Additional References
August 2003, EWFF
Sexual Ambiguity Hits Prime Time
Alternate sexual lifestyles is another bear market theme that has advanced to the forefront of popular culture in recent weeks. This connection was first suggested by the 1985 Special Report, “Popular Culture and the Stock Market,” EWT’s initial study on the relationship between mood and its manifestations. One of the relationships EWT noticed right off the bat was that in bull markets, gender idols are sexually distinct and stereotypical (John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s; Arnold Schwarzenegger and Madonna in the 1980s), while their bear-market counterparts are mixed and blurred. Remember the “caring male” of the 1970s? He’s back. A USA Today article cites a “growing trend by men to move into profession long dominated by women. More men are finding careers as librarians, secretaries, nannies, preschool teachers, nurses, paralegals, typists, dressmakers even lactation consultants or midwives. “The Days of Sex Stereotyping are Quickly Crumbling,” a headline reports. The gender-bending even extends to the “macho sport” of professional soccer where David Beckham, the world’s most popular player, conducts himself with a “stylish androgyny” that has pushed the sport past “lines of sports and sexuality that are rarely crossed by elite athletes.”
A new, unrivaled popularity for gay themes was signaled by an early June USA Today headline that declared, “It’s ‘In’ To Be ‘Out’ These Days.” “Mainstream entertainment has fallen head over heels for gays and lesbians.” The buzz actually rose to the level of mild frenzy this week when a cable TV show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was such a hit that NBC re-ran a shortened version in prime time. Queer Eye is a show in which five gay men apply their well-developed fashion sense to the make-over of a straight man. The next step is a TV reality show called Boy Meets Boy, which debuts Tuesday. The matchmaking format calls for a gay star to choose a partner from a group of contestants. The twist is that he doesn’t know it but some of the candidates are heterosexuals. The idea “to test the boundaries between gay and straight” is a classic example of the blurring of sexual identities that EWT anticipated with its initial observations in 1985.
The acceptance of open homosexuality appears to be a bear market trait. The initial spark for gay rights came in June 1969, seven months after the speculative peak of Cycle wave III, when gays locked arms against a police raid of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York. According to The Readers Companion To American History, “Almost overnight, a massive grassroots gay liberation movement was born.” By the time stocks bottomed in 1974, anti-gay statutes were being rescinded, the first gay politician had taken office and “the lesbian and gay world was no longer an underground subculture but a well-organized community.” New York’s Gay Pride Parade was started in 1970 to commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion. In late June, The New York Times reports that this year’s version, “now known as New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride March,” went off with a heightened sense of progress. “Crowds cheered louder, political groups marched in greater numbers and parade goers seemed more party-prone.” The revelers celebrated two significant “advances in gay rights, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down laws against sodomy and the decision in Canada to allow same-sex marriage.” Newsweek’s July 7 cover shows that it is rapidly becoming a mainstream topic in the U.S. as well. The “celebratory” nature of this year’s parade and the rising cache of gay-themed entertainment illustrate an inclusionistic sentiment within society that reflects the still-dominant bull-market psychology. But a bear market also brings polarization so we can expect that a conflict with opposing forces lies ahead.
November 1992, The Elliott Wave Theorist
The Marlboro man has single-handedly kept his brand of cigarettes the nation's most popular for years. He's been on the scene since the early 1950s, a heroic image suited to the Supercycle bull market. As a role model, he is “losing his effectiveness.” The reason is that the old bull market is losing power. People are looking for different images to reflect the change in social mood. He's probably too classically masculine for the emerging trend.
It is of some interest that among the surviving superheroes in DC Comics is a team of women. Our 'Popular Culture' report observed that symbols of sexuality became mixed and less stereotypical in bear markets, with women becoming more masculine and men more feminine. (Even 'Wonder Woman' made it to TV in the 1970s.) This change in cultural symbols reflects only slightly more concrete developments in other areas, such as politics (many women are suddenly running for office), advertising (see Marlboro Man discussion above) and fashion. |
