'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.

Cultural Significance of Kurt and Blaine

      I was extremely excited for this series of readings because I am a huge Gleek.  Allison McCracken uncovers the impact of Kurt and Blaine’s voices as well as their relationship.  Prior to reading these articles, I was extremely drawn to these two characters and their relationship together; however, I couldn’t clearly explain why.  Now that I have read this series I understand their appeal and how they draw in their audience.  As I was reading the article, I speculated that McCracken was using the distinct singing style of Kurt and Blaine as a symbol of homosexuality.  She enlightened me on the history of falsetto voices and the crooner and how this type of singing was extremely popular in the 1920’s before this type of singing was censored and frowned upon.  She stated that men were strictly singing about women in a low voice and women were singing only about their love for men. Singing was no longer gender neutral beginning in the 1930’s.  The history of the falsetto and crooner were explained in the first article of this series and I found it very interesting that the picture of Kurt sitting between Blaine’s legs as they sing to each other would have been a typical picture of male singers in the 1920’s and only now are pictures like that becoming culturally acceptable. Why it has taken so long is hard to comprehend. 

            The growing acceptance of the falsetto and crooner is extremely similar to the growing acceptance of homosexuality.  Kurt and Blaine are giving a voice to the young adults who are struggling with their sexual identity, who are openly gay but who may continue to struggle on a daily basis with society, and they give a voice to individuals who are proud to be gay and give them even more confidence.  My initial attraction to Kurt and Blaine was their voices.  Kurt’s voice was extremely rare and Blaine’s voice was amazing.  Both voices drew me in regardless of the singing about their love for each other.  I was only concerned with their voices, not their sexuality which could translate to how I am only concerned with the individual as a person and not concerned with their sexual preference.  I believe the producers of Glee are trying to increase the acceptance of homosexual relationships through the voices of Kurt and Blaine.             

Gay Guys in the Media and the Stereotypes that Involve Them

Before reading these articles, I had no idea that Chris Colfer, who plays Kurt in Glee had a the fan base that he does, and that it includes both males and females.  The way that McCracken compared Colfer's swooning fans to those of the Beatles was surprising to me, because when I think of a Beatles fan I think of a young girl who loved the Beatles both for their music and for the sexual attractiveness.  It is interesting to me that young girls and boys alike find Kurt's character to have this same erotic appeal, seeing as he is a homosexual male. yet so many fans of his find him to be sexually appealing, whether they are gay or straight or male or female.

McCracken's articles also made me think of a popular gay couple on tv today: Mitchell and Cameron from Modern Family.  What made me think of this couple was McCracken's argument that Glee acknowledges the stigma attached the males who sing through the jocks on the show who "regularly assert that "singing is gay"", yet also shows male singing as positive in that it is empowering for men in society.  This stereotype that "singing is gay" is also present in the relationship between Mitchell and Cam, because, though both of their characters are gay, Mitchell takes on the typically male role in the relationship; he is a full-time lawyer, he is not very good at things like throwing theme parties and is not as theatrical as Cam's character, whereas Cam plays the more traditionally female role in their marriage.  Cam is a stay-at-home Dad who loves to spend his entire day taking care of their adopted daughter, Lily, and he is an entertainer who can sing, dance, and even used to dress up as a clown for children's birthday parties.  It is interesting to me that Cam's character is the one who happens to love singing, and there is even one episode when Cam gets offended that something thinks that Mitchell is a better singer than he is, because Mitchell doesn't ever enjoy singing.  This stereotypical idea that "singing is gay" is hardly explicitly stated in Modern Family, while it is largely focused on in Glee. 


This article from the blog Femme Butch or Other outlines the relationship that Cam and Mitchell have on Modern Family, showing that even Mitchell thinks of Cameron as the partner in the relationship who identifies more with motherly characteristics, when on Mother's Day he tells Cam, "this is your day".  Another blog post about Kurt from Glee talks about the stereotypes that revolve around Kurt's character, saying that he is often stereotyped in extreme ways, but that all characters on the show have extreme stereotypes, making the show comedic.  This relates to the "irony in knowingness" idea that we talked about earlier this semester, because the show uses this extreme stereotypes to add comedy to the show, therefore making the stereotypes less extreme. 

