Reflections on Class Discussion: Gender and Sexuality
This
class discussion made me think a lot deeper about the way gender and sexuality
is represented in the media, and to what extent. This discussion helped me distinguish
between the terms; sex, a biological
characteristic vs. the term; gender which
refers to a cultural programming or a social construct of what it means to be
feminine or masculine. In other words, men are not born masculine, in the same
that women are not born feminine, instead we are taught to identify ourselves as
belonging to either group and, at the same time naturalizing gender.
The
media conflates with its representations of gender; therefore we assume things
about characters when we come across them in real life. The media creates and
perpetuates these stereotypes as a way of categorizing homosexuality; however
it is not that simple. The separation of gender is both a mythical and social construct
that creates an ideal female, and an ideal male expecting everyone to fall
under these categories flawlessly. Homosexuality breaks these barriers with a
sexual orientation which isn’t as clear cut as many would like.
What
stood out the most to me in this class discussion was the lack of lesbian
representation in the media. It seems that the media is careful in its selection
of characters portrayed which are for the most part heterosexual, thus
supporting heterosexuality; a normative standard which all women are expected
to live by. Lesbian women are seen as the Other,
as a result of gendering created by man, the oppressor. As mentioned in “The
Invention of Heterosexuality,” homosexuality wasn’t removed from the American
Psychiatric Association’s list of psychological disorders until 1974, which is surprisingly
recent. Homosexuality is therefore still a newly acknowledged category that the
media is probably not prepared for. From this discussion I came to the
conclusion that the marginalization of lesbians in the media illustrates the
inadequacy of our traditional way of thinking about sexuality and sexual
orientation that does not give room to other groups.
By Stephanie Gomez
By Stephanie Gomez
No comments:
Post a Comment