The Fox Network television show, “Glee,” is one of the few modern examples of gay characters in the media. Multiple characters on this show identify as gay. The first outwardly gay character, Kurt, is consistently bullied and made fun of at his Ohio high school, to the point where he eventually chooses to transfer schools. On the other hand, when a female student, Santana, comes out as lesbian, it is received in a very encouraging manner. In fact, many of the male students promote what they see as “girl on girl action.” Glee is an example of the media identifying gay as “negative” and lesbian as “positive;” because while gay males are taunted and bullied, lesbian females tend to be more easily accepted.
In “Glee,” Kurt Hummel is the only student at William McKinley High School who is openly gay. The fact that Kurt identifies as gay definitely puts a target on his back at school. One bully in particular, Dave Karofsky, makes it a point to continually harass Kurt. Karofsky taunts Kurt in the hallway, calls him names, and leads the other popular athletes in the school to do the same. At one point in the series, Kurt actually receives a death threat, which scares him enough to make him transfer to a private high school. This might seem like an extreme, but even in everyday life students are harassed; and just as on Glee, the administration is not always able to keep track of everything their students are doing and saying. What often gets overlooked are “the rights of students to go to school in an environment that is gender-safe, and free from gender-based harassment and violence” (Stein, 49). The creators of Glee use Kurt’s situation in order to portray that public school environments are unsafe for male homosexual students.
On the complete other end of the spectrum, a female student at McKinley High named Santana comes out as lesbian. Rather than taunt her as they did Kurt, she is treated exactly the same as when they thought she was straight. It is true that “violence against lesbians…is often more difficult to distinguish from general forms of gender violence” (Van Der Meer, 56). However, in the case of Glee, Santana generally is treated fairly. In fact, she gets more positive attention from students because being attracted to girls makes her even more sexually appealing to the male students. Santana actually profits off of her queer sexuality by allowing guys to take her and her girlfriend, Brittany, on dates. She would make deals with many of the football players that if they pay for dinner, they get to watch Santana and Brittany “make out.”
The image the media is giving Glee’s audience is completely contradictory. Basically, if you identify as being a homosexual male, society will mock, tease, and be generally unaccepting. However, if you are a female, being homosexual is not only okay, but also encouraged. I cannot say for sure whether or not this is the case in real life, but it seems to be pretty stereotypical. Regardless of intentions, the media is teaching society to accept one area of the queer community, and deny the other.
Link:
“Glee!” on Fox: http://www.fox.com/glee/
Works Cited:
Stein, Nan. "Bullying, Harassment and Violence Among Students." Print. Rpt. in Feminist Studies 80 Reader. Comp. Hernandez. Santa Barbara: Associated Students, 2012. 30-35. Print.
Van Der Meer, Theo. "Gay Bashing – a Rite of Passage?" Print. Rpt. in Feminist Studies 80 Reader. Comp. Hernandez. Santa Barbara: Associated Students, 2012. 56-68. Print.
I agree that the discrimination of gay men over lesbian women is unjust and I believe that much of the cause of this is the over-sexualization of women in American culture. Whereas in other cultures, such as many Native American groups, lesbians are revered as those closely connected to “Spirits” and other supernatural activities, women in America are often seen as sexual deviants who can control men with their ‘feminine wiles’ (Allen 114). Because women are often seen as more sexual than men, it seems “okay” for them to experiment by being with other women, as opposed to a man being with another man. In some cases, males who are against homosexuality will scold lesbians for being homosexual but then find lesbian intimacy to be arousing or “hot” as it is often put. This kind of viewpoint is not only hypocritical, but also demeans women by focusing solely on the sexual aspects of a relationship and a female. In the example given above, Santana uses her queer sexuality to manipulate men into giving her what she wants. However, in real life, open displays of lesbianism may lead to women being seen as more of sexual objects than actual people. This kind of thinking is dangerous because when women become less than human, actions such as harassment, molestation, and even rape do not seem to be wrong, and can begin to occur more frequently against women of every sexuality.
