When it comes to literature and films, there are many different kinds of strategies and tactics to representing an array of different themes, topics, ideas, and many more. However, representing a sexuality that strays from the heteronormative standard is something that we do not see often, at least, not in mainstream media. Different sexualities are not always prevalent, especially bisexuality, and even when they are shown there are constant misrepresentations or erased in most media portrayals due to toxic biphobic societal conceptions of their sexuality. One of the most wounding trends in the portrayal of bisexuality is bisexual erasure, which is not so much a portrayal but the passive or active ignorance or denial of the existence of bisexuality or other non-monosexual sexual orientations. Bisexual erasure denies people struggling with their sexuality the tools to articulate their sexuality with the opportunity to find people like them represented into media outlets, especially in films and literature. …show more content…
The most unconcealed form is the explicit denial of bisexuality as a whole. Conceivably, any work with a complete absence of any bisexual characters is considered guilty of a tactic of bisexual erasure. However, due to the fact that it is impractical to accuse anyone and everyone at the same time, we can chalk it up to under representation. Bisexual erasure is predominantly discussed in the more obvious instances of erasing and ignoring bisexuality. Apart from a text or a film saying outright that “there are no bisexuals”, bisexual erasure can be also visible in ways that are less
Sex and Gender was the subject of the two movies Dreamworlds 3 and Further Off The Straight & Narrow. In Dreamworlds 3 Sex is portrayed as a status of life and happiness in the media. This media displays people as objects that can be manipulated for sexual pleasure. As the media is populated with sex it tiptoes around gender, specifically that of gays or lesbians. The film Further Off The Straight & Narrow emphasized the movement through media gay and lesbian topics. This text analyzes iconic television programs and how they reflect the societal stance during that time. As a member of a generation that has had the topic of these issues prominent I believe they are important but are banal. In this reflection I will be responding to two questions, what would woman driven Dreamworlds look like? And Do you agree with the statement that if you are not on television you don’t exist?
One’s sexuality is undeniably a major part of who they are as an individual. The sexuality of characters plays a major role throughout the book and this is used to show how society
Kidd, Dustin. 2014. “Not that There’s Anything Wrong with That: Sexuality Perspectives.” Pp. 129-163 in Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society. Boulder: Westview Press.
On television, I watched characters such as Marco del Rossi and Paige Michalchuk on the Canadian teen-drama Degrassi. These were the first positive experiences I had of what gay culture was like. Of what I saw, I did not feel like I fit into that lifestyle/group. On the other hand, the movie The Matthew Shepard Story shared the violent side of homosexuality’s history in the retelling of Matthew Shepard’s murder.
Even in Brokeback Mountain, the story of two homosexual men, there is “a reproduction of heteronormative ideas and stereotypes concerning the relationship between the two cowboys and the way the cowboys themselves behave” (de Jesus 2016, p. 40). Despite the fact that both characters are men, they are still portrayed into the roles of a heterosexual couple, where one is distinctly feminine and one is distinctly masculine. Because of the pressures on them to conform to other heteronormative characters, they never directly discuss what is occurring between them and one of them even marries a woman to attempt to “[affirm] that he is not ‘queer’ and should not be classified as such” (de Jesus, 2016, p. 48). The accentuation of hypermasculinity often causes insecurity in men who do not fit these cookie cutter ideas, leading to a need “to prove their dominance, power, and manliness” (Kluch, 2015, p. 365) especially in regards to women. This internal struggle causes a conflict within the hierarchy between what has always been accepted and what is becoming the new norm.
In an effort to legitimize all subcategories of sexuality considered deviant of heterosexual normatively, queer theory acknowledges nontraditional sexual identities by rejecting the rigid notion of stabilized sexuality. It shares the ideals of gender theory, applying to sexuality the idea that gender is a performative adherence to capitalist structures that inform society of what it means to be male, female, gay, and straight. An individual’s conformity to sexual or gendered expectations indicates both perpetration and victimization of the systemic oppression laid down by patriarchal foundations in the interest of maintaining power within a small group of people. Seeking to deconstruct the absolute nature of binary opposition, queer theory highlights and celebrates literary examples of gray areas specifically regarding sexual orientation, and questions those which solidify heterosexuality as the “norm”, and anything outside of it as the “other”.
