Representation of LGBT in the Show The Fosters on ABC Family - Research Paper Example

Representation of LGBT in the Show The Fosters on ABC Family Affiliation with more information about affiliation, research grants, conflict of interest and how to contact Introduction: The 21st century has seen a tremendous leap not only in terms of scientific and technological advancements but also in terms of freedom to express oneself. Freedom of expression is not merely confined to the liberty of a person to express his or her thoughts and emotions, but also freedom to express one’s sexuality. One of the greatest debates taking place in the contemporary world regards the issue of gender identification or LGBT. In order to understand LGBT, as well as how media helped influence the society to accept LGBT, one needs to first understand the terms LGBT, society and media. LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, where lesbian describes a female whose sexual orientation is inclined towards another female and gay refers to a male who identifies his sexual orientation with the male gender. Bisexual describes individuals who can sexually identify themselves as attracted to both genders, while transgender is a term, which relates to an individual who identifies himself as opposed to his natural gender, or who has neither gender identity. Presently LGBT is a rising trend of the pop culture followed by people belonging to that community as well as understood and supported by heterosexual people. Since earlier times, an individual’s sexual orientation was placed with the opposite sex of that individual, whereas, those people who had a sexual orientation of the same sex were considered as a shame to the society in particular, as well as to mankind in general. A society can be defined basically as a group of people living together in a particular area, who share similar beliefs, customs, norms, traditions, laws etc. Thus, when a different community, with different beliefs and thinking emerges out of that society, its members look down on that new group of people who have opposed norms and customs. Thus, the society started considering such people as outcasts, and in the case of LGBT, the society remains true to its generally held notions and conceptions. The society found it difficult to accept a change from the normal attraction between a boy and a girl to the attraction between a girl and a girl or a boy and a boy. Therefore, people with homosexual orientation were cast out by the general public and labeled as a disgrace to the society. In western societies, LGBT was considered a sin, due to the biblical influence. However, LGBT has been accepted as a part of culture in some societies for centuries. An example that may be cited is that same-sex marriage was accepted in some parts of Egypt and in Roman societies during the age of Roman Emperors (Random History.com, 2011, p.1). Hence, it can be seen that different cultures had different attitudes towards gender identity, however, most of the cultures opposed LGBT. However, with the passage of time, the sexual identity of an individual came to be better understood and respected. The change one sees now is contributed by the media’s portrayal of LGBT in a positive view from that of the traditional negative view. Media involves any type of medium, which is used for communication to the general public, such as television, radio, newspapers, internet etc. However, it can be seen that it was primarily the television, which played a significant role in promoting the acceptance of people belonging to the LGBT community. As mentioned by several critics, it was a great risk for the media to portray homosexual orientation in a positive way. Despite the initial rejection from public, the media kept portraying LGBT in a positive light, thus entailing in the acceptance of such individuals within the society. This paper attempts to critically analyze the influence of media on the LGBT representation and its acceptance within the society based on media’s influence. This paper will also examine the idea of LGBT representation in media through the lens called “other or othering,” in order to explain the classification of such individuals as a separate class in the society. Otherness arises out of a “discursive process,” where the “dominant” in-group “us” creates one or several “dominated” out-groups “them,” based on any difference that is projected within a negative light (Staszak, 2008, p.1). The main purpose of this study is to explain the influence of media on issues related to LGBT by highlighting the positive attitude and concept of the show The Fosters with respect to LGBT, especially in terms of the lesbian community. The study also focuses on conducting an in-depth research of the concept of othering in correlation with LGBT representation. The paper at hand supports the argument that there has been a positive impact of media on representing the American LGBT community, which becomes clear through the concept of othering. Representation of LGBT in the Media: The portrayal of LGBT has gained wide acceptance in the media ever since the emergence of certain shows. According to a study conducted by Sarah C and Traci A, in terms of the “influence of media role models on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual identity,” the media has shown a positive impact on the “GLB” identity (Gomillion & Giuliano, 2011, p. 333). The authors also discussed how the acceptance of LGBT has come into being by giving examples of some of the prominent TV shows like “Will and Grace” and movies like “The Brokeback Mountain,” which the audience positively accepted and greatly encouraged. Similar characters who possessed a homosexual orientation were portrayed more as heroes and this continued positive representation significantly influenced individuals as well as society as a whole. The main intention behind the portraying of such shows is the audience concept of gender identity, where such groups are considered as others in the society. These shows depict how general public marginalize a different class in the society. The authors further explored the change in identity of one’s gender and how the media brought about this change. They proposed that an individual tries to identify his or her sexuality based either on the similarities of his or her personality with that of the one displayed by the characters