Representations of Sexuality Flashcards
sexuality - representations of heterosexuality
dominant view for sexual orientation
reinforces hegemonic masculine & feminine stereotypes; women being define by their physical attractiveness & sexual appeal to men through the male gaze
sexuality - changing representation of males
due to changing social attitudes
men are being represented as sexual objects through the increase of sexualised coverage
sexuality - metrosexual
heterosexual men who embrace their feminine sides
sexuality - representations of homosexuality
represented as deviant due to heterosexual media gaze and fear of loss of profits
marginal to society, presented as social threat, generating moral panic
e.g. AIDS epidemic treated as ‘gay plague’
sexuality - symbolic annihilation of homosexuals
gays and lesbians under-represented or portrayed negatively
gay life appears more in entertainment programmes than factual programmes
defined by their sexual orientation rather than a normal character
sexuality - percentage of homosexuals in young peoples TV programmes
less than 5%
sexuality - changing stereotypes
popularity of gay media celebrities (gok wan, alan carr) changing traditional media representations/reactions
sexuality - pink pound
gay and lesbian consumer market
growth of pink pound lead to media responding to what the gay/lesbian audiences want (pluralist)
sexuality - sanitation of gay sexuality
to avoid offending heterosexual audiences, gay sexuality presented in a sanitised way
sexuality - sexualisation of lesbians
lesbians appear in a highly sexualised way to appeal to heterosexual fantasy
women engaging intimate sexual conduct
ensures heterosexual ideology not challenged
sexuality - newsworthy stories
about sexuality usually about paedophilia or growing sexualisation of childhood
sexuality - gill
men appear as attractive figures to appeal women but not in a sexualised way
