My antennae have been buzzing on the synch that it is female beauty contestants who cast themselves in the role of the defender of heteroxy, Miss California Carrie Prejean being the latest example. But I'll never forget Anita Bryant, the Miss America orange juice queen who became the voice of the emerging Evangelical Right. Perhaps beauty contestants feel threatened by gay love? Kinda leaves them out of the running.
The masculine equivalent of the beauty pageant is a bodybuilding contest, and in the old days we had Mr. America and Mr. Universe, inviting the obvious comparisons. While female pageants are undeniably straight, the male side has always had a strong homosexual sub-current, as much as Joe Weider always tried to sweep it under the carpet. Dare I say it, but perhaps it is that homosexual subconscious-current that draws in the fans and pays the bills? Apparently homoerotic is fine, as long as it avoids the label. In this respect, erotic male love is STILL "the love that dare not say its name".
Eros is his name, and for the last 2000 years Eros has been "our little secret" - something men do behind closed doors but never, ever discuss in public. Until now, when suddenly Eros is on all the talk shows.
Every archetype needs expression, and perhaps the reason that homosexuality finds itself in the cross hairs of religion and politics is that Eros is demanding to be heard? If an archetype is denied conscious expression, then it will seek subconscious expression. What if... the natural desire of a man for another man was cut off, through social and religious control? Perhaps it would seek covert expression - "perverting" other archetypes in order to express itself.
Naturally drawn to venues where men congregate, it would find subliminal expression there. Gyms and locker rooms, monasteries, soldier's barracks, construction crews - all fertile soil for Eros. But still, an existence in the subconscious margins of a straight world isn't exactly Living. So Eros infiltrates and perverts, and all the other archetypes hate on him for it, but maybe... all Eros really wants is a place to call his own. Like a gay bar is a place to call our own, and a gay neighborhood or even a church. But Eros doesn't want to live in a bar or a church, he wants a place in our consciousness. What if Eros has grown weary of all the sneakin' around, and like the prodigal son, he just wants to come home?
I know it sounds crazy, but what if the integration of Eros into the Collective Consciousness is what is going on right now? And maybe the other archetypes like Aries are angry and afraid, because on some level, they understand that Eros is the secret engine behind much of their success, and if he ever fully comes out of the subconscious closet, that might be the end of their careers.
To the scions of politics and religion, Eros is the Destroyer, and he seems to delight in bringing them down. But to us...
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. --Revelation 3:7-8
