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”?

He Just Needs the Right Broom

I am fascinated by the idea that masculinity exists as a foil to femininity and it is oftentimes portrayed in the media as such. Countless characters gain initial power and esteem based on masculine norms. The buff, stud of a man dressed in athletic gear with female arm candy are initially the character we “look up to” or see as some sort of authority. He is also the character that we expect to be brought down by his hyper-masculinity. Of course there are the easy examples of superhero flicks (of course phallo-centric) where the male, dominating hero encounters the limitations of the anaconda in pants and usually needs the sensibility of a woman to bring him back. It is so interesting that these are the images that sell; Mad Men is a show centered around and devoted to traditional masculine ideals and people eat it up! Of course, I love it to and I can watch it while recognizing the chauvinism, but how many people cannot or do no take the time to deconstruct it?

I want to focus on Hitch, I think Will Smith embodies masculinity in both his physical presence, but not in his relationship “techniques.” He is a male icon for nerdy guys that want to get laid or find love, but his “toxic masculinity” hinders him in his own romantic pursuits. He has been victimized by the same gender norms that he substantiates, because he cannot fulfill them when it comes to his own life. He almost sabotages his budding relationship, because he tries so hard to live up to his own scripted ideals of what a man is supposed to be in a relationship. The audience loves to watch him self-destruct using the same tenets that he has been brainwashing his clients with. Ironically, what he claims to be is almost a feminist ideal. He respects women and speaks about them lovingly, and yet he still takes on the knight in shining armor persona and expects to be the "one in charge" in many ways. No wonder people are up in arms about gender role portrayals in the media that affect men in the “real world;” male role models are limited to the body-builder on the Old Spice commercials, the guidos on Jersey Shore and the mixed messages of the romantic yet foolish, Hitch.

Watch Out for Naked People

This week has been transformative to say the least. Naked week always reminds me about how close-minded and toxic our society is in regards to body image and expression. Not only do we value skinny over “fat,” but we also dissect the body into manageable commodities; so that you can literally pick and choose the pieces that make up your outward appearance. Jean Kilbourne talked about this as the ability to create illusion in our lives. Sometimes this creation comes from the advertisers and filmmakers who create the illusion of “ideal” beauty, but sometimes it comes from within our own self-conscious psyches. Think about it, if only 8% of an ad is processed by our conscious mind and the rest is penetrated into the recesses of our mind, then it makes perfect sense that our perceptions of the beauty around us and our self image would be processed mostly in our subconscious. That is the scary and invigorating aspect of the media: it has the ability to enact so much change, and yet, are we using it for the best?

In the Robyn Ochs workshop, we visually transcended the binary of sexuality (and sort of gender) by creating our own moving spectrum of sexuality. Juxtaposed to the very disheartening conclusion to Jean’s discussion that left us with the message that sex and sexuality is amplified in order make a larger profit; Robyn reminded us that passion is integral in our lives and that it comes in all shapes and sizes. No one, including the writers of ABC or HBO can tell you what attraction is for you. We put such a great emphasis on sex that it is beginning to lose its true meaning emotionally and psychologically, Robyn deemphasized physical sex so that we were better able to deconstruct the many facets that play into our sexuality and desires. Robyn did not directly discuss the media, but I think any discussion of sexuality and gender almost inherently discusses the media and its portrayal of sex, desire and our bodies.

Jean Kilbourne Lecture

After attending Jean Kilbourne's lecture monday night, I just wanted to call up a bunch of advertising companies and scream into the phone. Don't worry, I didn't. But all the messages being sent are just incredibly frustrating. And while the campaign has come a long way, I don't feel like we're getting anywhere very fast. There are still far to many people struggling with eating disorders and just body image in general. But are we really surprised when models' bodies aren't even worthy of skipping photoshop? It kills me that messages are being sent out that women's skin retires after age fifteen, that their breasts will never be optimal, or that pretty faces must be "designed", and no one is doing anything about it. I was stunned that within just three years of TV coming to Fiji that eating disorders doubled, and that vast majorities of women were dieting and an even larger majority saw themselves as "too large." But I think what stuns me even more is that society takes it as normal. There still exists this terrible double standard. Proof for this is when an ad featuring a man's bare abs and thighs gains National media coverage. Of course, as Kilbourne underlined, I don't want men to be objectified either, but when a picture of a man's abs gains national attention over the epidemic of eating disorders or ads featuring men beating women, then there is definitely a serious problem. While I am glad that companies like Dove are beginning to take a stand and change, I wish that more companies would do the same.