Media Representation in Lgbt

The inaccurate or lacking representations of LGBTQ people in media results in misconceptions about the community. Media, such as literature, television, and music, particularly those targeted towards middle

In the current society that we live in, there are many things that help shape our perception of sexual identity. In the discussion with the class, there was a consensus that family, media, religion were the major influencers on how we develop our sexual identities and how we view other’s sexual identity. From childhood, most of us are shaped by the view of our parents and often follow the same principles and views at them. Though many people usually divert from this thought process, it still serves as a foundation for our future views and principles, whether we agree with our parents or not. Going through our individual groups discussions, many people in my group felt that a large part of their perception about the LGBT community came from the media and how the community was portrayed in the media. We discussed that in our childhoods we were often presented with gay characters that were often very flamboyant, feminine

Growing up as a Catholic, Puerto Rican gay boy in the 90s and early 2000s, I struggled to discover my queer identity as well as queer representation in the media I consumed. Being gay was something that was never discussed. If it was brought up, it was usually in hushed tones (I remember being introduced to my uncle 's close 'friend ' each holiday) or as something negative (I still remember the sting of being called a faggot in elementary school). This reflected exactly how homosexuality was portrayed in media at the time. Queer characters and homosexuality were at best portrayed in codified, 'blink-and-you 'll-miss it ' labels and affectations, or at worst, something to laugh at, pity or even hate. As someone who still regularly watches reads comics, watches Saturday morning cartoons and plays video games, it is so exciting to discover the lengths of progress that has been made in queer representation in all ages media. In this paper I hope to detail the highs and lows of LGBTQ representation in all ages media and highlight the impact of media representation.

Media is not only a form of entertainment; it also shows the social perspectives around the world. Through television and other forms of media, people learn social norms and how to interact with others. It can also influence personal perceptions, views and values. Media also has a large influence on how people view and treat others. How media portray events related to homosexuality has a powerful influence on public opinion. Many movies and TV series include gay and lesbian characters such as Modern Family, The Fosters & Pretty Little Liars. The media has encouraged social acceptance of homosexuality. Twitter has given a greater voice to the LGBT community worldwide to promote and support LGBT rights by starting campaigns such as the ‘It Gets Better Project’ which gives individuals to share their coming-out

Male gender roles in contemporary media that are negatively portrayed through masculinity greatly effects the physical, psychological, and behavioral image of men. The social construct of masculinity in society and its relationship to males is generally reflected in male media consumption. The popular concept of women’s feminine image in the media is vastly overshadowed and more predominantly acceptable in subtle society in comparison to male’s image of masculinity.

For this paper, I am going to be discussing gender in the institution of films. Specifically, I am going to be discussing femininity in coming of age films. I am going to discuss how gender is represented in coming of age films in regards to femininity. Coming of age movies set an expectation for teens and young adults it lays out what they should fear and what they should thrive to be in order to transition to adulthood successfully. The media defines cultural and gender norms that are often very stereotypical (). The cultivation theory suggests that exposure to stereotypes in the media can lead to adopting these beliefs in their real lives (Giaccardi et al., 2016). In the media, masculinity is often portrayed as aggression, power, dominance,

Over time, media has played a part in shaping our depiction and understanding of males

Historically, social and feminist scholars have focused on media representations of gender roles and how they affect the lived experiences of women (Green, 2013; Soulliere, 2006). Gender is widely considered to be a cultural rather than strictly biological creation, and it is often constructed and represented through popular culture media such as advertisements, magazines, and television (Soulliere, 2006). While women have made great strides in expanding the culturally acceptable definition of femininity (or femininities), masculinity continues to be narrowly defined and policed by society (Soulliere, 2006; Tragos, 2009). This evidence of asymmetrical change in popular culture gender role portrayals suggests that more effort should be given to examining the representation of men and masculinities in media, and its influence on the lived experience of men.

This shift was huge during this time because while most people were growing up with or surrounded by heterosexuality, an acceptance of homosexuality was beginning to take hold. Programs such as Love Sidney, Dynasty, Heartbeat, Melrose Place, and Will and Grace portrayed homosexuality through leading and supporting characters and helped to shift the paradigm of attitudes toward gays, lesbians, and bisexuals (Fisher, 2007). The positive media portrayal of homosexuality has been shown to influence the beliefs and attitudes of heterosexuals because often, “the world, as seen in the media, is perceived by its viewers as an accurate reflection of reality” (Fisher, 2007). Since so many viewers at that time had little or no personal experience with homosexuals or homosexuality, these sources of media served as a major influence on the assumptions and attitudes that people expressed toward the subject (Fisher, 2007).

