1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

what do you all think about how LGBT people are portrayed in the media?

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by mattloveshugs92, Oct 30, 2012.

  1. mattloveshugs92

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2012
    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    near framingham mass
    lay it out, say it how it is :grin:.
     
  2. Andrew91

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2012
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    For me, the one thing I don't like is how 95% of the time gay/bi men are portrayed as feminine and flamboyant sidekicks to a female character. It would be better if they would portray gay and bisexual people as people who are romantically/physically interested in the same sex, without all the well-known sterotypes, and that's where the distinction is. Even though I like sterotypical things such as musicals, I also like videogames, sports, and talking to other guys about things like that too, so portraying every gay guy as someone who sings showtunes every minute and gives advice to their "girlfriends" isn't how all of us operate.
     
  3. Night Rain

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2012
    Messages:
    1,647
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Asia
    Misleading people. My friends were genuinely surprised when I said "being gay doesn't mean you want to live your life as the opposite sex of yours, that's transgender". Almost everyone thinks that gay = liking girly stuffs, having feminine behaviors, lesbian = dyke, and all that jazz. I'm sick of it really. It's stereotyping. Hate it.
     
  4. Andrew91

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2012
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    That's exactly right, what makes us who we are is because we like people of the same sex, not desire to be the opposite sex.
     
  5. RueBea85

    RueBea85 Guest

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2012
    Messages:
    638
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    I'm Canadian eh?
    I don't like that aren't many really butch lesbians that are portrayed in the media and when they are they're rude and judgmental.
    I've met some butch lesbians and I also classify myself as being more on the butch side and have not come across anyone like that.
     
  6. I am considerably okay with how I see LGBTQ portrayed.
    Even If you are not okay pick up a camera/pencil and paper and make the portrayals yourself Instead of waiting on someone to do it for you!
     
  7. dreamcatcher

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2011
    Messages:
    845
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    USA
    There is a serious lack of diversity when it comes to representing lgbt people in the media. As they were saying, most lgbt people on tv tend to be white gay men who are flamboyant. Recently, I've seen more masculine gay men on tv but still not a lot. Even worse, there is no representation of bisexual or transgender characters on tv. I could think of maybe one show ever in which I saw someone come out as bisexual and as for trans characters... well there's nothing (unless you count glee but I did not like the way they handled Unique's storyline. It was terrible. Even Santana's storyline is terrible but that's for another thread...) Oh and I think bisexual male characters should be portrayed more. I feel like there's even less of them than bisexual female characters on tv.

    Another thing that bothers me is how lesbians are represented in the media. I know some people say that the media makes lesbians look very butch but honestly, in every single show I've seen with lesbians, they're all very feminine. If anything, I personally feel like there's a lack of diversity with butch women. And why can't they show any butch/butch lesbian couples? I never see that. Also I hate how they make a gay woman's sexuality seem like such a joke. As if being a lesbian is something girls do for kicks and giggles. If they can show women experimenting, why not show two men experimenting?

    Also where are the Asian or black lgbt people on tv? We could even use more hispanic lgbt people on there. Also where are the coming out storylines for those from a Muslim or Jewish background? How about Catholic background? How about the struggles of lgbt immigrants in the US who come from a homophobic culture. Ok maybe that's asking for too much but it would be nice to see. My point is there are soo many lgbt people that come from diverse backgrounds. It would be nice to see the diversity for a change.

    On a positive sidenote, I do think this is improving. As we go on, I'm starting to notice a greater variety of lgbt characters. I think as we get closer to equality we're gonna start seeing a greater variety of lgbt characters.
     
  8. mattloveshugs92

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2012
    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    near framingham mass
    i agree with most of you thank you alllll i would love more and more replies. :grin:
     
  9. Beachboi92

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2009
    Messages:
    1,099
    Likes Received:
    1
    In some cases media does good in it's portrayal of LGBT individuals but in most cases they do not properly capture the humanity of LGBT people and relinquish them to stereotypes rather than making them fully realized characters. THAT BEING SAID I think it is important to remember that we should not be demonizing stereotypically gay people or things. Plenty of LGBT individuals can identify with the stereotypes in some way and plenty of challenges faced by LGBT people can be epitomized by those faced by the most obvious/flamboyant LGBT people. Endorsing the idea that portraying stereotypical gay people is bad or not as good as portraying feminine lesbians and manly man gays just ultimately enforces a sexist idealism to human sexuality and attempts to enforce gender norms on a culture that really is most likely to not fit into them. We should be fighting for acceptance of all gay people regardless of how they express not just looking to integrate gay people into mainstream culture, because ultimately we don't all fit.

    I think ultimately the lack of an even representation stems from not enough LGBT characters in mainstream media. We need more of them and we need more of them who are required to be fully realized characters in lead roles. I think it is more of an issue that there is a lack of gender and racial diversity within the portrayal of LGBT characters than a lack of broad gender expressions. Trans people are especially underrepresented.

    but like i said at the end of the day having LGBT individuals who do not fit the stereotype is good because not everyone identifies with the current characters we have and portrayal in the media does help acceptance. But we should not get caught up in the idolization of masculine gay men at the expense of feminine ones or the subsequent idolization of feminine lesbians over butch ones. When we make one better than the other we enforce sexist ideals, feed into hate and discrimination, and ultimately cause harm to a huge sect of LGBT individuals that we are not viewing as "normal" enough for our tastes.

    On the flip side if they stick with stereotypes in media until even the stereotype is totally acceptable it may do the most good rather than trying to enforce the idea that gay people need to be better integrated into heteronormativity. I guess time will tell.
     
  10. mattloveshugs92

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2012
    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    near framingham mass
    well said bro
     
  11. awesomeyodais

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2012
    Messages:
    721
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Soon-to-be-frozen again White North :-(
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    I think it varies from show to show and genre to genre. In sitcoms some characters are gayer-than-life caricatures while others are somewhat ok. Mind you the str8 characters are usually just as unrealistic. Drama sort of the same - I'd like to see more like Scotty/Kevin in Brothers&Sisters for example, in the sense they have their ups and downs like the rest of the characters, the same level of drama/fantasy as the rest. "Lifestyle television" is peculiar, some shows are quite "matter-of-fact" that such and such a host happens to be gay through the odd comment, but focus on their ability as professionals - then you get the "House hunters" type shows where cute single guy is shopping for a condo and his equally cute male "friend" tags along to give him advice, now are they just uncomfortable being presented as a couple, or is the production company suggesting viewers can't deal with that? Documentary/educational is where it's best, yesterday I was watching a one hour show on the Oprah network about a young ftm in the process of beginning transition, and having to confront her very conservative father who is a preacher. No huge sensationalism, good sensitivity/insight from the host (Iyania Vizant), respectful treatment of a delicate topic. Then there's TMZ and the other trash gossip shows... ugghh
     
  12. sunnii

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2012
    Messages:
    428
    Likes Received:
    0
    I dont know tbh. Like thinking of gay characters from my fav shows.

    Vito from The Sopranos isn't a "stereotypical gay" and even though his sexuality had a major effect on hissory I personally don't think of him any different to the other mobsters.

    Cam & Mitch from Modern Family are stereotypical but I don't find them irritating like the gay characters in sex and the city (as mentioned just the gay sidekicks)

    I don't like happy endings but I really like the max character. I don't understand why its such a big deal that the show has a "straight acting" gay guy as a lead character