Yesterday while surfing the web I happened upon the myspace page of one of my favorite actresses, Rachel True. Ms. True and other celebrities are participating in a pro-gay rights political campaign called No H8 (leetspeak for “No Hate”). So far all well and good. What I don’t get is, what’s with the people having their mouths taped shut? It seems way too fetishy, and when applied to women mysongynistic (I never could spell that word), and when applied to black women like the aforementioned Ms. True too pro-Confederate States of America, to me. What am I missing? What message is the mouth being taped shut supposed to convey to me?
From their press release on their site:
“Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths to symbolize their voices not being heard and NOH8 painted on one cheek in protest”
It’s not about being shut up it’s about not being heard.
Ah, thank you. I’d call the tape bit too clever by half.
It’s also a play on Proposition 8, which passed in CA banning same-sex marriage.
The first time I saw this was near the end of the whole Terri Schiavo case. Some on the side of keeping her alive taped their mouths, and wrote (I think), “pro-life” or some such on the tape. It struck me as a really dumb way to protest (and not just because I disagreed with their view) - YOU put tape on your mouth, that’s why people can’t hear you! Take off the tape and argue for your position!