on TV, or by making the most appealing character as their role model. Furthermore, the media’s portrayal of this change in sexuality roles has significantly helped in increasing the audience’s self esteem. The researchers concluded that due to the changes in the social and cultural domains, many individuals have come forward to claim their identity as sexually different. Moreover, the article has cited examples of different studies, which further prove the positive impact that media has on children with regard to accepting GLB identity. Therefore, it becomes clear that this acceptance of new change has entailed in the emergence of various shows like The Fosters on television. The Fosters (2013), as the name suggests, tells the saga a lesbian couple, who albeit being foster parents to their adopted kids, still communicate the value of family and familial relationships to the public. Lena and Stef are the protagonists, family heads, and live in California with Stef’s biological child Brandon, and two adopted kids Jesus and Mariana. The show not only presents a new family concept to the audience, but also influences them to better understand and relate with the couple, as they are characters portraying real life people in real life scenarios. Thus, the show is one of the best examples that portrays media’s take on the American LGBT community, especially the lesbian group and gay groups. However, in order to actually analyze the role The Fosters played in influencing the media to embrace the concept of GBL, one must first find out the percentage of viewers the show has. The Variety Media, LLC, reveals that The Fosters “averaged 2.1 million viewers,” which included “710,000 adults” in the age group of “18-34” and “1.3 million persons” between the ages of “12-34” (Variety Media, LLC, 2014, p.1). Furthermore, it also asserts that the show, which was one of 2013’s “top-rated new series,” surged to “series highs” during its second week telecast (p.1). Therefore, it becomes clear that the show had a very wide audience, which encompassed children, teenagers and adults, both males and females. The generation of such a large number of viewers in itself shows that the show is well appreciated by the audience, and since the show promotes LGBT, it is obvious that the viewers of the show have also been positively influenced to support what the show represents. Furthermore, the show also received the GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Awards for “Outstanding Drama Series,” the Vanguard Award was presented to the series’ executive producer, Jennifer Lopez, as well as the show also bagged Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Television Show (Variety Media, LLC, 2014, p.1). Therefore, it can be understood that the show has more than enough viewers to positively or negatively influence them. In the case of The Fosters, the media has done a very good job in making positive accurate LGBT representations, thus encouraging the audience to accept them. Thus, by portraying the lesbian mothers as well as one of the foster child as being gay, they shows its support towards the LGBT community, thus urging viewers to have more positive outcome towards the group they consider the other. However, through shows such as The Fosters, the media has made LGBT a common theme as well as a common lifestyle or human choice, thereby, making the dominated group no longer the ‘other’ or minority. Thus, media has positively influenced the audience to reconsider their judgment of the LGBT community as other and has illustrated that they are now an in-group just like the dominant human beings. A study conducted by Steven R et al reveals that if the public does not show acceptance towards LGBT, then it will result in serious negative educational outcomes. Through the study, it has been found that due to “peer victimization,” most of the LGBT students had low school grades and that they wanted to drop out of high school. Furthermore, such students were not willing to join the four-year college programme fearing further victimization and being subject to constant humiliation (Aragon, Poteat, Espelage, & Koenig, 2014, p. 1). Thus, they began to grow as a separate division of individuals with low education as well as a lower level of knowledge and understanding of the world around them. In other words, the general student society began considering LGBT students as ‘others’ or the ‘out-group.’ Here, the role of media is to change the views of society regarding such individuals and encouraging the public to better accept and respect these people. The fosters also entails the same, where the kids who are raised in a non-traditional family are sent to school, and encouraged to face the challenges life throws at them. There are episodes that aired the show, where the parents struggle to convince their kids that they live in a normal family like the others. Thus, media plays an important role in conveying the message of accepting all individuals, irrespective of their characteristic of sexual orientation. Another study, conducted by Z Nicolazzo (2014), emphasizes the fact that marginalization of certain communities or individuals can be avoided by improving the student’s critical thinking skills by identifying what is actually good and what is bad. The author also focuses on the role media plays today in appropriately portraying characters belonging to the LGBT community. He says that by watching these films, the students can gain an understanding about the difficulties faced by an LGBT individual and, thus, the social norm of judging such individuals can be eliminated. The author also discusses about the various challenges these individuals encounter when society segregates them into a separate group, especially in areas of education, job etc. Being a victim to constant harassment as well as isolation from the public negatively impacts the self-esteem of these individuals. Nicolazzo concludes that media can convey a message of acceptance of all individuals by portraying these characters in a positive light, and students could thus be taught to accept these individuals through films, such as “By Hook or By Crook,” which depict such characters as heroes. Even the show The Fosters, depicts characters that are easily accepted by the audience, the IMDb rates the show 8.2 in 10, which shows the acceptance of the audience to a show that depicts non-traditional