The "Right Kind" of Readers and Repetitive Messages

So coincidentally before reading this article, I had just purchased a SELF magazine to read over the weekend. I hadn't purchased a magazine in a long time, what with all the reading I had to do for school and reading all three of the Hunger Game trilogies in a week (ya I was a little obsessed) I just didn't have the time, nor the desire to sit down and read through a Cosmo, or Vogue getting the same content and images about sex, how to "perfect your perfect self," organizing your life, etc. But for some reason, last week I decided to buy a Self and it actually allowed for me to read it in a different way after reading Gills article on "Gender in Magazines." 

Her section on contradiction versus coherence was particularly very intriguing and I set out to look at the content that was contradictory in the magazine. While Self is all about the empowerment of the individual woman, of being free and active to do what she pleases, the advertising and content of the magazine seems to mold her and engulf her into more barriers and ideals of beauty than seems possible. While there are images of women, who are active and outside doing and accomplishing things that are fulfilling, the advertisements on every page send the message that you need to be conscientious of your weight (diet pills and protein shakes had full page spreads), that you need to maintain great nails, hair and skin, even if you are doing things that are active like running and working out, and that the clothes you wear will help you perform better. This myriad of images in hard to achieve, but we are greatly influenced by it. While I like Self because it is not as repetitive with its sex stories, fashion, and content, like Cosmo is, it still maintains a structure of blurring the advertising and content that all of these magazines do to create contradictory messages (Ten pages in, Jose Cuervo had an advert for "light Margarita" mix that was only 95 calories...since when does drinking helping you get six-pack abs like they say you can achieve on page 85?). 

I've noticed overtime that I have stopped purchasing these magazines because they all seem to be sending the same message and images about women. Yes, I will indulge occasionally like I did this weekend, but now it just seems to be a waste of time to try and replicate these images of femininity that our culture puts out month after month for us. It doesnt seem to be changing anytime soon, and I'm quite frankly tired of getting the same message every month. 

'Cause You Were Born This Way, Baby

Throughout the first season of Glee, the series could arguably be seen as a show that conforms to society’s stereotypes whereby, “it turns its characters into what our society expects”. Finn’s character in the show can be seen as meeting the socially constructed definition of ideal masculinity such as being heterosexual and involved in sports, whereas Quinn's character can be seen as meeting the societal definition of being the ideal female.

Upon examining Chris Colfer, I argue that he is the most transformed character over the course of the following seasons, moving being a man ashamed of his homosexuality to completely embracing it and becoming a hyper-sexualized, gay icon. Kurt begins the series as a boy who feels the need to lie about his sexuality, so much so that he when he is caught by his father for wearing a unitard and dancing to the song “Single Ladies” by Beyonce in episode 4, he decides to lie to his dad that he is wearing that costume as part of football training. This scene directly exemplifies the social stigma attached to the idea of being homosexual, where in the case of Kurt, he feels the obligation to maintain a certain level of masculinity while at the same time covering up for his feminineness.

As the series progresses, the audience begins to see Kurt taking on a more sexual-liberating role by embracing his sexual orientation and flaunting it. Within the blogpost by Allison McCracken entitled, “Glee: Kurt and the Casting Couch,” she gives the example of Kurt’s performance of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” in which the song represents Kurt’s coming out not as a gay man but as a sexually confident one, ready to play. He has transitioned from a character afraid to show his true self to even his family, to a man completely comfortable with who he is and can be viewed as a role model for young male audiences. At the same time, Kurt’s acceptance of the cultural feminine has made him an icon of identification and desire for the girls who can sing along with him, and who share his feelings of isolation, longing, and gender-as-performance. Kurt traditionally sings songs originally by female artists and is viewed as the more “feminine” male in his relationship with actor Darien Criss. Kurt no longer feels the need to overtly express masculine traits in order to be seen as a “true man” or be accepted by society, he is a character who moves between the gender binaries and assumes several identities over the course of the series.

This quote below is from an episode in the 3rd season, and I thought it emplifies the point I am making above that Kurt is able to be anyone he wants and does not have to fit into the structured, socially constructed binaries of society. He is being accused of not being manly enough and Burt is describing how he assumes multiple identities.

Burt Hummel: Dude you're gay.
Kurt Hummel: Excuse me?
Burt Hummel: You're gay. And you're not like Rock Hudson gay, you're really gay. You sing like Dianna Ross and and you dress like you own a magic chocolate factory.
Kurt Hummel: I don't know if you've noticed, but no one's really looking for a Kurt Hummel type to play the opposite Kate Hudson in a rom com. I'm just me.

Gender Transgression Day at Denison

                The Gauntlett reading emphasized a few points that stuck out to me and that I could relate to because of my involvement in and Intro to QS class this semester. Particularly, the ideas that gender is fluid as well as a performance were of interest to me. Finally, the idea of causing “gender trouble” is something that I feel I can relate to and have come to understand the importance of such an idea.

                In my queer studies class, we recently were asked to participate in a gender transgression day (my professor may look into initiating a campus-wide gender transgression day) during which we would perform a gender transgression. For example, the females in the class were asked to do something that was socially constructed as masculine and the males in the class were asked to do something that was socially constructed as feminine. I preformed gender in a more masculine manner by eating sloppily and talking crudely. Other women in my class wore neck ties while some of the men painted their nails or wore makeup. The reactions that we experienced ranged from avoidance of eye contact and being made fun of to whispers or an ignoring of the “oddity.” This gender transgression performance showed me that we are constantly policing other people’s gender identities as there are only a few proper ways for people to behave – masculine for men and feminine for women.

                In addition to this gender transgression day, we read a memoir about a Dierdre McCloskey who was born a physical male, Donald. The handout that we went over in class earlier today (2/15/12) in addition to the genderbread person really brought together the idea that gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, and sexual orientation are separate and different concepts and one’s “placement” on along these continuums is ever-changing. Born a man, Donald’s biological sex was male; as a young boy his gender identity was “man,” his gender expression was “masculine,” and his sexual orientation was “heterosexual.” Throughout his life his gender identity, gender expression, biological sex (eventually had gender reassignment surgery àvagina but was still biologically XY), and sexual orientation moved all along the continuums.