Throughout this paper the word 'queer ' will be used as an umbrella catch all term for any individual who is not heterosexual or cisgender, and anyone in the LGBTQ spectrum. Queer will also be used as part of the methodology, it will represent "a moment of fissure when that which is normal is thrown into question...[and] set out the notion of queer as a way of denormalizing gendered heterosexuality." ( Li-Vollmer and LaPointe 92) Using queer examination of film, this paper will discuss and explore the struggle between normalcy and deviance. Queer coding occurs when a character is given common traits associated with queer people, whether that is stereotypical or not depends on the character and the creator themselves. This paper will explore
“Queer Cinema is Back” – headlines the front page of the 2005 issue of the Advocate, signifying to a new flood of movies making way into theatres. Five years prior to this news release B. Ruby Rich, who coined the art as New Queer Cinema almost a decade earlier, declared that the cinema had co-opted into “just another niche market” dominated by popular culture (Morrison 135 & Rich 24). What had seemed to be a movement, turned out to be only a moment in the brief years between the late 1980s and early 1990s when the energies of queer theory, the furies of AIDS activism, the legacies of independent and avant-garde filmmaking, and the schisms of postmodern identity politics came together in a bluster of cultural production to form a cinema of its own (Morrison 136). In many ways Rich’s criticism of the cinema is correct, the queer aspect that so brightly shone in films like Poison, Swoon, Paris Is Burning, Tongues Untied, The Living End and Head On, was shifting as the new millennium was approaching and making more difficult for queer films to stay queer against the forces of Hollywood. However, Rich lacks in her analysis on New Queer Cinema because she does not consider the breadth to which queer operates as a concept within the cinema. For Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin, the editors of Queer Cinema, queer is an umbrella term encompassing dissident sexualities through history and, indeed, nominating them more productively than they were ever named in their own time (Morrison 137). For Michele Aaron, queer is a specific product of exigencies of social activism of the late 1980s and early 1990s, “with AIDS accelerating its urgency” and New Queer Cinema arising as an “art-full manifestation” of i...
Works Cited Kane, Matt. “Transgender characters that changed film and television”. Entertainment Media at GLAAD. 12 November 2013. Web.
For the purpose of this study, I will critically examine the representation of homosexuality in Hollywood cinema. I will specifically analyse films from the early 90’s to mid 2000’s from ‘Philadelphia’ to ‘Brokeback Mountain’. This dissertation will argue that over the space of 12 years homosexuality has become an acceptable part of cinema. I will look at early Hollywood’s representation of homosexuality depicting how aesthetically so much has changed. The current paper will predominantly focus on the two films ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’, by critically analysing the aesthetic differences between each film as well as their overall importance to gay culture.
In “The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?” Deborah Blum states that “gender roles of our culture reflect an underlying biology” (Blum 679). Maasik and Solomon argue that gender codes and behavior “are not the result of some sort of natural or biological destiny, but are instead politically motivated cultural constructions,” (620) raising the question whether gender behavior begins in culture or genetics. Although one may argue that gender roles begin in either nature or nurture, many believe that both culture and biology have an influence on the behavior.
The 1990s saw a 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
Many literary works deal with the issue of homosexuality and society’s response to it, and each of the works of literature have a different take on the issue. Therefore, the authors create and design their main characters with the traits and characteristics that are most fit to convey their perception of the issue. One of the most well known literary works that deal with homosexuality is “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx, in which the main characters are two male cowboys that are in love. In fact, the story was controversial enough that director Ang Lee decided to produce an adaptation of the story. However as expected, there was subtle changes in the characters and their traits in the transition from a book to the big screen.
In the face of a homophobic society we need creative and critical processes that draw out the complexity of lesbian lives and same sex choices, not a retreat into the comforting myths of heroines and unfractured, impeachable identities
middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Adam Sharpiro, Megan Schultz, Christina Roush, Cassandra Schofar, Emily Shilling, Tawnia Simpson, Natalie Sampiller. Portrayal of Homosexuality in Media. 26 March 2014 http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom103fall2004/gp16.pdf>. Huegel, Kelly.