Kurt and Blaine: Rebel Rousers or Innocent Lovers?

Not only is Glee innovative in that it introduces a healthy, male-homosexual relationship on network television, but it also works to deconstruct the stereotypical assumption that all male singers are flamboyant, homosexuals. The world of Dalton, for instance, is the Emerald City of this new age gender fluidity. It is a group of arguably metrosexual teenage men, singing fabulous acapella tunes; however, their sexuality is not addressed (except for Kurt and Blaine). Klaine has become the icon of blissful, gay love that developed through the romantic courting akin to Humphrey Bogart’s classic, Casablanca. They have fallen in love like teenagers do: singing love songs together, holding hands in the hallway and having the inevitably awkward sex talk with their parents—gender has only enhanced the admiration from fans.

One of the most powerful thematic aspects of Glee is that every character is posed as an outcast and attracts “Losers Like Me” from every social stratum; this marginalization is embodied in vocals. But unlike American Idol or The Voice, these voices defy gravity. Kurt especially proves to the world that men can emulate women; his voice (and of course his expression) becomes iconic as "gender queer." Expression is so fundamental to sustaining one’s individuality and using it as a tool for empowerment and Glee does a phenomenal job of highlighting this motif in LGBT pop culture and beyond.

The majority of the show operates heteronormally—men singing to women about love and sex—however, the divisions within the relationships are more unique and empowering. For instance, America’s second favorite gay couple—Britanna—uses gendered songs to express their growing love for one another. This article only talks about Klaine, but Britanny and Santana also defy the gender norms in their homosexual romance. Santana and Brittany sing “Landslide” together; however, this is not a gendered song, so the lack of pronouns almost normalizes their singing it together and makes it less “shocking” to hear two women announcing their love. Later in the show, Santana sings “Someone Like You” to Brittany after being outed and brings everyone to tears as she reminds us, “sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead;” her advice rings true regardless of your partner’s gender.

A More Tolerant World

                What seems to stand out to me the most throughout these readings is the importance of tolerance. I think that with an increase of characters performing queer and fluid gender roles comes an increase in the rate of acceptance that translates into the real world. Not only do characters like those depicted in Glee continue to naturalize gay relationships, but they also show viewers that they too can live out a compelling counter narrative to stereotypical gender roles.

                While I was reading I was reminded of the upcoming documentary, Bully. Over 13 million kids will be bullied this year in school, which makes it the most common outlet of violence experienced by young people in the nation. Not only does bullying resort from sexuality, but it also transcends gender, racial, and economics as well. Again, the issue that needs to be learned is tolerance! Children and adults alike need to “queer” their perspective on gender and sex norms to stop this movement of harassment, violence and assault. One of the students featured in the film is a 16 year old lesbian from Oklahoma. Due to the fierce verbal abuse of her teammates, Kelby has been forced to leave the basketball and softball team.  Even with opposition from her entire town, she represents an inspiration to adolescents everywhere in that she stands up for herself and hopes to change minds in the meantime. It is through real life media representations of those like Kelby in addition to scripted roles like those of Kurt and Blaine that the public can become receptive to and identify with those performing gender in a variety of ways. I would only hope that the promotion and inclusion of gender and sexual diversity would decrease student bullying and increase overall acceptance of others.

Kirk Smalley, creator of an anti-bullying campaign insists that we must, “Go out there and find that one child, that new kid, who just moved to town, standing over there by himself, be his friend, smile, be willing to help him out when he’s pushed down, be willing to stand up for him. If we all do it together, we will change the world. It starts right here, right now.”  In addition, I would argue it starts with increased media representations of the LGBT community.  In an analysis by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) they report that for the first time in 4 years the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters on scripted primetime broadcast television is expected to decrease. How can we hope that the next generation will be more accepting of others when this report states that the “2011-2012 television schedule found that 2.9% of series regulars are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), down from 3.9% in 2010 and 3% in 2009”?

better gay than grumpy...

