Media Representations: Sexuality Flashcards
What does Batchelor et al argue about how heterosexuality is represented in the media?
Batchelor et al = the media have an important role in shaping knowledge of young people, content analysis showed that some aspects of sexuality were presented positively (sexual education, consent, etc) but some were limited in the media.
‘Normal sexuality’ is heterosexual, women shown in ‘male gaze’ where men are the pursuers, and being gay was not generally integrated into mainstream media representations (if it was, shown as a source of anxiety/embarrassment), and lesbianism was symbolically annihilated.
What are the recent changes to how the media represent sexuality?
Men, like women are beginning to be judged on their appearance, ‘female gaze’. This is reflected in the growing coverage in the media of men’s appearance, diet, health, etc e.g David Beckham in H&M advert.
McRobbie = men now face same physical scrutiny that women have by the media.
This suggests that the dominant view of sexuality may be changing, but women are still more likely to be seen as sex objects e.g pornography
How is homosexuality represented stereotypically in the media?
Craig = gay men often stereotyped as having amusing/negative psychological or social characteristics e.g being ‘camp’, effeminate, etc. This could lead to moral panics over abnormal sexuality e.g aids in the 1980s.
How are some sexualities symbolically annihilated by the media?
Gauntlett = gay men symbolically annihilated, as well as gay women. Gay people 5x more likely to be portrayed negatively, rather than positively.
Stonewall: Unseen on screen = 126 hours of TV, only 46 minutes showed homosexuality in a positive light.
What is the sanitization of gay sexuality?
Gill = gay men are rarely portrayed in a sexualised way, whereas lesbians are often portrayed as the object of heterosexual male fantasies e.g lipstick lesbians.
How is tolerance of different sexualities in the media increasing? (Pink Pound)
Media companies are becoming aware that the gay community is large and wealthy (pink pound), so companies cater to gay/lesbian audiences via advertising campaigns e.g Amazon music sponsoring London Pride in 2017.
