Reading Response 2 - Backstreet Boys and Homosexuality

In the last decade it has become more acceptable for people to publicize their sexual preference. Growing up in this decade has made me more aware and accepting of people with a different sexual preference than mine and their lifestyle choice does not affect or bother me in any way. However, the arguments made in the article "Marketing androgyny: the evolution of the Backstreet Boys" written in a 2007 edition of Popular Music by Daryl Jamieson make me strongly disagree with Jamieson’s opinion. I disagree that the sexually androgynous Nick Carter was the main focus in the Backstreet Boys and that only he was particularly marketed towards the gay community. The Backstreet Boys were openly marketed to young pre-teen and teenage girls and Jamieson discusses the more demure marketing of the Backstreet Boys to the young, gay community. Jamieson’s article focuses strictly on Nick Carter and his sexual androgyny without fairly analyzing the other members of the Backstreet Boys.

Jamieson clearly states at the beginning of his article that he is gay and grew up watching the videos and listening to the music of the Backstreet Boys; he affirms that he was clearly influenced by the marketing strategies of the creators and producers of the Backstreet Boys. Jamieson defines the term “androgynous” as “embodying in roughly equal proportions traits which are traditionally perceived as masculine and feminine” (Jamieson 245). He asserts that this new type of sex symbol is “sensitive, youthful,… fashionable and possesses an above-average ability to dance” (Jamieson 245). I do not disagree that the Backstreet Boys could have been marketed towards the gay community, but Jamieson’s article could have been strengthened with proof, as opposed to only his opinion, that they had been subtly marketed to this specific community.

Thinking back to my own personal knowledge of the Backstreet Boys, their lyrics, and videos, I initially agreed with several of Jamieson’s arguments. However, after refreshing my memory by watching several videos and looking at the lyrics to some of the Backstreet Boys songs in class I began to disagree with many of Jamieson’s reasons for claiming that Nick Carter was focused on more than the other band members. Jamieson claims that Nick is the main singer in the pop group having the most solo lines in their songs. After watching several videos of the group performing, it seems that Brian Littrell has the majority of the solo lines, which would mak him the front man in the Backstreet Boys. In the class discussion on July 26, 2007 many of my classmates agreed that Jamieson may have taken a particular interest in Nick Carter because of his good looks and the fact that he was the youngest member of the band and had not fully completed puberty. These physical qualities are generally more attractive to young, pre-teen females and gay males than a rougher, more masculine character. These traits make Nick an easier choice for a young, gay boy to relate to and develop feelings for compared to the older and more masculine band members.

In the Backstreet Boys’ song "Quit Playin’ Games (With My Heart)" Jamieson claims that “Nick is clearly being set apart as the object of desire in the band” (Jamieson 250). Jamieson argues that Nick is separated from the group by being placed on a set of bleachers while the rest of the group is singing on a basketball court. To a heterosexual it appears that Nick was on the bleachers because it was a strategic place for someone to be seen clearly in the video. Jamieson views this exclusion as a gay person’s fear of “being looked down upon for being perceived as gay” (Jamieson 250). Jamieson’s comment that a shot of Nick fixing his hair after the rain is “an essentially ‘gay’ thing to do” (Jamieson 250) can also be interpreted in different ways. More men in the twenty-first century are considered ‘metrosexual’, a “heterosexual male who has a strong aesthetic sense and inordinate interest in appearance and style, similar to that of homosexual males” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/metrosexual). In this particular video it appears that the whole band is marketed to a feminine and gay audience. All of the band members have some equally gay characteristics and they are all singing about their feelings. Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson all have their ears pierced, which in the 1990’s was perceived as being more of a gay action than a masculine action. Each band member also uses their hands near their face in a ‘voguing’ action, which is “a calling card designed to be noticed and appreciated by gay men, and simply passed over as another dance-move by the twelve-year-old girls who have likely never seen Madonna’s “Vogue” video” (Jamieson 250). Although Jamieson argues some interesting points, they are not analyzed fairly or critically enough to claim that Nick Carter was singled out as the only gay marketed band member in Backstreet Boys.

Jamieson again singles Nick out in the Backstreet Boy’s music video “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” which was released after “Quit Playin’ Games (With My Heart)” and is a play on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video. Jamieson comments on Nick’s costume as he is dressed as a mummy. Jamieson says it "appears to include some sort of leather bondage gear, which is a highly anachronistic, sexually charged touch" (Jamieson 253). However, Jamieson fails to look at and analyze the other band member’s costumes. As the class discussed, Howie is dressed as a vampire and his costume can be thought of sexually as it is the vampire’s role to bite people on the neck. Jamieson also discusses that Nick is the only band member to vocalize his thoughts about the women dancing with him in the video. Jamieson views this comment as “covering up [Nick’s] desire for men – closeted gay men often talk about girls much more than is seemly, as if trying to point out just how straight they are” (Jamieson 253). It seems as though Jamieson is reading too deeply into the meaning of everything Nick does without sufficiently looking at the actions and comments of the other band members.

In the song and music video for "As Long as You Love Me" Jamieson views the video and lyrics as a love song between Brian and Nick who sing the majority of the lines. The lyrics to this particular song are very ambiguous and do not state a gender, making it open for interpretation: “I don’t care who you are / Where you’re from / What you did / As long as you love me” (http://www.loglar.com/song.php?id=9402). Jamieson even comments that Brian and Nick share the microphone: “during the first [verse] there are a few scenes where they share a tender moment – Brian adjusts Nick’s jacket, they share the microphone for a single line” (Jamieson 254). Jamieson once again fails to recognize the other band members and does not comment on the fact that Brian and Kevin also share the microphone in the next verse.

Although Jamieson has spent a significant amount of time researching the Backstreet Boys and the influence and impact they have made on the gay community, he fails to fairly analyze the other band members and their songs and videos. By failing to acknowledge other possible interpretations and meanings he weakens his argument. Every member of the Backstreet Boys was specifically created to appeal to different individuals and each member’s actions are masculine, feminine, and androgynous at some point. If one searches hard enough for a certain meaning in a song or video, one will most likely find it.