Adam Lambert, the American Idol runner-up from this past season, has been getting a lot of media attention for his performance this weekend at the American Music Awards, where he simulated oral sex and kissed another man.
It was so controversial for some, that his performance on Tuesday on Good Morning America was canceled, with ABC releasing this statement:
Given his controversial American Music Awards performance, we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning.
Lambert himself has addressed the controversy, saying that if he were a female performer, there would be little to no problems with the performance.
There’s a big double standard, female pop artists have been doing things provocative like that for years, and the fact that I’m a male, and I’ll be edited and discriminated against could be a problem,” he explained.
Added Lambert, “People are scared and it’s really sad, I just wish people could open their minds up and enjoy things, it’s all for a laugh, it’s really not that big of a deal.
Just think of the kiss between Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. There may have been some controversy there, but more in a “oh look how hot that was” kind of way; they certainly wouldn’t have had any future performances canceled.
I agree with Lambert that a double standard exists, but not simply between men and women. I think his performance was controversial because he is a gay man expressing his sexuality, and people are uncomfortable with that.
Not that people are uncomfortable with male sexuality, though. You just have to look at the recent fervor over Taylor Lautner, the 17 year old star of New Moon:
Girls (and grown women) everywhere are drooling over Lautner’s pecs, abs, and biceps. He can’t even drink yet, and he’s on the cover of a magazine with a wet t-shirt. This kind of overt (straight) male sexuality is okay, but having an adult gay man do basically the same things Britney Spears did 10 years ago is considered lewd and offensive.
Lainey Gossip put it pretty well:
I don’t think the problem is the alleged lewdness. The problem is the factual gayness.
Gays are supposed to be adorable best friends like Stanford Blatch who tell you to buy those Jimmy Choos. Gays are not supposed to be put their gayness on tv.
Adam Lambert acted no more sexually provocative than Britney Spears did in her prime, and no more sexually provocative than Taylor Lautner dripping wet on the cover of a magazine, and appearing in a movie with his shirt off most of the time. Good for Lambert for trying to make it more acceptable for a gay man to be sexual on TV.
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