Media Exposure: Glee Representation of LGBTQ Youth

Ellie Cavazos

Thursday 1-1:50pm

Kristin Conover

                                   

                        Media Exposure: Glee Representation of LGBTQ Youth

            Media representations are almost entirely negative if they surround sensitive issues that rest on a social borderline. The LGBTQ community is a frequent target of negative media exposure and affects every age group and subgroup within that particular community. This exposure, although beneficial to casting a light on the LGBTQ community, hinders social progress for the community instead of aiding in their efforts. A reality TV series that incorporates gay and lesbian issues alongside other prevalent topics on diversity is FOX network’s Glee. The show Glee takes place in an Ohio high school where teens, who are facing angst among other stresses, meet to dance, sing, kumbaya together and, in that fixed space, are not afraid to reveal their true selves. What surfaces is a seemingly utopian perspective at the conclusion of every episode.  The show has a very mediocre approach to the issues of the LGBTQ community because it addresses them too lightly. The youth of the gay and lesbian community is already associated to a certain kind of flamboyance that the show tends to highlight on, taking away from the seriousness of other LGBTQ issues. The show overexposes this community in a fashion that’s far more dramatic than the reality of the pressures that exist in LGBTQ individuals. Although Glee positively highlights teens battling social and sexual differences, Glee misconstrues the immense and often times painful process towards embracing the entirety of LGBTQ identity.

            In Van Der Meer’s article, “Gay bashing- a rite of passage?” he explains how youths of Dutch origin recognize the social position of “homosexuals” and are already conditioned to categorize others on a social hierarchical system based on acceptance. Van Der Meer also explains how the gay community is outwardly recognizable by their physical appearance, clothing, hairstyle and movements, “Even when describing their victims as particularly big and strong, they remained convinced that all gays are effeminate. Besides which gays are scared, weak and cowardly: they immediately take to their heels; they do not hit back; they never defend each other” (Van Der Meer p. 159).

For example, the character Kurt Hummel in Glee doesn’t quite correspond with his economic and social surroundings. His dad is not the figure of economic success and Kurt fails to maintain a steady job, but yet his fashion statements fall nothing short of donning big designer names. Because he is the so called “gay” character in the show it is as if he has to have the most expensive and high fashion name brand clothing. Kurt’s character upholds the insert gay characteristic/pun line here, cookie cutter mold of the stereotypical effeminate, and flamboyant gay male.  However, the show fails to recognize that this figure of a gay male is not the only one that exists. Why is it that the show is insistent on perceiving the “gay” male as a character so closely associated with feminine traits? Does it not take into account that being gay can also mean appearing to blend in to the social eye as one who appears to take on a masculine figure? Taking on a gay identity but at the same time being equally afraid to come out and remaining in the “down low” category is explained in John Barshaw and Lynn Letukas’s article, “The down low: Origins, risk identification and intervention”, “The down low is a phenomenon consisting predominately of men identifying as ‘heterosexual’ or ‘straight’ who engage in sex with both men and women and fail to disclose same-sex behavior to other men and/or women…” (Barnshaw and Letukas p. 83).  Kurt’s outwardly confident character in the show Glee undermines the other possibilities within the LGBTQ community. The character revealed by this actor constricts other identities and, again, fails to highlight or even introduce other sexual and gender identifications.

What is interesting about this show however is how the students and staff are able to handle differences optimistically.  The show Glee is successful when it brings to the forefront general issues facing the LGBTQ community, but it does not fully capitulate on the diversity within this very own community.

Bibliography

  Barnshaw, John, and Lynn Letukas. "The Low down on the down Low: Origins, Risk Identification and Intervention." Health Sociology Review 19.4 (2010): 478-90. Web.

  "FOX Affiliate: Is ‘Glee’ Gay Teen Propaganda?" TIME.com. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/08/fox-affiliate-is-glee-gay-teen-propaganda/>.

  Van Der Meer, Theo. "Gay Bashing- a Rite of Passage?" Culture, Health & Sexuality 5.2 (2003): 153-65. Print.