Sexual identities and the media : an introduction / Wendy Hilton-Morrow, Kathleen Battles.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hilton-Morrow, Wendy.

Contributor:

Battles, Kathleen.

Class of 1932 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sexual minorities in mass media.

LGBTQ+ people.

Physical Description:

xix, 272 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, 2015.

Summary:

"Sexual Identities and the Media encourages students to examine media as a site of negotiation for how people make sense of their own and others' sexual identities. Taking a critical/cultural approach, Wendy Hilton-Morrow and Kathleen Battles weave together theory, synthesis of existing research, and original analysis of contemporary media examples in order to explore key areas of debate, including: - an historical context for contemporary GLBTQ representations; - the advantages and limitations of media visibility, including a discussion of the strengths and limitations of stereotype research and the quest for "positive" representations; - the role of consumer culture in constructing GLBTQ identities; - strategies of mainstream media resistance by GLBTQ community members, including oppositional/queer reading strategies and the production of media products by and for the GLBTQ community; - the complexities of comedy as a popular narrative device in GLBTQ portrayals; - the closet as a structuring metaphor in both GLBTQ identities and engagement with media; - media representations of GLBTQ bodies as sites of non-normative desires and gender identities. Featuring an enormous range of discussion questions and case studies--from celebrity coming-out narratives, transgender models, and slash fiction writers to Glee and Modern Family--this textbook offers a timely, informative, and demystifying introduction to this vital intersection in contemporary culture"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

Studying Sexual Identities 5

Box 1.1 Alternative Sexuality Models 5

Sexuality, Sexual Orientation, Sexual Identity-What Does It All Mean? 6

Box 1.2 The Heterosexual Questionnaire 8

The Alphabet Soup of Sexual Identities 9

Box 1.3 The Limits of Social Acceptance 14

Essentialist and Social Constructionist Perspectives 16

From Gay Politics/Theory to Queer Politics/Theory 18

Complicating Sexual Identity 20

Box 1.4 Gender and Sexuality in a Cultural Context 23

The Relationship between Media and Identity 24

The Social Scientific Approach: Identity Prior to Media 26

Critical/Cultural Approach: Media Prior to Identity 27

Media and Identity in the Digital Age 30

Conclusion 31

References 32

2 Historical Context 35

Box 2.1 Changing Language and Shifting Identities 36

Emerging Identities: 1860s-1930s 37

Scientific Interest in Sexuality 38

Box 2.2 Scientific Research on Sexuality and Race 39

Changing Socioeconomic Conditions 41

Media Images of an "Identity" 42

Box 2.3 Framing of 19th Century Female-to-Male Cross Dressers 43

An Emerging Movement: 1940s-1950s 46

Shared Identity and Shared Persecution 47

Homosexual Voices 49

Transgender as a Distinct Identity 52

From Tolerance to Liberation: 1960s-1970s 54

Gayness as Political Identity 54

Gayness as Ethnic Identity 56

Media Recognition 57

Box 2.4 Vita Russo and The Celluloid Closet 58

Defined by AIDS: 1980s 61

A Common Enemy 62

Complications from AIDS-Media Representations 64

Conclusion 66

References 67

3 Visibility 69

The Visibility Generation 70

Political Recognition 71

Media Visibility 72

Box 3.1 Tracking Visibility 76

Why Visibility Matters 77

Approaches to Visibility 80

Stereotypes 80

Box 3.2 Advocacy for Whom? GLAAD and Its Critics 83

Critiques of Stereotype Analysis 86

Stereotypes as "Work" 88

Box 3.3 Rethinking the "Sissy" 91

Visibility for What? 93

Box 3.4 Evaluating the Meaning of Gay Marriage in Television 94

Conclusion 97

References 98

4 Consumer Culture 101

Box 4.1 "Gendernebulous" Fashion Advertising 102

The Gay Market 105

Box 4.2 The Bear Market 107

Marketing in Gay Publications 110

"Gay Vague" Advertising 112

Box 4.3 Commercial Closet 115

From Gay Vague to Gay Vogue 117

Identity, Politics, and Consumer Culture 120

The Marketplace as Political Battlefield 121

Advertising's Model Minority 123

Box 4.4 GLBTQ Publications as Activism 125

Conclusion 127

References 128

5 Resistance 131

Production as Resistance: GLBTQ-Produced Media for GLBTQ Audiences 133

Music 135

Box 5.1 Queering Hip-Hop 138

Film 139

Web and Video Series 141

Box 5.2 Engaging GLBTQ Production 142

Reading as Resistance 144

Active Decoders: Learning to Read Subtext 145

Camp: Finding Pleasure in Resistance 147

Queering Readings: Finding Non-Heteronormative Pleasures 151

Box 5.3 Queering Mainstream Television 152

From Queer Pleasures to Queer Participation 153

Box 5.4 Slash Fiction 155

Conclusion 159

References 160

6 The Closet 163

The Metaphor of the Closet 164

Box 6.1 The Ethics of Outing 165

Coming-Out Narratives 166

Mediating the Closet: Coming-Out Stories 167

Box 6.2 Out in Sports 169

Coming Out Online: Community, Connection, and Learning 170

Box 6.3 What Is "Better"? 173

The Perils of Secrecy 174

Tragedy of the Post-Gay Closet 175

Box 6.4 Closeted Children's Characters 178

Racing the Closet: The Down Low 180

Critiquing the Closet 183

Complicating the Coming-Out Narrative 185

Whiteness and the Closet 187

Conclusion 189

References 190

7 Comedy 195

What's So Funny? Comedy and Cultural Norms 196

Box 7.1 Why Do We laugh ? 200

Box 7.2 Reverse Comic Discourses 203

The Intersection of Gender and Sexuality 205

"That's So Gay" 205

Sexism and GLBTQ Humor 207

Box 7.3 "Snap Queens" and the Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexuality 208

Situation Comedy Conventions 212

Box 7.4 Opening Up the Sitcom Structure? 218

Conclusion 219

References 220

8 Bodies 225

Thinking about Bodies 226

Mediating Same-Sex Intimacy 228

Box 8.1 The Ratings Game 229

Between Women 231

Between Men 234

Box 8.2 Is a Kiss lust a Kiss? 236

Transgender Bodies as Media Spectacle 239

Box 8.3 Rejecting the Cisgender Gaze 240

The Medical Gaze 242

Monstrous Bodies 244

Bodies of Disruption and Transformation 246

Disrupting Desire 246

Disrupting Gender 248

Box 8.4 HalfDrag 248

Conclusion 250

References 251

9 Conclusion 255

Emerging Questions 256

Post-Gay 257

Box 9.1 Post-Closet Holly wood? 258

Transgender "Tipping Point"? 259

Labels 261

Heterosexuality 262

Box 9.2 Heterosexual Identities and the Media 262

Media Matters 264

References 265.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

ISBN:

0415532973

9780415532969

0415532965

9780415532976

OCLC:

778425813

Publisher Number:

99963338569