Raising Awareness Through Media: Helpful or Harmful?

Media can play a huge role in raising awareness about bullying and violence in the queer community, but unfortunately, this isn’t always accomplished in a way that really captures the reality of this violence. A perfect example of this comes from the show Glee, in an episode entitled “Never Been Kissed”, in which Kurt, the only ‘out’ gay person at his school, deals with constant harassment and violence from a bully while everyone else remains silent, but eventually gains the courage to confront this person. While this may seem like a very empowering plot, there are quite a few flaws that make this episode inaccurate and maybe even a bit offensive.

Although I’m sure the intention of this episode was to address the issue of gay bulling, the writers chose to use very cliché and stereotypical examples of this. One of the first signs of this you see is when Kurt is pushed into a locker by someone most people would call a ‘jock’. This in itself only promotes the idea that masculine males are never accepting of LGBTQ identified people. This is furthered by the fact that Kurt, the only gay character on the show at this point, is portrayed as very feminine, though clearly not all gay men are. Also, when told to split into boys’ and girls’ teams, Kurt goes over to the girls’ side. This again is very assumes that Kurt considers himself more of a girl than a boy, rather than a boy who behaves in a feminine way. However, the most disturbing aspect of this episode is the phrases used to describe Kurt’s struggle. While these are supposed to show the hardships a lone gay male faces at school, this purpose loses meaning when Kurt says things like, “this is my hill to climb alone” or “you can’t punch the gay out of me”(“Never”). These sorts of portrayals of gay violence not only use stereotypical judgments about what the bully would be like, but also portray a stereotype of a gay male, which I personally find offensive.

In her article about queer life in the Chicano community, Cherrie Moraga talks of a queer Aztlan as tierra sagrada, or sacred ground (Moraga 151). This is seen as a place where queer people would no longer face persecution, or as a sort of paradise. This concept is also apparent in this episode of Glee. When Kurt visits an all-boys school with a zero-tolerance policy for queer bullying, it seems a perfect place for him to escape from the intolerance he faces at his current school. While a place like this would be considered ideal for many, this portrayal of it is quite misleading. Zero-tolerance policies may be present, but how to enforce these can be difficult and unclear, and many times, this bullying is still present, but is just not publicly seen. Nan Stein, in her article about bullying, argues that a zero-tolerance policy will group all incidents together without addressing the underlying issue of why someone is being bullied. However, a zero-indifference policy ensures that those in charge would, “notice the behaviors, comment on them, intervene, and make corrections accordingly” (Stein 32).

Using media as a tool to raise awareness about bullying in the queer community is definitely a way to get people to realize that these incidents are still occurring in our own backyard. However, using stereotypical representations of the people involved is not the way to do so. If the producers of Glee really want to help the gay community, they will have to start by addressing more realistic situations and stop these overdramatized, stereotypical plots.

“Never Been Kissed.” Glee. Fox. 9 Nov. 2010. Television.

Moraga, Cherrie. “Queer Aztlan: the Reformation of the Chicano Tribe” from The Last Generation. South End Press, 1993.

Stein, Nan. “Bullying, Harassment, and Violence among Students” in Radical Teacher, No. 80. “Teaching Beyond Tolerance” Winter 2007 30-35