Negatively-Coded LGBT Characters

The representation of the LGBT community in the film industry has long been a topic of much debate. In her article, “It Ain’t Easy Being Bisexual on TV,” Amy Zimmerman addresses this topic with specific interest on bisexual representation. By appealing to the logic of her audience, using an informal tone, and referring to relatable content, Zimmerman constructs an argument which persuades readers of The Daily Beast that the film industry is unfairly and inaccurately representing bisexuals. However, her argument holds little influence over those who are not movie fans or The Daily Beast readers.

As the years have gone by, you can see the change of how gays and lesbians are widely seen in mostly every tv show or movie in today’s society. This is something most of our own parents didn’t even grow up seeing gays throughout the media. Living in today’s time period, you’re able to see how the influence has changed the way people see gays and lesbians. The nation has become more accepting of the gay and lesbian culture verses back in the days of when our parents and even grandparents were our age. Not only was is rare to see homosexuals on television, it was portrayed negatively, and now you can see it portrayed positively.

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

For this research assignment my topic is on queer coding and stereotypes. I will explore queer coded characters in mainstream media, including villains coded as gay, and also victims coded as queer. Queer coding is giving common traits associated with queer people to a character, usually a villain or victim. Stereotypes harm identities because they cause society to view people in negative ways and assume, for example, queerness is inferior. Although these characters are never out right stated their queerness, and in many cases they do state their heterosexuality, because of their actions, or appearance the audience subconsciously understands that this difference and strangeness is wrong. Queer coding is not about sexual preference.

The 1970s was considered the “Me Decade” because of the increasing amount of individuality that people were beginning to exhibit. Americans started discussing important issues, such as divorce and gender roles but remained silent on the subject of sexuality. One of the reasons was because television in the 20th century hardly mentioned homosexuality. The idea was considered taboo, and many Americans were not comfortable or familiar with this issue, much less talking about it. In recent decades, Americans have made tremendous progress towards the acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in just forty years because of the television programs that have introduced Americans to these types of people. Many of the individuals that belong to either one of these categories have long struggled for equality and respect, just as other minorities have in the past, and continue to do so. Although American culture is more focused on individuality than conformity in today's times, the idea of what is “normal” is still an issue for many people. However, more television programs are bringing awareness to the idea of homosexuality, which makes for the gradual acceptance of it. The increasing amount of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters portrayed on television programs in today’s society has helped change the views of many Americans into embracing gay individuals into their lives. People are also more accepting of same-sex relationships or marriages and are

Television and film is a huge part of American culture. As the “face” of America changes, it is expected for our media to reflect it. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Since the beginning of film, minorities have been misrepresented and underrepresented. While there has been a significant increase in minority actors since the beginning of film, there is still a huge underrepresentation present in American television and film. Our media needs to reflect out diverse country. This topic is always important and relevant because race, gender, and sexuality, in general, have been issues throughout the growth of television and film. Even today, minorities are subject to

While many believe that homosexuality has only been seen in mainstream media for only a few decades, it has actually been with America cinema since the early 1920’s. The portrayal of homosexuality in film and TV has come a very long way since the 1920’s. What viewers see on TV about homosexuality is really just a representation of America’s changing public view on the subject. While we have come to accept the topic of homosexuality in American society more willingly, we have substituted much of our prejudice about gays with the stereotypes that we see on TV constantly. Because as a society we are constantly forced to see these stereotypes, we are being halted in our progression to accept all different kinds of lifestyles.

Hayward (2000, p. 309) There are also numerous instances where a queer portrayal have gone publicly on television and has made a television history. The post-structural theory that presents strict categorical views on gender and sexuality. Base to Staiger (2005, p. 103) Slash fiction describes same-sex relationships between male protagonists in some textual world. But it seems female same-sex sexual behavior is more common than male, possibly because heterosexual men are more likely to feel threatened by gay men than lesbian women.

Commercial markets tend to follow the pattern of what is popular; therefore, the argument can be made that the sudden rise of the commercial market’s interest in gay representation can be due to the visibility and mobilization of the gay movement in America. Earlier media, starting in the 1950’s, established the representation of queer people through sexual exclusivity and being shown as ostracized within a heterosexist societal framework. However, this representation of queer culture, despite being ostracizing, created an entrance of the gays into media in a snowball effect. While, exclusion would be the term to describe gay representation, the gay and lesbian press is significant in the fact that it was forged and mediated through what the

The depiction of transgender women characters in mainstream television has been offensive, insulting and derogatory. An article from GLADD called “Victims or Villains: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television”, examines 102 episodes and storylines on mainstream television that contained transgender characters since 2002. Of these, more than half were characterized as containing negative representations of transgender. In 2007 only 1% of television series had a recurring transgender character, which has slowly increased to 4% in 2013.

As time has progressed, society in North America has gone through the challenge of accepting homosexuality as a “normal orientation”. As Americans, media has become a powerful tool in manipulating the minds of the public. Furthermore, trying to escape the theories and viewpoints that are carefully calculated in several mediums has become nearly impossible to avoid stereotypes regarding gender roles and sexual orientations. Primarily, homosexuality has been one of the most recently stereotyped in the last 100 years. Leaders of media have deprived and harmed the lives of homosexuals since the beginning of the mainstream media, eventually forcing people to rise against heteronormative life styles by explaining how the media has effected homosexuals, through films, advertisement and social media. Nonetheless, there have been those who rebel against society’s prototypical views.

Ed Koch, a lawyer and politician, once said, “Stereotypes lose their power when the world is found to be more complex than the stereotype would suggest. When we learn that individuals do not fit the group stereotype, then it begins to fall apart. That quote was given over almost years ago by Ed Koch, yet the society that we inhabit today not only embraces stereotypes, but perpetuates them, especially through the means of media. What is to be said about a nation that has made leaps and bounds in the areas of racial equality, gender equality and even marriage equality in just the last fifty years? What is to be said about a society that has made all of these advancements in equality, yet still sustains stereotypes that have been around for over a century? To me, it says that we haven’t made that much progress at all. Little to no progress can be made when scripted television shows are perpetuating negative stereotypes of people to sheltered audiences. So, ultimately, fictitious television shows that follow a script, whether it be reality television or not, does uphold and spread negative stereotypes about marginalized groups, while painting a near-perfect portrait of those that are considered to be in the majority. This essay will focus on both the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of African Americans, Latinos/Latinas and people belonging to the LGBT community, within scripted television shows.

Since the early ages of life being gay or bisexual has has always been frowned upon or considered “not normal.” Living in the twenty -first century ,homosexuals seem to still be portrayed as the stereotypical personalities given to them long ago. In Amy Zimmerman’s, “It Ain’t easy Being Bisexual on Tv,” she analyzes and describes her claim about the different stereotypes of bisexuals on television.

Sociology, much like psychology, allows new understandings in the human world. Three approaches in this field allow us to categorize human behavior and explain how and why society does or does not work. The functionalist, conflict, and symbolic approaches will be used in this paper to describe LGBTQ+ representation in the media. Media representation of the LGBTQ+ Community is one example of how these approaches can be used to explain modern civilization.

Media is a mirror of societies cultural values and institutions , having the power to change our understanding of the world . Portraying different minority groups in the media increases society’s knowledge of said groups. Improved knowledge decreases the fear and hate that arises from ignorance . The idea of accurate representations in the media, thus, is vital for any minority group, impacting on how the group is perceived and accepted by society. In this essay I will follow how the shifting portrayals of Gay, Lesbian and Queer (GLQ) people are paralleled by changes in society, demonstrating clearly the significance of visibility to minority groups. I will, further, show that while visibility has increased drastically from the beginning