Heterosexism is a term used to describe people who discriminate against gays and lesbians. Throughout history, an intimate relationship between members of the opposite sex was considered the norm, and breaking this norm would make a person deviant. From birth, children are taught certain characteristics on how boys and girls are suppose to behave. Children learn these things from their parents, the schools they attend, and society that they live in. The characteristics that they learn shapes them into what they become when they’re adults. According to Barrie Thorne, “the sociological significance of children’s play is that boys and girls are helping to socialize one another into primary adult gender roles, girls being more concerned with intimacy, emotions, and romance, and boys with independence and sexuality (pg. 180)”. As children we are taught that sex and sexuality are about becoming mommies or daddies, we then bring that knowledge into our teenage lives and eventually into adulthood. We are taught that being heterosexual is normal and homosexuality and bisexual as wrong and out of the norm. Although heterosexuality dates all the way back to the days of Adam and Eve, the term didn’t come into effect until the late nineteenth century. The purpose of this paper is to give examples of how heterosexism has become institutionalized in the American social system.…
In the article “Freaks and Queers” by Eli Clare, the author discusses the origins and history of freak shows where “freaks”, “savages” and “geeks” were essentially the cause of big entertainments and businesses. Four main groups of people were categorized into “freaks”, which included disabled people, both white people and people of colour, nondisabled people of colour, nondisabled people of colour from the United States and nondisabled people with physically visible differences. Many were oppressed, marginalized as well as exploited not only by the public but also by the show managers and doctors. Freak shows entertained and brought a better sense of self-esteem and superiority to audiences. In addition, Clare describes the issues he has with…
Boyz n The Hood depicted a troubling but accurate picture of how government enforced development and displacement led to crime, poverty, and lack of opportunities to those living in South Central Los Angeles. Motivated by racist agendas, the government aided in the displacement of African Americans after WWII into racially segregated areas that were impoverished and lacked opportunities to succeed. (Wiggins, 2016) The ‘War on Drugs’ administered by the Nixon administration placed thousands of young African Americans in jail and aided in the insertion of crack cocaine into South Central which caused the crime and gang activity to rise. (Grim, 2014) Through these examples, it is evident that the government placed importance on the development of the white population more than it did for the development of the black population.…
Introduction: The role of African American males in situational comedies, affects how society especially the white demographic views blacks. African American males have been struggling so long for equality in the TV industry. In result when black males were aired on TV it involved them in situational comedies. Some of these popular sitcoms that portrayed black males’ were shows like, “Amos and Andy” “Good Times”, “The Bill Cosby Show”, and “The Wayans Bros”. The reason why sitcoms are so eminent to the African American society was because this was the only portrayal of blacks society ever knew. It was the role that black men played…
A panel of LGBTQ advocates sat front and center to discuss their experiences about “being out” in the workplace, and to answer questions from University of Central Florida students that stemmed from personal association.…
With drama-series like The Fosters, Orange Is The New Black, Game of Thrones, Glee, True Blood, The Modern Family, and Sense8, among others, queer characters have begun to slowly gain prominence outside the borders of the stereotypical white gay male. Slowly, representation is being found, and the blanket hiding difficult subjects from sight is carefully being pulled back. In True Blood, gay cook and man of color Lafayette Reynolds confronts a white man when the man declines to eat his burger, claiming it might have aids. In Sense8, Amanita, a queer woman of color, defends her trans girlfriend from the rude remarks made by transphobic friends. Shows like these are providing characters that queer people can relate to on some level, and they are knocking on the ice wall of the heterosexual, cisgender binary. Documentaries like I Am Jazz, I Am Cait, and The T Word showcase lives of transgender individuals and what it is like to be trans, providing both a source of information and a real-life look at what goes on in the world around a transgender…
Issues of discrimination to transgender also occur outside of detention centers. Kit Yan shared the social injustices he experienced as a queer, transgender, and Asian American in his performance Queer Heartache. He became aware of the unacceptance of transgenders in the US when he expressed his newfound queer identity through rainbow stickers on his new Jeep Cherokee. As a result, his lights were smashes and tires were broken. Like transgender detainees, Yan was out casted and assigned to a secluded dorm on college campus. Similarly to how detainees are told to silence when assaulted and rape, Yan was recommended that for his own safety he should remove the stickers which expressed his pride and identity. The treatment of both Yan and transgender detainees illustrates the degree of unacceptance the transgender community has received in the US society.…
Media often reflects the ideas society has about certain minorities, such as transgender individuals. This is a significant motive to analyze the treatment of transgender in such communications in order to reveal society’s true assumptions and judgments about this marginalized group. The lack of involvement of the LGBTQ community in media and the stereotypical depictions of queer sexuality leads us to believe media has become a negative platform. This matter is perceived in the episode “Lesbian Request Denied” from the television series Orange Is The New Black as it captures Lavern Cox’s struggle in prison as a transgender individual. As I considered the impact of cultural gender definitions on transgender people, I further wanted to discover…
Thesis: Ellen DeGeneres’ nonchalant attitude about her sexuality has allowed her to retain her fan base, despite the opposing views on the subject of homosexuality. After the acceptance of Ellen as openly gay, we saw a society recognizing that such acceptance as the respectable approach, with judgment against homosexuality as the outdated viewpoint that now longer applies. **cite yahoo**…
Over the years, sitcoms have been one of the most open of genres to interpret women roles. Throughout television history many sitcoms have centered on a female star character, a projection very uncommon in other genres. There exists a specific type of sitcom called feminist sitcom, this not only shows women on screen, but it challenges gender roles, presenting female characters with more diverse personalities and liberated ideologies, and in less traditional positions outside of the home (King). The feminist sitcom is an important feature in television studies because of the representations of women and the issues it addresses that are neglected by other…
The two groups I choose are the LGBTQ members and the single mother of four children living at the poverty level in the USA.…
If made to select only one activity to partake in, I would continue my membership in the Gay Straight Alliance.…
African Americans have been depicted negatively and positively in numerous shows however the negative depictions seem to be more prominent than the positive depictions. These negative images are readily visible…
Society places a lot of blame on daily interactions and public views through what people observe and learn from television sitcoms and movies. Parents believe that children are now being confused about their sexuality just from watching television shows and movies. People believe that what they view in today’s popular television sitcoms and movies are ways to act in every day society. Most sitcoms and movies however, are just enabling sexuality and gender conflictions within today’s youth. According to the author bell hooks “What does it mean that media has such control of our imaginations that they don't want to accept that there are conscious manipulations taking place and that in fact, we want to reserve particularly for the arena of movie making a certain sense of magic?...it's not about like pure imagination, creativity, it's about people consciously knowing what kinds of images will produce a certain kind of impact.” (Cultural Criticism and Transformation). As people watch sitcoms such as Family Guy it becomes quite obvious how the media portrays sexuality and gender issues as jokes so people accept them into daily living situations.…
Previous studies have mainly focused on how African Americans are represented. Many studies have not focused on the way it affects the individuals that are viewing these portrayals (Dubriel, 2006). It is important to understand that these representations are not only affecting African Americans, but it is also influencing the perceptions of others (Dubriel, 2006). The significance of this study is that it explores both positive and negative portrayals of African Americans on television and it explores the influence of these portrayals on other minorities and African Americans. Not only can this paper contribute to previous studies, but it can also contribute to further studies as…