Homosexuality in Education
Brigid Connolly
Dr. Thompson
Sociology
December 6, 2012
The Growth of Homosexuality Acceptance in Media
In today’s society, the acceptance of homosexuality in media is becoming more often and spread throughout all varieties of media as it becomes more well knows. In years past, homosexuality was not widely accepted and although it has made strides in culture and education, the idea of homosexuality is still not widely accepted. This paper will discuss the changing feelings in history towards homosexuality and how it has been dealt with in the past and is currently dealt with in movies, television, and pop culture. As teens grow and develop, they learn to discover themselves and become the person they truly are as most of this occurs during their teen years. Celebrities such as Ellen Degeneres and Anderson Cooper, there are multiple openly gay pop culture icons that have dealt with the hardships of homosexuality. At a time when sexual diversity has never been more accepted in the United States, there have still been times when homosexuality was ignored or not accepted. The division of the acceptance of homosexuality has been challenged for many decades but there has been a major change in Americans’ views particularly compared to the 1950s and 1960s. American support for homosexual relationships has increased to over 50% in the past years. One of the most effective reasons for an increase in acceptance is an increase in new shoes on television that feature homosexual and same-gender couples. In 1992, “The Real World” was the first reality show to feature the life of a homosexual on national television and while most viewers reacted with shock, every season since has featured a homosexual character. Another well known sitcom that shows this lifestyle is “Will and Grace”. In this show, Will and Jack are homosexuals who have a platonic relationship and Grace is a heterosexual female who lives with Will and is accepting of their lifestyles. With the
Dr. Thompson
Sociology
December 6, 2012
The Growth of Homosexuality Acceptance in Media
In today’s society, the acceptance of homosexuality in media is becoming more often and spread throughout all varieties of media as it becomes more well knows. In years past, homosexuality was not widely accepted and although it has made strides in culture and education, the idea of homosexuality is still not widely accepted. This paper will discuss the changing feelings in history towards homosexuality and how it has been dealt with in the past and is currently dealt with in movies, television, and pop culture. As teens grow and develop, they learn to discover themselves and become the person they truly are as most of this occurs during their teen years. Celebrities such as Ellen Degeneres and Anderson Cooper, there are multiple openly gay pop culture icons that have dealt with the hardships of homosexuality. At a time when sexual diversity has never been more accepted in the United States, there have still been times when homosexuality was ignored or not accepted. The division of the acceptance of homosexuality has been challenged for many decades but there has been a major change in Americans’ views particularly compared to the 1950s and 1960s. American support for homosexual relationships has increased to over 50% in the past years. One of the most effective reasons for an increase in acceptance is an increase in new shoes on television that feature homosexual and same-gender couples. In 1992, “The Real World” was the first reality show to feature the life of a homosexual on national television and while most viewers reacted with shock, every season since has featured a homosexual character. Another well known sitcom that shows this lifestyle is “Will and Grace”. In this show, Will and Jack are homosexuals who have a platonic relationship and Grace is a heterosexual female who lives with Will and is accepting of their lifestyles. With the
Cited: Bronski, Michael. A Queer History in the Unites States. Boston: 2011. Print Edgarton, Gary. Television History: Shaping the Collective Memory (2001): n. page. Print. Landy, Marcia. The Historical Film : History and Memory in Media (2011): n. page. Print. Tyler, Parker. Screening the Exes: Homosexuality in Movies . New York: Print. West, Krista. "Gay TV Characters More Than Triple Since 2007." 9 2010: n. page. Print. <http://www.mrc.org/node/28869>.