family (IMDb, 2014, p.1). Z Nicolazzo (2014) also suggests that if students are given opportunities to discuss as well as further think about such shows, rather than just watching them as a source of entertainment, they may be able to better understand as well as appreciate the LGBT community. Furthermore, he emphasizes the role educators’ play in introducing such films to students so that they may better recognize the world around them as well as the reality in it. He also quotes various articles, which expand on the media representation to increase equality in the society in terms of distinguished communities such as LGBT (P. 35). A study conducted by Susan V and Christin Seher also suggests the importance of “using theatre to change the attitude towards lesbian, gay and bisexual students” (Inverson & Seher, 2014). The study conducted a pre and post survey regarding a theatrical performance in order to assess the attitude of students towards such individuals who are different from them. The authors conclude that there was a positive change with relation to the attitude of students towards the LGBT individuals. The performance portrayed various difficulties including the discrimination faced by the transgender students, which made the audience realize how cruel and unjust such behavior is. So the researchers concluded that the performance had a positive impact on the students, and thus, the audience was able to not only accept such individuals but also stop thinking of them as not belonging to their own society of perfectly sexually oriented people (P. 60). Since the concept of othering is prevailing in the society, even the educators find it difficult to solve the issues of LGBT. In their study, Kim A and S Colon discuss various strategies in improving the training of educators in solving issues of the transgender youth. They emphasize that in order to address the issue of transgender identity and acceptance, adequate training should be provided to the educators and counselors. This will help the faculty to solve problems that a transgender youth faces at school as well as generally in the community. All of the above mentioned studies emphasize the role media has played in order to paint a positive picture in the minds of public about the LGBT community. All these studies form the basis of the show The Fosters, where a Lesbian couple, against all odds, strives to live their life and stay happy. The show has gained many fans, which indicates the wide acceptance of the show by the public. Just like every other show, The Fosters has also gained negative remarks from some critics. However, it still grows to have a positive acceptance by the audience, in terms of the changing concept of the society in the modern world. This show may evolve to instill more respect towards the LGBT and further encourage the society to better accept them as fellow human beings without segregation based on sexuality or gender identity. Discussion Regarding the ‘Othering’ Lens: The lens chosen for this paper is called “othering,” which is basically a social representation of a particular group or community. The society may consider some groups of people as either belonging to their group, or not belonging to their group, that is, as ‘others.’ Othering is a popular concept in almost all societies. This concept forms the basis of differentiating a class of people in terms of of race, caste, ethnicity and now in terms of gender identification as well. If a class of people has different views and conceptions from that of the general norms and beliefs of the society, they are considered to be the other. These individuals are not only considered to belong to a different group by the common man, but also by different kinds of professionals, for instance, clinicians and healthcare practitioners. As validated by Dhinesh Bhugra (2014, p. 234), the LGBT individuals face severe discrimination in all levels of daily life. Therefore, it can be seen that they not only face challenges from their family and society members, but also from professional service providers as well as from people at their workplace. Application of ‘Othering’ in LGBT: From the above discussions, it is clear how media influences various popular concepts. In the beginning, it was seen how the individuals who do not follow the normal mechanisms in the society were categorized as separate class with the use of concept of othering. Previously, it was mostly associated with racial discrimination or discrimination based on different cultures. In the present day, the concept of othering impacts one’s expression of his or her sexual orientation as well. There are various stereotypes associated with a particular concept, which leads to the development of othering. Similarly, there are several stereotypes related to LGBT, for instance, the general notion is that LGBT is more common among the white people. Othering is a differentiation made by the pre-dominant group on minority groups based on stigmatizing a “real or imagined” difference (Staszak, 2008, p.2). In general terms, biological sex of people is a real difference, whereas the gender that they choose to live their life with is otherness. Thus in this light, it becomes clear that when an individual chooses a gender as opposed to his or her biological gender, the individual himself is creating ‘otherness.’ Therefore, this proves a major difference between discrimination and otherness, that is, the former is enforced upon by someone else and leads to a feeling of victimization, whereas the latter can be practiced by the individual himself, when he chooses to step into an out-group. However, an other can only identify himself based on being an opposite to the dominant category. For example, when one takes the in-group of ‘man,’ it can be seen that the dominated out-group is ‘woman,’ and woman can only be described as the opposite of man, while man has a definition of its own. In the same way the sexual stereotype is ‘heterosexual,’ which is the in-group, and the other is homosexual group, in other words people belonging to the gay, lesbian or bisexual community. Furthermore, transgender is the other when compared with the normal gender of male or female. However, the others, can escape being referred to as others when they establish their own identity and take a stand against the dominant group. For instance, the significant other, females, revolted