ReplyDeleteAllen, Paula Gunn. “Lesbians in American Indian Cultures” from The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions. Beacon Press, 1992.
It is true that the LGBTQ community suffers a lack of true media representation regarding the depth of character, as well as the multitude of variations within this community. The media’s overly feminine and exaggerated portrayal of gays assists in creating generalizations of all gays. In all actuality, most mediums within the media are meant to be fictional, but that should not cause there to be any less awareness of how the human mind processes all of its input and places it into its bank of knowledge. Real or not real, individuals in society take this knowledge and apply it to actual people that live outside of the television screen. Thus, the media is creating an impression on society that causes them to see only one venue of an identified group such as male homosexuals. A clear example of this is the lack of confidence to come out that rests in non-Caucasian ethnic groups. “The ideal identity for noon-White men is linked with masculinity and fatherhood, homosexuality remains stigmatized” (Bradshaw). The media fails to represent minority groups such as Blacks and Latinos or, as you pointed out, non-effeminate gays. The misrepresentation that gay communities only consist of white, effeminate men is discriminatory against the other existing gays. Thus instilling an increased feel of not belonging with the rest of society.
ReplyDeleteBradshaw, John. “The Low Down on the Down Low: Origins, Risks and Identifications.” IN Health Sociology Review. Vol. 19, Issue 4 December 2010.
I disagree the way you interpreted the Glee episode does not take into consideration many parts of the story. While Kurt does get harassed by the school, Santana does not necessarily have an easy time herself. When Santana does come out, her relationship is attacked by the media; her classmates and grandmother give her demeaning looks. While it is easier for Santana to come out because she was not the only one who was gay in that school, her transition is still hard. Therefore, I do not think the show Glee is taking a stance on the fact that it is better to be lesbian than gay. The show as a satire criticizes both the way society reacts to gays and to lesbians, and does not suggest it is easier to be neither. I also believe that equally is difficult for women who have gender variation to express their sexuality as it is for men. As Paula Gunn Allen mentions that “the modern lesbian sees herself as distant from “society” (Allen, 112). Women are not being socialized to believe that it is ok to be lesbian; we actually continuously are socialized into believing that it is not ok to diverge from the gender binary. While it is true that some people often view lesbian “relationships” as sexy, the population at large continues to see them as not ok. Those people that see lesbians as “sexy” usually are just referring to their sexual practices, and not to the idea that they could actually be a family unit or an equivalent.
ReplyDeleteAllen Gunn. Paula “Lesbians in America Indian Cultures” from The Sacred Hoop: Recoverieing the Feminine in Amercian Indian Traditions. Beacon Press, 1992. pp 1105-117.
In response to this post, I agree that Kurt faced severe bullying in school that his classmate Santana did not; however, this post only addresses the treatment Kurt and Santana received in school, and does not address how their coming out was accepted from their families. As a gay teenage boy, coming out to his peers was a difficult task Kurt had to face, but for Santana, the difficulty rested upon coming out to her family, which ultimately is a harder task considering once high school is over, family are the people we are stuck with and therefore need to feel accepted into. While Kurt’s father was extremely supportive and understanding of his son’s gay identity, Santana was not so fortunate in her coming out. The support Santana received from her classmates gave her the courage to come out to her grandmother; however, when Santana came out to her grandmother, she got kicked out of the house. Not being accepted into one’s family is a hardship that is as difficult, if not even more difficult, as having a bully or two at school who is not accepting of your true identity. Being of a Hispanic nationality, Santana’s coming out to her grandmother and failure to receive acceptance demonstrates the risk many Chicanas and Chicanos face while coming out: the loss of support from family, church, and country, (Last Generation, 146). Although Kurt received harsh bullying in school for being open about his sexual identity, I think it is important to acknowledge the hardship Santana faced as well: a lack of support in her own home for trying to be honest about her true identity amongst her family.
ReplyDeleteMoraga, Cherrie. "Queer Aztlan: The Reformation of Chicano Tribe." The Last Generation. South End Press, (1993): 146.