Letter to Panel
The Portrayal of Gays and Lesbians on TV, and How Viewers React
Matthew Wood
There are several ways in which gays and lesbians are portrayed on television, many of which, arguably, create problems both for the programme maker and for the viewer. Homosexuality is still not fully accepted in today 's society and traditional patriarchal portrayals of both men and women are still dominant, with few exceptions to such images. This is, perhaps, particularly true of men. Whilst patriarchal images of the weak, male-dominated woman remain, in many respects such limited views have begun to change within our society. However, men are still seen to be powerful, successful and rational in thinking. It is still uncommon for a man to appear emotional and sensitive. As a result of this homosexuality is rarely seen on network television and representations of sexuality have been severely restricted and largely confined to the cinema.
When homosexuals do appear as characters on television programmes, they are usually depicted as negatively as "villains or victims of ridicule" (Gross 1989 cited in Craig 1992, p195). The portrayal of homosexual characters on television is complex in that gayness is, essentially, invisible. Therefore, it is difficult to identify gay or lesbian characters. As a consequence of this, programmes have adopted signs of gayness in order to portray characters ' sexualities as quickly as possible. Such signs include certain gestures, clothing and even codes of language adopted in order to visualise an individual 's homosexuality. This categorisation of homosexuals is in itself complex. All societies categorise as it enables us to make sense of our environment. However, it has been argued by Dyer (1993, p19) that whilst categorisation may be an activity common to all societies, the categorisation of sexuality is not. Gays and lesbians have been categorised negatively, often being seen to be morally degenerate. This has led to negative stereotypical
Matthew Wood
There are several ways in which gays and lesbians are portrayed on television, many of which, arguably, create problems both for the programme maker and for the viewer. Homosexuality is still not fully accepted in today 's society and traditional patriarchal portrayals of both men and women are still dominant, with few exceptions to such images. This is, perhaps, particularly true of men. Whilst patriarchal images of the weak, male-dominated woman remain, in many respects such limited views have begun to change within our society. However, men are still seen to be powerful, successful and rational in thinking. It is still uncommon for a man to appear emotional and sensitive. As a result of this homosexuality is rarely seen on network television and representations of sexuality have been severely restricted and largely confined to the cinema.
When homosexuals do appear as characters on television programmes, they are usually depicted as negatively as "villains or victims of ridicule" (Gross 1989 cited in Craig 1992, p195). The portrayal of homosexual characters on television is complex in that gayness is, essentially, invisible. Therefore, it is difficult to identify gay or lesbian characters. As a consequence of this, programmes have adopted signs of gayness in order to portray characters ' sexualities as quickly as possible. Such signs include certain gestures, clothing and even codes of language adopted in order to visualise an individual 's homosexuality. This categorisation of homosexuals is in itself complex. All societies categorise as it enables us to make sense of our environment. However, it has been argued by Dyer (1993, p19) that whilst categorisation may be an activity common to all societies, the categorisation of sexuality is not. Gays and lesbians have been categorised negatively, often being seen to be morally degenerate. This has led to negative stereotypical
Bibliography: * Cohan, S. & I. R. Hark (Eds.) (1993): Screening the Male, London: Routledge * Craig, S. (Ed) (1992): Men, Masculinity and the Media. Newbury Park, CA: Sage * Dines, G. & J. M. Humez (Eds) (1995): Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage * Durkin, K. (1985): Television, Sex Roles and Children. Milton Keynes: Open University Press * Dyer, R. (1993): The Matter of Images: Essays on Representation. London: Routledge * Finch, M. (1990): 'Sex and Address in Dynasty '. In M. Alvarado & J. O. Thompson (Eds): The Media Reader. London: BFI * Screen (Ed.) (1992): The Sexual Subject. London: Routledge * Swanson, G. (1991): 'Representation '. In D. Lusted (Ed): The Media Studies Book. London: Routledge December 1996 http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/mtw9402.html