The Depiction of Lesbianism in the Media
The Depiction of Lesbianism in the Media
Name
Women and Gender Studies
The depictions of lesbians throughout the TV industry and other forms of media is often used to increase ratings, sexually titillate men and for entertainment purposes. The problem the culture encounters is the stereotypes are widely agreed upon and thought to be right. Many media outlets have made the distinction that attractive women kissing equal to ratings. For example, the kiss between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair during the movie Cruel Intentions was widely talked about in the media and amongst the movies target audience. The scene featured two young attractive females engaging in a 10 second kiss. Although neither of the characters in the movie were lesbians, the scene however did convey a lesbian image to the viewer. We see many different images of lesbians all over the media, which tends to isolate two stereotypes out of the culture. These terms are used for describing masculine and feminine traits, behavior, style, and expression amongst gay women. On one end of the spectrum, with the butch lesbian, we see the combination of a lot of stereotypes and prejudices about gender, body image and sexual orientation, many of which are used to stigmatize lesbians. This butch lesbian takes over the traditional male role in a relationship and is often working class and dominant in her relationship and is predominantly portrayed wearing men’s clothing. Besides portraying lesbians as stereotypical butch companions the media also show them as fake and scantily clad which brings us the other end of the spectrum. The sole purpose of this image of lesbianism is to titillate men.
“Like the English punks, butch lesbians use clothing as a way to indicate membership in a group. Butches are easily recognized as lesbians because both lesbian and heterosexual cultures typically interpret masculine appearance and clothing, particularly when such
Name
Women and Gender Studies
The depictions of lesbians throughout the TV industry and other forms of media is often used to increase ratings, sexually titillate men and for entertainment purposes. The problem the culture encounters is the stereotypes are widely agreed upon and thought to be right. Many media outlets have made the distinction that attractive women kissing equal to ratings. For example, the kiss between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair during the movie Cruel Intentions was widely talked about in the media and amongst the movies target audience. The scene featured two young attractive females engaging in a 10 second kiss. Although neither of the characters in the movie were lesbians, the scene however did convey a lesbian image to the viewer. We see many different images of lesbians all over the media, which tends to isolate two stereotypes out of the culture. These terms are used for describing masculine and feminine traits, behavior, style, and expression amongst gay women. On one end of the spectrum, with the butch lesbian, we see the combination of a lot of stereotypes and prejudices about gender, body image and sexual orientation, many of which are used to stigmatize lesbians. This butch lesbian takes over the traditional male role in a relationship and is often working class and dominant in her relationship and is predominantly portrayed wearing men’s clothing. Besides portraying lesbians as stereotypical butch companions the media also show them as fake and scantily clad which brings us the other end of the spectrum. The sole purpose of this image of lesbianism is to titillate men.
“Like the English punks, butch lesbians use clothing as a way to indicate membership in a group. Butches are easily recognized as lesbians because both lesbian and heterosexual cultures typically interpret masculine appearance and clothing, particularly when such
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