Gay and Lesbian Representation in Media - Essay Example

Gay and Lesbian Representation in Media Until the latest establishment of gay and lesbian studies, this minority group’s sexual orientation brought massive discrimination, hatred and was considered unnatural among the public. Since the media is a trusted platform by the general public for reflecting the reality, even the false accusation portrayed through such platforms are considered reality. The media has always portrayed this minority group in a way that aims at challenging or even threatening its basic beliefs. This is because its main aim has been to prevent widespread behavior that most religious and cultural orientations consider ungodly and insane. Media, especially television shows have always been used in shading light about sexual behavior and its trends therefore; the discussion will reveal the reasons why there has been little representation of this main group and the current changes. Knowledge, in accordance to the US beliefs represents power. The media aims at promoting this belief. However, ignorance on the other hand is something everyone is encouraged to disassociate with. In relation to this, gay and lesbian orientation is considered ignorance about what the society expects people of opposite genders. According to Netzley (p. 74), ignorance even if considered a powerful tool, it can be used against such groups especially by media platforms in to oppress and completely deny them a voice to air their views. During the HIV/AIDS global outbreak in the 1980s, the media portrayed gay as the major cause of its spread. Actually, a large number of American television shows aimed at promoting a negative stigma among the society especially the male individuals who easily found themselves in such situations. Most documentation indicate that in the efforts to find a cure for AIDS, doctors in partnership with media platforms in 80s and 90s always linked this deadly disease to this behavior and thus termed “gay disease.” For instance, in 1990, ABC was engaged in a tarsal when one of its episodes “Thirty Something” showed male characters in bed kissing. Most sponsors withdrew their support and media platforms refused to play the episodes (Netzley 68). In addition, most movies and television shows always portrayed homosexual characters as a problem by giving them protagonist roles that made them look like problems that required immediate solutions. These characters also escalated gender stereotypes in which gay males were termed effeminate and lesbians masculine. Even though the trend is changing, people still disassociate themselves with gay and lesbian acts. Today, only handful individuals have come out in public and confessed to be of this sexual orientation. While agreeing there is an increasing acceptance of Lesbian and gay, it is good to critically ask, why there are only a few of such characters in movies and television shows?, why does media portray such characters in terms of their sexuality alone? And why do their lives differ from those who lead a straight and normal life? Media platforms have been playing a critical role in educating people especially in understanding gender roles and characteristics. For these reasons, many governmental and charity movements have requested televisions to air such shows while considering the content as being harmful to children. The media, for a very long time has always portrayed straight as the only right and desirable manner in which people should carry themselves around. Even if critics could argue in favor of lesbian and gay, their increased appearance in media is only in sexual terms. This means the media does not give room for them to validate the reasons why they can lead such lives. There is no proper and solid evidence as to why people should change and freely co-exist. Challenges There have been a series of challenges that gay and lesbian individuals have been experiencing. They have always had a problem with dealing with this reality especially in public; acceptance issues. For instance, when Ellen DeGeneres; a comedian declared she was gay in 1997, people received the news with deep criticism (Netzley 70). As a matter of fact, her employers could not withstand the shame of keeping her as their employee. They fired her immediately. This is an indicator that these people attract such widespread negativity. In recent surveys, approximately 70% of gay and lesbians get negative attention and messages about their orientation daily. This indicates the negative perceptions people still have in regard to this group. Even when political and social movements are advocating for equality, people seem to be pretending in the name of accepting the as normal people in society. In relation to Cultivation theory, repeated exposure to something influences perception and attitudes towards it. Since media only portrays homosexuality in a sexual context, people always find it abnormal and even the widespread campaign to make them change their perceptions seems not to add value. This is because media already influenced people to make assumptions and conclusions. In addition, people have little personal experience with such sexual orientation and thus their increased negative perception. Gay and lesbian movements have ganged up to fight for equal rights. This has been a major challenge. The reason why this group of people has always faced intimidation when fighting for equality is there are no federal, territory, cultural or religious laws that accept and protect them against discrimination and seclusion. There have been amendments to accommodate them even though some have been due to political influence since lesbians and gays are also voters who need to be represented. However, law conservatives consider such moves as reversal of roles. Considering the fact that gay marriages are already happening, critics are against the legalization of such Acts to be included in the Marriage Bill. Misrepresentation has become an easy way to categorize gay and lesbian individuals. This to them is a great challenge they have to deal with. This however can be seen by how businesses pretend to be supporting them. The big reason behind such motives is because they are trying to create market segmentation because they are customers too! While it may seem a way of making them happy, it ends up as a misrepresentation through the fashion created. Thus, every time sees a particular color, piece of clothing, the rainbow flag and some walking styles even if they do not depict gay or lesbian behavior, it becomes a form of misrepresentation. There are series of current media representation on behalf of gay and lesbian individuals. In 2005 for instance, Viacom and MTV Networks launched Logo, a new television channel that aimed at airing lesbian and gay content. Here, the role models, main characters and story lines revolve around homosexuality. This media company claims it is promoting massive acceptance among the shy gay and lesbian. There are also activist organizations like Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD) that have come out strongly to represent this minority group. By fighting and changing stereotypes about gay and lesbian individuals in media, they claim they are performing and fulfilling what their group requires. For instance, the HRC website contains a lot of gay and lesbian pictures with a motive to prove to people that such couples are normal and must be assimilated in the society. they claim that it is only their sexual orientation that differs. Through assimilation they claim is the only sure way equality and fairness can be realized. Since the American population is a huge consumer of movies, gay and lesbian characters through acceptance have been increased and thus many people are slowly accepting it as part of daily life and sexual orientation. For instance television shows are openly addressing such queer content even in the morning. Writers, movie producers and musicians have found the use of such content as something that can add humor and prove creativity in their works. Conclusion Minority groups, in this case gay and lesbian individuals have received little representation in media because their sexual orientation sounds insane to any normal people. So many stories were generated by media platforms with the aim of discouraging people from falling victims. One of the most influential was its relation to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Through such negative portrayal, people have always had mixed perceptions about such individuals. Even with the increased campaigns to make gay and lesbians feel normal and be assimilated into the society, it is very difficult to imagine how people of the same gender claim to be in a relationship. Work cited Netzley, Sara Baker. “Visibility That Demystifies: Gays, Gender, and Sex on Television.” Journal of Homosexuality 57.8 (2010): 968-86. Print. Read More