DA YOUTH WELCOMES GAY POSTER PARODY
The head of the DA Youth says that she is thrilled about a gay version of the controversial DA Student Organisation (DASO) poster that has made headlines around the country.
The original, official version of the recruiting poster includes an image of a white man embracing a black woman, with the by-line “in OUR future, you wouldn’t look twice”.
The poster has caused a furore, with critics accusing it of being inappropriate and the African Christian Democratic Party absurdly accusing it of “promoting sexual immorality” and, even more bizarrely, suggesting that it would lead to an increase in farm murders.
Various unofficial adaptations of the poster have since been created and posted on blogs and social networks, including one showing a black man holding a white man, in a similar pose to the original. Mambaonline has been unable to establish its source.
Mbali Ntuli, DA Youth National Chairperson, told Mambaonline that she has seen the ‘gay’ poster and is “thrilled that people have taken the original message into their own hands”.
She confirmed that there have been numerous ‘parodies’ of the poster, in addition to the gay version. These have included images with a Hindi and Tamil person and a Jewish and Muslim person.
“We are extremely happy that people have taken the underlying principle of the poster, which is tolerance of people, and have created versions that speak to them and their identity,” said Ntuli.
“It’s been interesting to see that it’s not just race in our country. There are so many other issues that are stopping people from engaging with others and themselves.
“I’m sad that we didn’t think of some of the other versions ourselves,” she quipped.
Lance Weyer, Mr. Gay South Africa 2011 and a DA Councillor in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, also commented on the poster, in his personal capacity.
“I believe that with all the comments, good and bad, DASO has successfully achieved their goal of engaging South Africa in a frank debate about one of the most defining issues in South Africa today – tolerance,” said Weyer.
He added: “Part of addressing the issue of intolerance is about bringing people’s prejudices to the fore. This is done not with the intention of being belligerent and attacking people but about maturely acknowledging that people have them and the important role that organisations like DASO play is to get them to talk about it.”
When asked if the DA Youth intended to create other “official” versions of the poster, Ntuli replied that this was unlikely.
“These messages are already strong enough, rather than saying it again by us,” adding that “we want to carry on with something more substantive following the controversy of the first poster”.
Oh I don’t know…As with the original ‘straight’ version of the poster promoting farm murders, I think the same-sex version might promote more hurricanes, earthquakes, similar 9/11 attacks, corrupt MP’s and all sorts of totally unrelated idiotic reasons and therefore shouldn’t see the light of day! Kidding, of course.
The parody poster really tells it like it should be but I fear we’ll never see it on our lamp posts for fear of narrow minded prudes having a heart attack *sigh*
JustMe: yeah, you got it! if you create a cool poster (don’t really care who you are ‘pandering’ to, or give a f%$k what your ‘issues’ are) i will follow you.
who wants to ‘follow’ a heteroscum straight institution like marriage anyway?
i thought us queers were creative..?
– hell, i vote for those talentless Idols idiots, why not give the politikers a vote also??!! darklyshiningly yours. miguel
Lol I love DA ,if people don’t learn to be open minded they will get heart attacks
Love the way forward !!! This is how it should be really.
Good advertising. If you want people to take notice, create a storm around the adverts – and before you know it whole country is talking about it – at no expense to you!
I really applaude the DASO for their initiative and being gay myself find it really heartening that they have the guts to achieve this kind of dialogue. Great one people, this makes me more determined to become a full member of the DA.
as black gay dude ,like the gay version. i think its cute. it speaks a thousand word !!! well done
I appreciate the initiative of the DA to promote these posters. Correctly they caused a storm of critic and slamming by those puritans, because we are still so damaged by racism, prejudices that it bothers the majority seeing mixed couples, interratial relationships etc…..but we will never reach anywhere here in South Africa if we do not wake up and start embracing our diversity, our various cultures and learn to accept and love each other, be it White, Black or whatever race. I am classified as White and have a Black boyfriend and the last thing which matters to me is his race and ethnicity…
I love this poster and I want a copy for myself. I think this was well done and has such deep meaning. I hope people can learn to get over themselves and learn to embrace people loving people. We should only be so lucky to have more love in this world.
This parody poster replicates some of the same problems as the original: normativity pretending to be transgressive. Given the history of desire and ‘race’ in South Africa, the original poster has stereotypically configured actors portraying the traditionally less threatening notion of “inter-racial sexual desire”: taller white man, smaller Black woman; the converse (taller Black man, smaller white woman) one assumes had either been turned down or not even considered by the ad agency types, because of its discomforting association with “colonial threat”, that construction used in colonial legislation to sanctify white femininity from the perceived threat of the Black rapist which persists in contemporary understandings of white (middle class?) feminine vulnerability against a marauding Black masculinity. The reality of colonial rape, however, is domesticated in its repetition as the ‘norm’ of desire. As for the queer parody: who is allowed to look (subject, ‘I’, fully human), and who is merely being looked at (object, ‘it’, less than fully human)? And which of those two figures in the image is configured as the ‘desirable’, and which is doing the desiring? Ad agency types who make these posters consider such questions, and whether the intended audience will respond to these without thinking, and whether other versions of the same message would potentially alienate the traditional clientele of their client, in the case of the DA, that being fairly clear.
Great poster , that my nephew and his lover and they look great. Sent me copy of poster. p.o box 200630. So ozone pk ny 11420
As a black bottom in a relationship with a white top I can actually sort of relate to both of these versions. Im shorter he’s taller. Im altheletic he’s a muscled bear (hot!!!) I don’t know what the big deal is with all these stick up ur ass prudes (pun intented). I gotta tell ya there is nothing hotter than the clash of coulour when we hug or when we make love it’s a beauti worth experiencing. Its our differences that turn us both on, its what attracted us to each other. I used to wonder to myself why we liked jungle fever so much. I thot it was because our 1sts’ were also jungle fever (yes I love the phrase!!!) n we’ve wanted nothing since. I thot it was because we both got a kick out of pushing the envolope n getting reactions out of ppl. As I was considering this question I had n ephany. Did I actually give a rats ass bout the answer n if so would it make a difference… No it wouldn’t. Bottom line is I love interracial n it doesn’t matter why. I totally encourage it. That doesn’t mean throw anything n ur blender n mix, stanards r important but those can also be subjective so becareful. Im happy, so can u*smiley* Thanx DASO for giving us hope that one day we will have the balls to hold hans n kiss in public n not just in Gay establishments.
I just want to say that was beautifully written, I’m black and I LOOOOVE white guys. I cannot get enough of them, but I have that type of family who believes that most white people are bad/racist. but they don’t care if I date someone white, they just prefer I date someone of my race because of society, and even though their right about the society thing, I can’t help what skin color I love..and really I have no problem dating black guys its just im not as attracted as I am to white guys, I love their personalities..i mean where I live most black guys just want to smoke weed, get drunk, have sex, and play football, but the white guys aren’t like that and I guess its because I want to be someone different and not fall into that..”ghetto chick” category. the stereo type boxes that people place us in..i like to prove society wrong. and your comment and given me the courage to continue my passion for the right guy, and most likely..he will be white, and together, he and I shall prove society wrong.