against the dominant males through various feminist movements, and this helped them earn their own identity. Thus, they are no longer an out-group, but are in-groups just like the males are. Similarly, media has helped the LGBT community to create an identity of its own, thus LGBT is not ‘other ‘anymore. The family show The Fosters, through its portrayal of the lesbian couple and how they raise three children, helps the audience relate with the family and see how they live in similar ways to the ordinary people. However, through the show, the viewer is introduced to a different family concept from that of the traditional female mother and male father family. Here the concept of othering works well, as LGBT families, in this case the lesbian family, are considered to be abnormal in society’s perspective. Since the couple cannot have a baby of their own, they decide to adopt children and although there are several issues regarding the adoption of a baby by LGBT couples, this lesbian family overcomes all odds and shows the world that they are also ordinary people with basically the same wants and expectations from life. However, since the couples have established their own identity in the society, the audience gets the idea that they are not the other anymore. Therefore when LGBT families are represented on a positive note through TV, the people will try to understand and accept these families in a better light. Implications: The paper gives a summary of various journals relating to the influence of media on the LGBT representation and the concept of othering in pop culture. Thus, it can be seen that within the recent years the media has given a positive outlook about the LGBT community, on the basis of which the show The Fosters has been created. Various journals have been cited relating to the influence of media on developing a positive attitude from the public towards these individuals. The following recommendations may be included: Further research may be conducted on the influence of media about LGBT in the public Studies may be conducted on the difficulties faced by the LGBT students in schools Teachers perception on student of such group and the different ways to deal with issues of such students Family’s perception of having a child with different sexual orientation. The children’s attitude when they grow in a family with same sex parents. The discrimination of LGBT individuals at work place. The difficulties faced by the cast while they represent homosexuality and society’s attitude towards them. The effect of role modeling of popular homosexual characters in children Further research studies may be conducted based on the above points in order to give a better idea as to how to make the society to be more receiving towards these individuals. Conclusion: The concept of LGBT is increasingly being accepted now, and thus individuals belonging to this group are being treated with more respect as well as a sense of fellowship. This is proved by the popular TV show The Fosters. This essay validates the positive attitude that the media has tried to impart to the audience regarding better acceptance of the LGBT individuals. As long as people are born with different genes, they will indeed be different from one another, and this eventually categorizes them under various groups based on class, race, ethnicity, gender as well as sexual orientation. Thus, the concept of othering cannot be totally eliminated from the minds of people, but what one can do is limit the ways in which he or she segregates people based on their different characteristic traits. The media thus plays a significant role to derive a positive approach towards LGBT individuals by introducing various tv shows like The Fosters. This will eventually lay the groundwork for a new society where all people can live with their own different views and concepts in harmony and without conflicting each other’s interests. Reference List Aragon, S. R.,  Poteat, V.P.,  Espelage, D.L., & Koenig, B.W. (2014). The Influence of Peer Victimization on Educational Outcomes for LGBTQ and Non-LGBTQ High School Students. UK: Informa UK Limited. Vol.11 (1). P. 1. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from Bhugra, D. (2013). The LGBT Casebook. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 6 (3). P. 234. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from Case, K. A. & Meier, S. C. (2014). Developing Allies to Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Youth: Training for Counselors and Educators. Journal Of LGBT Youth. 11 (1). Pp. 62-82. doi: 10.1080/19361653.2014.840764. Dyer, R. (2012). The Matter of Images. Google. P-184. P. 11. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from Dervin, F. (n.d.). Cultural Identity, Representation and Othering. P. 6. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from Gomillion, S. C., & Giuliano, T. A. (2011). The Influence of Media Role Models on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity. UK: Informa UK Limited. Vol. 58 (3). pp.330-354. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from IMDb (2014). The Fosters (TV Series 2013). Retrieved April 13, 2014, from Inverson, S. V. & Seher, C. (2014). Using Theatre to Change Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students. Journal Of LGBT Youth, 11 (1). Pp. 40-61. doi: 10.1080/19361653.2014.840765 McLelland, M. J. (2005). Inside Out: Queer Theory and Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholar Press, pp. 268-281. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from Nicolazzo, Z. (2014). Celluloid Marginalization: Pedagogical Strategies for Increasing Students’Critical Thought Through the Multiple (Re)Readings of Trans* Subjectivities in Film Journal Of LGBT Youth, 11(1). Pp. 20-39. doi: 10.1080/19361653.2014.840762. Random History.com (2011). Same-Sex Unions throughout Time: A History of Gay Marriage. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from Staszak, J. F. (2008). Other/Otherness. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Elsevier. Retrieved April 09, 2014, from Variety Media, LLC (2014, January 22). ABC Family’s ‘The Fosters’ Hits Series Highs Monday. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from Variety Media, LLC (2014, April 12). ‘The Fosters,’ ‘Behind the Candelabra’ Among GLAAD Media Awards Winners. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from . Read More