Hollywood is presenting a new generation of young people a distorted reality of masculinity. Anthony Patsalou investigates this façade of onscreen manliness.

What images come up when you think a man? Many people would think short hair, beard, and sixpack. Because these images of men have been, many men maintain short hair, trim beard, and do workout for having sixpack. Many People say, “Men have to be strong themselves to endure hardships that you face,” or “don’t cry. You have to always protect girls, and ladies are first,” to young boys. Recently, only men who follow the established masculine concept are regarded as real men with respects from other people in this society. However, a lot of men are suffering from being looking down by these misrepresented images of masculinity. They try to hide their real mind and emotion for showing that they are strong. “The Representation Project”, a nonprofit organization, effectively persuades the audience of their film, “The Mask You Live In,” which asserts that the America’s narrow definition of masculinity should be changed for a healthier generation of boys and young men through the use of well described visual images, face-to-face interviews of real struggling men, and

The 1990s saw surge of gay characters in both television and movies. From Ellen Degeneres and her character Ellen Morgan coming out under much scrutiny on the TV show ‘Ellen,' to Julia Roberts and Rupert Everett comedically playing off each other in the motion picture ‘My Best Friend's Wedding.' Sure, gays and lesbians have been around forever, especially in Hollywood. But never has there been a time to be more out. With the popularity of shows like Will and Grace, which feature leading gay characters, as well as Dawson's Creek and it's supporting character of teenager Jack McPhee, we are slowly seeing gay and lesbian characters creeping into the mainstream media.

We live in a world where society does not generally accept the participation of human being within certain context. There are certain issues the media sources chose not to cover for different reasons. Some are worried about their reputation while some are bias towards society. Also, we have those media sources that are used to only affect the faith of the audience. The faith of the audience can be affected for the good and the bad. The media can choose to target a specific population of society to present hate or to show the specific population that they are supportive.

Over the last few decades, our society went through a huge transformation in culture, politics and media that no one else could have foreseen. There is an obvious increase in the acceptance of homosexuality. Even though lesbian and gay people have gradually moved onto the stage in growing numbers, there are still some problems exist in the ways that media perpetuate homosexual stereotypes. According to an article by Chong-suk Han, “The subjective storytelling found in ‘journalistic’ pieces reinforces social inequalities by ‘forstering such feelings of collective belonging—based on class, gender, sexual preference, subcultural lifestyle or whatever’”(Chong-suk Han, 2008). Nowadays, the media plays an important role in carrying and transforming the new cultural ideas toward the whole society, few could ignore the existence of lesbian and gay people. In order to prevent discriminating them from the other groups, more accurate representation of homosexuals should be provide on the mainstream media.

Within my life, I’ve consumed a substantial amount of gay media ranging from the arthouse films to pornography. I’ve also participated in the gay hook-up culture and in both I’ve noticed a pervasive interest, and to a degree, a fertilization of youth. Specifically homosexual dynamics that rely heavily on age difference, like ‘daddy-son’ seek to sexualize age-gaps. These same relationships are also present, if not amplified, in heteronormative culture. There is an infantilization of the female gender role in the modern beauty standards and cultural discourse (Sullivan 3). Homosexual media doesn’t necessarily need interact with these gendered dynamics because it can exist in a single gender, making a gay fetishization of youth more specifically age based. Although unsavory there is a fundamental difference between cultural sexualization of youth and pedophillia. The youth is not specifically adolescent or pre adolescent and can be considered a physical indicator of virality and good health. Relationships under such pretense are knowingly entered and beneficial for both parties unlike pedophilic ones. In the past, homosexuality and pedophillia shared a similar arena. Both were viewed as mental illnesses and criminalized in most of the western world. It’s important to note that pedophilia is in no way integral to homosexuality. Pedophilia, even in highly romanticized literature, exemplifies highly predatory aspects of sexuality. The Pedophilic Poetry of John Gambril illustrates