Gays in the Media - Will and Grace is Only the First Step Essay

The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as

The 1970s was considered the “Me Decade” because of the increasing amount of individuality that people were beginning to exhibit. Americans started discussing important issues, such as divorce and gender roles but remained silent on the subject of sexuality. One of the reasons was because television in the 20th century hardly mentioned homosexuality. The idea was considered taboo, and many Americans were not comfortable or familiar with this issue, much less talking about it. In recent decades, Americans have made tremendous progress towards the acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in just forty years because of the television programs that have introduced Americans to these types of people. Many of the individuals that belong to either one of these categories have long struggled for equality and respect, just as other minorities have in the past, and continue to do so. Although American culture is more focused on individuality than conformity in today's times, the idea of what is “normal” is still an issue for many people. However, more television programs are bringing awareness to the idea of homosexuality, which makes for the gradual acceptance of it. The increasing amount of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters portrayed on television programs in today’s society has helped change the views of many Americans into embracing gay individuals into their lives. People are also more accepting of same-sex relationships or marriages and are

The uprising of gay and lesbian entertainment in shows such as “Will & Grace,” Showtime series “Queer As Folk” and “The L Word,” has overthrown the former cookie cutter husband and wife TV series. Gay and lesbian affairs in the media emerged quickly after the coming out of Ellen Degeneres in her hit sitcom, “Ellen.” The comedian now has her own daytime talk show, achieving mainstream popularity for obvious reasons: she’s funny, down-to-earth, and openly gay. In earlier decades homosexuality was previously limited to a closet of taboos, where no one knew about it, and no one admitted to it. Primetime programming would never house a show in which gay men and lesbian women openly discussed their sex lives and sexual preferences, nor a show that based its entire plotline on gay and lesbian couples.

The word “gay” has gone through drastic changes. Traditionally, it was a positive term that meant to be “happily excited” or “jolly” (Merriam Webster, “Gay”). It was used regularly to express one’s feelings about life. Today, it has a far different meaning. Now people use the word gay to label homosexuals, those with feminine qualities, or those who do something thought to be outside of the norm for their gender. “Being gay” went from expressing someone’s happiness to describing his sexual preference. The definition of gay has changed so much that its original meaning has become archaic and lost to the times.

Being gay in America is difficult. Being gay in America is even more difficult when you’re not quite gay. Being a closeted not-quite gay woman in America, surrounded by Indian immigrants is pretty difficult, too. It’s a bit like staring in a James Bond film, if all of the characters suddenly developed Bollywood accents, and marginally less homicide. Also, I may be exaggerating, because I don’t attract nearly as many Bond Girls, no matter how much I’d like to. Even understanding what “not-quite gay” means for me was and is a struggle. I suppose a common saying is true: if you can’t find the gay cousin in your family, then you are the gay cousin. And it’s true; in my jumbled mess of aunts, uncles, and third-step cousins once removed, there hasn’t been a single person to come out. Or, if there has, we certainly never talk about them.

Media has always been highly influential in our society; it’s carefully constructed in order to show certain values, beliefs and messages. When viewers are exposed to topics they have little experience or knowledge in, media can especially play a large role in shaping their own opinions. It has been shown that people who know a LGBT+ person in their lives are much more likely to be supportive of same-sex marriage and the community in general. In place of that, viewing characters in film or television can adequately supplement the empathy gained from personal experience. This is exemplified by Wilson Cruz, the actor of Rickie Vasquez, a gay character on the 1994 television series My So-Called Life: “...Vasquez was the first gay person that they knew and because of the light he shed on the issue...I think people took up the cause of LGBT rights...I know for many people the only LGBT people that they know are people that they meet on their television screens or at the movie theater.” Since then, the amount of programming featuring openly gay characters has steadily increased, and with it, people are gaining a better understanding of the issues they face. As the years progress, Canada is being exposed to greater diversity: both on the television screen and within its community.

Connor Manning addresses some of the more common stereotypes bisexuals experience such as people not accepting your sexuality unless you have had sexual experiences with multiple genders, that bisexuals are more likely to cheat on a partner, bisexuals are greedy, that sexuality is black and white between homosexuality and heterosexuality (Manning). Within media representation of bisexuals is scarce. When there are bisexuals in media, writers often either rely heavily on stereotypes instead of developing an interesting and complex character, like Alice in The L Word (Schrag and Dabis), or they use bisexuality as a plot point and gloss over it for the rest of the show, like Reagan in New Girl (Meriwether). If bisexuals were portrayed more

The topic of homosexuality elicits many reactions. It is forever played upon in pop culture for it's shock value if nothing else. Some demonize it, holding things like religion as proving, "alternative lifestyles," to be wrong. Some have erotisied homosexuality as in many of Anne Rice's vampire novels. Some laugh at homosexuality or people who are homosexual, calling it, "weird". Some react violently, as in the case of Matthew Shepard. And yet others have gradually turned towards acceptance shown (debatably) in such movies as, " To Wong-Fu Love Julie Newmar" and " In and Out".

