Sitting at work reading The Daily Free Press, I expect to see articles that challenge me intellectually, as well as make me laugh. The last thing I expect to see are cartoons that are both offensive and not funny. I found the cartoon by Derek Larson to be both of those things (‘Iggy and Rolf,’ Jan. 21, pg. 6).
In the cartoon, a genie magically appears to both Iggy and Rolf, two seemingly normal BU students enjoying some time off. When the boys question the appearance of the genie, the genie quickly advises the boys to ‘rub my lamp,’ while holding the lamp in a questionable manner. As the boys decline the offer, the impatient genie asks the boys once again to rub his lamp, offering a beautiful ‘baby’ as their prize. The genie gets the last laugh when the boys are presented with a real baby boy instead of the beautiful girl they thought they were in for.
My complaint with this cartoon lies in the fact that the genie is portrayed as a homosexual. His look (chiseled body, short hair and a permanent grin), manner (questionable positioning of the lamp) and dialogue all clearly suggest that he is a stereotype of a homosexual male looking for favors from two innocent students. I see no place for this cartoon in the DFP. As a supporter of gay and lesbian rights, I strongly urge the author to apologize in print for this blatant stereotypical representation of homosexuals. I also urge the editors at the DFP to be more careful with what they print.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