The presence of the LGBT community in media has changed drastically, especially in the

realm of television. Raymond discusses this transition from a TV culture that merely hinted

at homosexuality to one that is beginning to embrace it on a number of levels. Not only are

gay characters more widely portrayed in modern television shows, there are also more

gay writers and an increase in the number of heterosexual actors who are willing to play

gay characters. Raymond looks specifically at the intersection of the LGBT community and

comedy television, but I think that her argument is applicable to other areas of television as

well. I am especially struck by the evolution of gay characters in television shows that are

targeted at teens/young adults. Raymond argues “what is constructed [in the media] can

come to seem natural and inevitable” which is why I see the plot lines of LGBT teens to be

particularly powerful as they hold great potential.

Glee is well known for its incorporation of a strong LGBT presence. The current season of

the show features a gay couple and a lesbian couple as well as another character that is

coming to terms with his sexuality. Each of these story lines is unique and does a good job

of helping to show that “gays and lesbians are not a homogenous group with a singular,

uncomplicated sense of identity.” Glee shows its characters questioning their sexuality,

discovering the difficulties they face as gay high schools students, and the troubles

associated with exploring a new realm of physical sexuality. But the show also does a

great job of showing its gay characters finding empowerment in their sexuality (“Born

This Way” S2:E18), positive interactions with parents, and how the high school community

can be accepting with time. Glee is a great example of show that manages to appeal to the

mainstream while also incorporating a strong LGBT presence in its plot and characters.

Yet Glee is not unique, there are a number of teen sitcoms that also do an excellent job of

working towards a new portrayal of LGBT youth: Skins (UK and North American versions),

90210, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Pretty Little Liars, The O.C.,  and a number of others. Just as

Raymond argues that the queering of comedy is helping to change the role of the LGBT

community in society, I argue that the queering of teen sitcoms has the potential to make

even more powerful changes in the mindsets of youth.

HomoHeteroSexual Queerness

In her essay, Popular Culture and Queer Representation, Diane Raymond discusses the portrayal of homosexuality and, in particular 'queer' identities in today's media. The author describes three very important aspects of queer representation in the media: the phenomenon of the not-quite-so-gay homosexual character who exhibits very stereotypical 'heterosexual' behaviors such as Will from Will and Grace; the trope of people pretending to be gay as in the case of I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry (personal example); and finally, the classic case of a heterosexual character being mistaken as gay as in the famous episode of Seinfeld in which Jerry and George are mistakenly identified as gay men by a college reporter.

 The author argues that although the media has evolved to provide explicitly queer characters in television shows (much less in feature movies), these representations are not necessarily positive to the LGBT struggle for equality and acceptance in society. The presence of queer identities in the media was previously only possible if their stories were dominated by some sort of physical violence or if they were being ridiculed for their flamboyance. In the current media, these story lines have evolved to surround a kind of heteronormalization of queer identities.

Queer characters are either portrayed to be stereotypically masculine (except for the being attracted to people of the same sex aspect) or heterosexual characters are given stereotypically homosexual attributes (except for the being attracted to people of the opposite sex aspect) or they are flamboyantly portrayed as homosexual to the point where it becomes comical. For example, the writer emphasizes the character of Will as an example of a homosexual man with strongly 'heteronormative' character traits. She also talks about his relationship with Grace and how they are portrayed almost as a married couple. She sites Chandler's character from Friends as an example of a heterosexual man with stereotypically queer traits. Finally, she uses the character of Jack from Will and Grace as an example of an overly stereotypical homosexual man. The author even makes it a point to point out that Jack's overt flamboyance is almost used as a symbol to indicate that Will is not homosexual enough and can easily be converted to heterosexuality.

Although I agree with the writer on each of these points, I have to argue that the representation of queer identities has evolved greatly since this article was written. Queer identities in the media today are much more relatable to both queer and non-queer audiences in the sense that they are hardly ever portrayed as caricatures anymore, but rather as 'regular' people who also happen to be queer and who are dealing with the everyday issues faced by humans and by people who identify as queer. Although I can not think of any completely realistic representation of queer identity, I am not particularly
bothered since there are absolutely no completely realistic representations in the media. Shows such as Glee (with the character Kurt, among others) and South of Nowhere are leading the game in the representation of 'normal' teenagers who just happen to be homosexual. They are playing a key part in getting society to begin accepting queer folk as regular (relative term, of course) people who so happen to identify as 'queer.' The same way as heterosexual people are people first and then heterosexual.