Blog – LGBTQ Representation

LGBTQ Representation in Media

Heteronormativity in Media

Heteronormativity is the idea of perpetuating heterosexuality and heterosexual behaviors as “normal.” According to an article called Heteronormativity, on GoodTherapy.org, this idea “perpetuates and inaccurate male-female gender binary and marginalizes those who exist outside the binary,” which includes people who are intersex, and others who do not conform to binary gender roles (Good Therapy, 2016). Since the beginning of any human representation in media, heteronormativity has reigned supreme and visible. Throughout history, it has been an ethical conflict in the media. Not only is heteronormativity promoted by the exclusion of LGBTQ+ people (of all races, sexes, and genders), but by the negative portrayal of LGBTQ+ qualities and characters (Good Therapy, 2016). An example of negative portrayal of LGBTQ+ qualities include, Ursula from Disney’s Little Mermaid. Ursula is the villain in the musical, and she is given lots of parallel qualities associated with the LGBTQ+. Disney put big drag make-up and a short, butch hair-cut on the villain. They are painting these non-hetero qualities in a negative light, and it can be seen throughout Disney’s history. Jafar from Alladin and Ratcliife from Pocahontas are two more examples of heteronormativity.

One pro to heteronormativity is the representation of a large portion of boys and girls in the media, who identify as heterosexual. The cons to heteronormativity are that it teaches people from an early age that there is only one way for normality, it suggests that other paths are inherently wrong, and it keeps a large portion of people from being represented positively in the media. The solution to heternormativity in the media, is to attempt to be as diverse as possible in the public eye so that everyone can be represented, and encourage people with different lifestyles to speak openly about them, to make sure that everyone has someone in the media to relate to.

The Last Decade

“There has been an increase in the portrayal of gay characters in several television series during the last decades, however they are still depicted in an odd way, derived from the heteronormative approach” (Seif, 2). Over the last decade, there has been a lot of progress towards true equality. Despite the underlying heteronormativity that still shows in today’s television and media, according to The Media Representation of Fictional Gay and Lesbian Characters on Television by Ray Seif, the US is progressing to where gay and lesbian characters are more normalized (46). The normalization of LGBTQ+ characters in series represent same-sex adoption, marriage, and affection, thereby making room in the media for like-people. According to an article in WUSA News, by Murugi Thande, over the last ten years, some of the progress that has been made toward not only LGBTQ+ tolerance in the media, but in general are these:

2010- Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repealed
2012- Housing Discrimination Prohibited
2015- Same-sex marriage legalized

A lot of progress has been made for the community due to the fact that lots of people in the public eye have come out, and used their platforms for the progression of tolerance. These people using their platforms range from singers to politicians to talk show hosts to even, journalists. Sam Smith, a non-binary singer; Bella Thorne, a pansexual actress; Pete Buttigieg, a gay 2020 Presidential candidate; and Ellen DeGeneres, a long-term, lesbian talk show host, are just some of the public figures that are helping to pave the way to proper LGBTQ+ representation in the media.

The ethical issue of misrepresentation of LGBTQ+ is a work in progress. The pros to the last ten years of progression are that celebrities, politicians, and public figures are taking a stance; and the government has moved in a direction of tolerance by repealing bills and adding protections for the LGBTQ+ community. The cons over the last ten years are that heteronormativity still finds its way into most television shows and media channels. The solution to this is to focus more on diversity in movies, in news, and in the public eye.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/6-milestones-for-lgbt-rights-in-the-last-6-years/238911698

Ellen DeGeneres

In this trailer of the documentary series, Visible: Out on Television, we hear clips from several different public figures on their coming out stories, how it affected society, and why LGBTQ+ representation/presence is important.

“It’s hard to talk about without stressing how invisible gay people were” is a quote from the video showing just how neglected LGBTQ+ people are when it comes to the media. A quote from the journalist, Anderson Cooper says, “The earliest representations were always people to be mocked” (Cooper)

According to the trailer, television helps people make sense of “who they are and where they’re going” ( People see themselves in public figures and it is important that we make room in the media for everyone to have a place. It is reasons like these that lead Ellen DeGeneres, an lesbian actress, comedian, and talk show host, to pave the way for more representation in the media.

