Essay On Representation In The Media

It is important for LGBTQ+ people that they are properly and positively represented in all forms of media, starting from a very young age. Proper representation would lead to less stereotypes and antagonism, lower death rates within the LGBTQ+ community, and help with identity and the mental health of the queer community. Representation can easily help LGBTQ+ persons of all ages—especially children—to form their identity. “[m]edia is a tool for interpreting our reality, but when our reality is absent from the media, we feel our role has been written out. We may feel ignored, rejected, or erased.” No one can dream from scratch, and when you have no role models, when you do not see yourself in everyday media, you can’t believe you belong. In other words, “[y]ou [cannot] be what you [cannot]
Children and teenagers can display negativity towards a specific group of people if it is treated as a normal occurrence in media. “[A]ll media construct the realities that they present to their audiences.” (Queer Representation in the Media, n.d.) Some shows on television or Netflix portray a dramatized version of reality, sometimes with a laugh track that occurs at ‘opportune’ times to lighten a dark mood, or when a character is the butt of a joke. ‘Good Luck, Charlie’, for example, is a live-action children’s show that, in its final episode, had Charlie’s parents separately meet two different women who claimed to be Charlie’s friend, Taylor’s, mom. They argued over the name of Taylor’s mother until it was revealed she had two mothers in a same-sex relationship. Charlie’s father commented with “Oh, Taylor has two moms,” and the laugh track made him the butt of the joke for being slow, rather than the same-sex couple. This was a positive portrayal directed at young children, normalizing and humanizing same-sex