In today’s television (TV) landscape, the representation of the sexual minority community is noteworthy. Contemporary programs such as Orange is the New Black and Grey’s Anatomy present a cast of characters that defy heterosexual convention. With the continued portrayals of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community, as well as the increase in media attention that these programs receive, researchers and clinicians alike must examine the meaning that these shows have for the very individuals they aim to represent. To capture such meaning, realities among the LGB community must continue to be understood. A common experience for many sexual minority people is that of minority stress, defined as chronic stress rooted in discrimination and stigma (Meyer, 2003). Minority stress factors include prejudice events, expectations of rejection, internalized heterosexism, and concealment of one’s sexual orientation, and are related to a variety of adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Many studies have explored the myriad predictors and outcomes related to these minority stressors, yet no current literature has explored the ways in which minority stressors may affect media consumption behaviors.

The Homosexual Identity in Televisions Shows of the 1980s and 1990s Television shows in the 1980s and 1990s represented the views held by their respective societies. Moreover, Ellen Degeneres, a gay television icon was unable to fully communicate who she was to her audience. On The Ellen Show, Ellen Morgan’s - Degeneres’ character - homosexuality was a taboo not discussed openly. The silencing of the homosexual identity was a reflection of the society at large. Clearer thesis needed: What precisely will you argue?

Since the 1950, the portrayal of gay and lesbian relationships has increased in media. The documentary showed that before this time, there were almost no homosexual people seen on television. By 1997, when Ellen Morgan came out as lesbian, this was proved to take a positive turn. As celebrities and public-known people in general, come out and reveal themselves as homosexual, society and its population respond. People wish to be normal and follows the norms of society. As Ellen and other celebrities deny the norms, more people accept it and are willing to change their mindsets about what normal is. I believe that the positive development in media, such shown in series and movies are reflected by positive changes in society in large. Not only has it been seen in the mentioned TV-show, Will and Grace, further examples are shows like The Fosters, Grey’s Anatomy or Orange Is The New Black. In all these shows, homosexual and even transgender characters play important roles. However, I think that media plays a big role when it comes to the development of society as well. I think they cooperate in the way that they respond to each-others actions. As more and more well-known people are open with their sexuality, media will confirm it by using it to get more attention. When the audience sees this more often,

Today, our world is in a very open and accepting mindset towards the LGBT+ community. We have equal marriage rights, and just yesterday, California became the first state to recognize non-binary as a gender. Even though we have these rights, being LGBT+ is still a struggle in today’s society. In Cut Both Ways, this is shown very clearly in how Will’s relationship with Brandy is treated with more acceptance than the relationship he has with Angus. When Will is shown with Brandy, his parents think nothing of this relationship, they’re trusted together. At one point in the book, Will and Brandy have a pregnancy scare, and when Brandy’s Aunt Megan finds out, they’re only given a short talk about always using protection and then they go on like

For example, many characters make fun of Raj and Howard’s close relationship. Leonard’s mom labels their actions as gay and that they should stop it. This implies that being homosexual is something to be ashamed of. Also, throughout the first season Raj admires Howard's flirting abilities with women. This shows that there is a pride in heterosexual interactions.

For example, a gay male may not be welcomed in a party due to his sexual orientation. It is only a question of ethics. Homosexuals are also put as either victims or villains in movies. They are depicted as belonging to a weird or foreign culture that cannot be tolerated. It is rare to have a movie that has the main character being gay or lesbian.

In the 90's, bisexuals have popped up all over the place, from David Bowie to Angelina Jolie and Ani DiFranco.  I think that the gay and lesbian community is among the least tolerant of bisexuality, many homosexuals have gone through a serious identity struggle and they can't accept this "halfway" homosexuality.  Are we the queer of the queer?  Bisexuals aren't people who can't make up their mind in the same way that people who like both blondes and brunettes aren't called indecisive.  Sexual orientation used to be a black and white thing, you were either gay or you were straight.  During the 40's, Kinsey came up with a sliding scale of sexuality.  Suddenly, you could be somewhere in between, like a percentage.  If that wasn't enough, in the 70's Klien made things even more complicated with a multi-dimensional grid.  Now your sexuality ends up looking like the Nasdaq graph on a bad day!  But even up until the late 70's, there wasn't a single book written on bisexuality.  It's come a long way in the last 20 years.