In 1997, on the Oprah Winfrey show, Ellen DeGeneres, an actress and comedian, who was on TV in over 40 million living rooms, came out of the closet. On the Oprah show Ellen said that she came out and that is was necessary to come out, because being gay is okay. The comedian did three interviews, which set the whole world into an uproar. In this video from YouTube, Ellen explains a little bit about her coming out story, the backlash and humiliation she received (being “axed” from ABC), and most importantly, why she will continue to be an advocate for LGBTQ+ representation and more.

Since Ellen came out almost 23 years ago, there has been a huge improvement in LGBTQ+ visibility. According to an article from Nylon, by Hayden Manders, not only did the uproar expose extreme homophobia throughout the country, but because of Ellen the nation began talking about LGBTQ+ rights and visibility in the media (Manders, 2017).

The ethical conflict of the misrepresentation of LGBTQ+ in media can be further solved with the help of people like Ellen DeGeneres. The pros are that public figures have a platform to help move us towards equality, and they provide representation for people who don’t have the privilege to see people like themselves in the media. The cons are that, often, public figures have to take the brunt of societies’ anger and judgement, but also society sees coming out by media figures as publicity stunts, causing society to not take LGBTQ+ rights seriously. The solution to this is people like Ellen, who make it clear that attention is the last thing she wanted, what she wanted was to be a voice for the community.

Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper is one of the most well-known journalists in the world. The Emmy award-winning journalist and news anchor was born in New York City to parents Gloria Vanderbilt and Wyatt Cooper in June 1967. According to a biographical article on Britannica, an online encyclopedia, Cooper earned a degree in political science in 1990, before starting his career as a fact-checker for Channel One News. After getting his foot in the door, Cooper “forged a press pass” and went to Asia (Britannica, 2019).

“…for journalists, campaign assignments hold the opportunity for personal prestige. The person who covers the winning candidate for a network will almost assuredly become the White House correspondent for the next four years” (Patterson, Wilkins, Painter, p 183). This quote from Mass Media in a Democratic Society from the book, Media Ethics: Issues and Society, explains how journalists can progress in their career, improve their positions, and move up the ranks at their network/company.

This is the exact mentality that Anderson Cooper had when he decided to book his flight to Myanmar in Southeast Asia. There, the now journalist was able to “self-produce coverage” of the political corruption, which later lead to the fact-checker becoming Channel One’s chief international correspondent. Later, Cooper joined ABC as a reporter, then left reporting to be a television host. After coming back to the news in 2001 as a reporter for CNN, he eventually got his own news show, Anderson Cooper 360. From 2003 until now, Cooper has earned national attention multiple times through his journalism, television presence, and life story (Britannica, 2019).

Clip from 5:15-6:48

Because Anderson Cooper is a huge media presence in many homes across America, him publicly coming out of the closet in 2012 was a big deal for society. In an interview with Kristin Chenoweth on Anderson Live, Cooper said three important quotes when questioned by his host on his coming out (Cooper, 2012).

“As a reporter, I didn’t think it was appropriate…”

“I do think visibility is important, I do think the tide of history only moves forward when everybody is fully visible.”

“I didn’t want to send a message that there was anything I was ashamed about, or uncomfortable about, and that was the main thing for me.”

As we have discussed, Cooper coming out publicly is important, because now questioning and LGBTQ+ people that see him will have another role model, person in the public eye, or inspiration that they can look to. The ethical problem of under-represented LGBTQ+ in the media can be affected a lot by people like Cooper. Pros of his coming out are that he represents for a lot of people, and he can be an inspiration for younger LGBTQ+ people who need to know that it is okay. Cons of his story are the heteronormativity and lack of inclusivity in it. Cooper lives a very heteronormative life. While fighting for his right to be who he is, he doesn’t help to include members of the LGBTQ+ community that are not gay, cis-gender men. This lack of inclusivity in his advocacy is a big deal, because it is only helpful for one group of people. This is the same problem as misrepresentation of LGBTQ+ in the media, on a smaller scale.

