Media has been the main influence on many individuals thoughts about this topic. The topic of something being described as "gay". The main characteristics that is showed through media of something or someone being gay are:
- Feminine
- Fashionistas
- Weaker
- Diseased
- A joke
- Emotional
- Opinionated
- Excluded from the "Norm"
- Non parental
- Against religion
The list can continue on for quite some time, but these points listed above are the dominant discourse that is portrayed on the media through various forms of media.
There are many other media outlets no doubt that shows gays in a happy and "normal". For example Grey's Anatomy presents a gay couple comprising of two happy looking women going through the same problems and joys as heterosexual coupes go through. Taking care of a child, financial problems, emotional problems, and romance are some of the few things this couple goes through.
Another strong influence on many of our peers is the fact that many celebrities and pro athletes sponsor what they believe into their from of media. For example rappers and "masculine" sports all are anti-gay sponsored. Rappers as write about having sexual interactions with females strictly and it is assumed that sports such as hockey or football are meant and played by men that are all heterosexuals, due to the fact that those sports are considered "manly". But in actuality there are many athletes that after their career has come out and said that they are gay.
Most celebrities present themselves as pro gay. An obvious example is Ellen Degeneres and Neil Patrick Harris. They are both, with their partners, openly gay and seem to be happy with their relationship.
A parody video posted below has two takes on it's meaning.
1. That it is making fun of Kanye West's new video by using two males to make the video comedic
2. To show how happy two male partners can be
Questions:
1. What problem can arise from this image of gay in the media?
2. Why do you believe that this is correct or incorrect portrayal of gay?
3. Why do you believe that saying "that's so gay!" has become intertwined into our teenage society to tightly?
Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ispgYFInhwE
Readings
In response to question three, I believe the reason why the saying "that so gay!" has become a part of many teenager's speech would mostly be because of the lack of knowledge towards the understanding for gays, lesbians, etc. In the past, the media has portrayed these groups of people very badly and therefore, created a mindset of how these group of people should be valued in society. Now in a more modern age, we have celebrities like Lady gaga and Ed Sheeran who are supporting these group of people in there music and performances. Ever since we had people with high status beginning to support, many of these sayings slowly decreased. But, we have to still realize that there are a lot of ignorant people in the world with other beliefs that will continue using these slurs.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kristina! I completely agree with you on the fact that you said the "sayings slowly decreased" by celebrity support. I believe this to be true to an extent that only the fans comfortable with homosexuality will continue to support and keep that saying out of their vocabulary. But the other half of fans that enjoyed the celebrity now have detached from support these famous people and continue to write hate messages all over their supporting comments. My question to you (and other): how might celebrity support negatively changes one minds about homosexuality?
DeleteGreat post Bruce. In regards to question 3, i would have to say that contrary to what Kristina said, i think that there are 2 reason that many teenagers use the phrase "that's so gay". 1. They think it's funny. They use this phrase to make themselves sound funnier and make there friends laugh. 2. Sadly, they lack the vocabulary necessary to replace that phrase.I think that many students nowadays use words such as "gay" or phrases such as "that's so gay" for lack of better words. They cannot think of other words to use and so these are the ones they use. This goes the same way for swear words. Those are use to represent anger, humour or are used in the way that replaces appropriate words. (words that the users don't know) Also, no matter how much someone is educated on this matter, or any matter, if they themselves don't want to change their mindset, nothing can divert them from the path they are already on.
ReplyDeleteI love this response Fawad. It is completely true, I do believe the individuals who use these words really have nothing better to say. It is all about saying something that makes you fit in, not caring about how it makes others feel. What they do not realize though is that to others, it does not make them fit in, it makes them seem ignorant and rude.
DeleteFawad and Lauren: I completely agree that there are many of those out in our society using this phrase to create laughter and/or have a lack of words to use to replacement. There are many people who use this phrase in place to describe homosexual "actions".
DeleteI also realized and read that apparently it is "okay" for gays to use this phrase. Do you agree or disagree that this is appropriate?
With the phrase being, "that's so gay", i feel the need to delve into technicalities. Using gay as in happy, is okay. However, due to the passage of time, it has lost that meaning and it not used in that way in everyday-conversations. Now, onto your question. I do not think it is appropriate for gays to use the phrase, "that's so gay". It is a phrase that is offensive and people are told not to use it. This should not exclude the gays. Just because they are gay, it should not give them the right to use the phrase. Al least, that's how i see it. If the phrase is declared offensive, no one should use it. I can relate this to how many African-American (PC) rappers refer to their friends as "nigga". This term is offensive for obvious reasons, but despite this many people still use it because they think its okay (because they are African-American or because they are part of the hip/hop/rap scene). If this point does not make sense, here a comedic clip from the film, Tropic Thunder, that may help you understand what i am saying. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnw6ZpHGjNQ
DeleteOn another note, thank you Lauren.
BTW: For my own knowledge, is using the term "gays" and the phrase "the gays" to refer to homosexuals appropriate?
Very nice Chelsey. It's quite amusing to see that the phrase "that's so happy" makes no sense whatsoever.
DeleteI like this topic quite a bit. To respond to question 2, I think using the term "that's so gay!" is portrayed wrongly of gays, or of pro-gay people. From your post, we can make out that something "gay" is: feminine, weak, emotional, opinionated, etc - and so people will using the term to express such situations. This is wrong of course, because not all gay people fit into these situations, and not all of them are included in this "box of stereotypes". I'd also like to point out that since not a lot of people are pro-gay, they will see gays wrongly. In the sense that, it is not necessarily "right" in society to be gay, and that people will look down on it and use terms that surround insulting gays, to insult others.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree that many homosexual individuals are in this "box of stereotypes". My question to you and others is: why do many people make these negative remarks about pro-gay and/or homosexuals?
DeleteIn response to question 3, I do believe that saying "that's so gay!" has become intertwined into our teenage society to tightly because when we see something that is describe as "gay" which you said above we tend to blurt out the phrase. Most teenagers say it because we are surrounded by the phrase and we say it without thinking. When the phrase is used, it is not intentionally used to hurt gay people, teenagers use it without thinking or even understanding the meaning of the phrase. They lack skills to use an appropriate phrase for that given incident/action. Overall, "that's so gay" shouldn't be used at all.If you do not like what you see or hear then keep it to yourself, because using the phrase doesn't benefit you in any way and it can hurt anyones feelings.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read, I have to say I am guilty in using the word gay when referring to something other than it's actual definition. I wish I knew how that started but it seems like the whenever the word is used to describe something, it almost always carries a negative connotation with it. That's not right, the word gay shouldn't be associated with negativity, I do think the phrase is falling out of use though so maybe it's not going to be a problem to deal with in the future.
ReplyDelete