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Marlene Dietrich dresses in drag and is one of the first women in cinema to kiss another woman in the 1930 film Morocco.
Get ready for our “Queer Sexuality in the Media” Video premiering tomorrow in Race Gender and the Media Class!!!!!!! Our video is a look into the effect of the media’s LGBTQ representations!
One thing I have noticed about LGBT representations in the media, is that media creators like to throw homosexual relationships in random places. They make a character homosexual just to add something different to a character’s story line, to add drama to the show, and to have something else to focus on rather the main story plot. A lot of times this just seems random and forced to me. It will be something that has nothing to do with anything else happening on the show, and then all of a sudden, BAM, a character is gay and she/he is suffering with their emotions. A classmate once commented on this and said that she also feels once a character comes out, it is all the viewers focus on. I saw an example of this in the show Pretty Little Liars. The writers chose to have the character Emily come to terms with the fact that she’s a lesbian. And while all the side-plots are about the girl’s relationships, her’s seemed kind of forced and random, and seemed as if it was just so the writers could say they added LGBT representations to their show on ABC family, for diversity. And I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, but does it seem like the show is trying too hard to be progressive? Is this just my opinion? Or do you agree too?
-L
(Source: youtube.com)
This is a video of compiled TV advertisement portrayals of gay stereotypes. What do these clips say about LGBT representation in the media?—and not just as characters in shows, but as real people in advertisements. What do you think about these?
-L
(Source: youtube.com)
(WATCH AT 7:16)
Everyone looks at Modern Family’s characters Mitchell and Cam as representation of the LGBT community. And yes, they may be very funny, but they are a very stereotypical representation. I saw this clip on an episode of Inside The Actor’s Studio with the Modern Family cast. Fast forward to 7:16 to hear Mitchell and Cam talk about their gay relationship and characters. You’ll learn something about the characters that you might not have expected…or maybe you did, but I certainly didn’t.
-L
(Source: youtube.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm7msXwS2GQ
It’s here! The second season premiere of the U.K’s lip service is back with more lesbian drama. But this trailer makes me think about what kind of audience is this show really speaking to. BBC itself is unbiased network, yet they are using the same sexual appeal of lesbians than American shows.
The LGBTQ community is calling Lip Service the new L word, mostly because the characters Frankie and Shane are conspicuously similar and the show deals with nearly an all female cast dealing with lesbian relationships and the occasional intercourse with males.
I would also argue another reason they are similar is perpetuating the idea of “the acceptable lesbian.” In a show that shuns the male character perspective, the female characters in the show are mostly lipstick lesbians, who males would still be attracted to. Frankie is an androgynous promiscuous lesbian and even she gets some male action in season one.
I’m sure Lip Service is one of the shows meant to be more acceptable in the main stream; where there are hot girls taking off their shirts and going at it. I would say Lip Service does put lesbianism in a more normative light since the shows drama doesn’t just come from their relationship (like some other shows I know).
- Submitted by Q.
OneMoreLesbian.com is a resource for finding portrayals of lesbian and bisexual women and couples in the media. It has an extensive list of movies that feature lesbian and bisexual characters as well as ads, webisodes, and vlogs. The site’s mission is to provide both visibility and accessibility to lesbian media that is not related to pornography, which we know can be a problem for those seeking more nuanced representations of lesbian relationships within the media.
Mad Men and Homosexuality
The AMC series Mad Men showed a fictional portrayal of what life in 50’s and 60’s might have been like for homosexual men and women who were strongly encouraged to assimilate to gender norms and stay in the closet for fear of reprisal. The Art Director character, Sal, is often shown having to lead a double life in order to keep his relationships with men a secret. This same reality was also portrayed with females when one of Joan Holloway’s college friends tries to confess her love to Joan but is ultimately let down.
The show’s look at LGBTQ characters is probably an accurate portrayal of what was a reality for many people during this time who struggled with complex sexualities, but it problematic because it again reinforces the media’s idea that queer couples can’t be happy and in love and we would like to see more positive portrayals in the future.
- K.
Here is a small montage of the different portrayals of the LGBTQI community seen on television. It is evident that there are more shows that are broadcasted on mainstream and geared toward heterosexual channels such as FOX, ABC, and The CW that help LGBTQI be not included in groups that are apart of symbolic annihilation.
Weekend is a poignant film that explores the relationship between two men who meet after a one-night stand that turns into something more meaningful. It’s an incredibly moving film and was picked up at Sundance. It’s one of the few films out there that really shows a realistic portrayal of gay relationships without relying on stereotypical tropes to identify the characters as such. The characters are beautiful, fragile, and incredibly genuine. I highly recommend it.
- K.