TV Today

“It seems that visibility of LGBTQ characters in television is at an all-time high” (O’Brien, 2017)

According to an article in Psychology Today, by Dr. Jennifer O’Brien, the GLAAD’s 2017-2018 “Where We Are on TV” report showed that the representation of LGBTQ+ on television is higher than ever before. Just two years ago, there were 58 characters that identified as LGBTQ, and 28 recurring characters in primetime television. 58 regular characters makes up 6.4% of characters in television. The article went on to explain that LGBTQ+ people of color are extremely underrepresented, as only 23% of characters do not identify with “white” (O’Brien, 2017). 6.4% is an impressive increase from 2010’s “Where We Are on TV” report, which shows that LGBTQ+ characters make up 3.9% (GLAAD, 2010). This 2.5% increase over the 7 years between 2010 and 2017 is great progress towards an equally represented world in the media.

According to the most recent TV report from GLAAD, in the 2019-2020 season, the LGBTQ+ representation has jumped to 10.2% (GLAAD, 2019). This is the highest percentage of LGBTQ+ inclusion on television that GLAAD.org has witnessed in the last 15 years of its existence. Additionally there were 30, 2 more than in 2017, recurring characters on primetime television. More than before, transsexual, bisexual, non-binary, and others are being included on television (2019). The pros to this are that more youth will have inspirations, role-models, and people in the media to gain affirmation from when they see those they relate to. The con of this progress is that, although a jump from 3.9% to 10.2% is in the right direction, there is still so much work to be done, and that progress needs to increase more rapidly. I think a great solution, other than continuing to do what America is doing, is have the conversation. These television reports are so important, because they show data that no one in the media is really talking about openly. The television reports should be discussed more on news and entertainment channels, so that the conversation can induce more progress.

https://www.glaad.org/publications/tvreport10

https://www.glaad.org/whereweareontv19

The Future of Representation

Although over the last decade there has been a lot of progress, the future holds more. According to a video, Visible: Out on Television and the future of LGBTQ+ visibility, Ryan White said “It’s important… not patting ourselves on the back or taking a victory lap and saying we’ve reached the finish line” (White, 2020). White thinks that the future holds more representation for all members of the community, not just gay men. He calls for the awareness of the under-representation of races, bisexuals, and trans people, as well as others. In the 2020 “Where We Are on TV” report, GLAAD explains that equal representation is an important step to ensuring the entertainment and media reflects the world accurately. In order to do this, GLAAD challenged all platforms to increase representation over the next two years, by making at least half of LGBTQ+ characters, people of color (GLAAD, 2019).

“LGBT+ youth will not experience homophobia and intolerance the way they have in the past” (Barnhart, 2016). The article, Why We Need Better LGBT+ Representation in the Media, by Toria Barnhart, dives deep into the rooted issues of under-representation. The previous quote is a future prediction that when the media has finally reached an accurate portrayal of LGBTQ+ in the world and every race, religion, sex, orientation is acknowledged and presented, there will be less homophobia and intolerance.

The ethical issue going into the future of representation, is still that there is a huge under-representation of groups, not just LGBTQ+ in general, but specifically people of color, with disabilities, transsexuals, bisexuals, and not just the main, stereotypical people who pass for white and straight. Pros to the future of representation are that there will be continual progress towards equal media representation, and that there will be more focused work towards people of color being represented. The cons are that while the media focuses on equality for people of color, they might lose sight of the other under-represented groups, like disabled people. A solution to this ethical issue is to listen to the public, read reviews and blogs, take opinions into count, and stay open minded. According to Media Ethics: Issues and Cases, the media is the “Fourth Estate,” and as the fourth estate, it has tremendous ability to influence societal opinions, right from peoples’ very own living rooms (Patterson, Wilkins, Painter, p 169).

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/lgbt-representation-media