Not that my opinion is going to sway the future of the Western World or anything, but.... Joni's soliloqy on the pitch of female voices has a what "passes" as the vague character of homophobia.
I get that "homophobia" charge all the time. Over the weekend, my girlfriend asked her nephew if I looked a little like a little boy, like an older Harry Potter. Michael hesitated, then said, "See, there's this unspoken code if you're......." "Straight," I said. "Right," he said. Then he & I laughed nervous laughs. He continued: "If you're straight, you don't comment in any way about another guy's looks." Anna upbraided both of us for being homophobic. It's also an unspoken code, which I had broken, that if you're straight, you never discuss other lifestyles in anyway. If I say, "It's a perfectly valid choice," it's my understanding that I'm offensive on 2 counts: 1. Sexuality is not a choice. and 2. No one, of any orientation, needs *permission* from a straight white man to be what they are. It's not up to me to confer permission. I get it. I see the points. It's not really fair to me, as an outspoken, mildly political person, but it's a resonably small thing to ask of straights: "Stay out of the politics." Or have I missed the point? (Again?) :) Lama np: Monk, the jazz pianist on CD
