the ad itself

[Mark Mandel]

Thanks for the PDF of the page (sent off-list). Maybe the author is unaware
of the shift, or is conservative and ignoring it, or doesn't care.

Another thing that just occurred to me: all of the ad, naturally, is about
the plant. To me at least, the context is much less supportive of the
'homosexual' reading than any context relating to people. "X is gay" or "gay
laughter" or "a gay party" are readable as either emotion/personality or
sexual orientation, but the ad text --

   - Blooms lavishly starting this summer
   - Produces gay masses of blue-violet flowering spires
   - Blooms year after year...

 -- is neither. It only allows an esthetic reading, which is different
though related to the emotion/personality sense, and which (to me at least)
doesn't support the other reading at all.

--
Mark Mandel

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