boitano to get breast implants. Come to think of it, why wouldn't a perfectly heterosexual macho man like Boitano get them? Straight men love them so much, they might as well get two of their own:smokin: .

MasterF,

Instead of having figure skaters conform to close-minded people, let's have the close-minded people open up to sissy male figure skaters.
 
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