Stereotypes Of LGBT's By The Media

When LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) characters first came on screens it was in the 70’s. They were either “coming out” or being portrayed as having something wrong with them. But interestingly were all played by straight actors. As years went on more stereotypes were added to LGBT characters. As a gay the media portrays them to be, very flamboyant, not athletic, loves musicals, very sassy, they sleep around, don’t seem to stay in relationships for too long and the main one fashion is their life. In majority of women’s TV shows were a gay is a character, they are to be “the gay best friend”. The one that is always there, talks about everything, gives great advice on relationships and fashion. But never really seen in a relationship themselves. As an example the TV show “Will and Grace” show all these stereotypes. And even though this would be an old show it is still a prime example of media’s stereotypes. A more recent show that still uses stereotypes is “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”.

As lesbians are portrayed in media to be butch, manly, feminists, cheaters, again don’t stay in relationships for too long and again like gays sleep around a lot. This I feel is no longer the case in the last few years. Lesbians have come more diverse. In my opinion I think that lesbians have left the media stereotypes, as TV viewers may be more open to lesbians then gays. I feel that men would be more comfortable and acceptable watching lesbians on screen rather than gays. A prime example of all this is “Orange is the new black”. Here we have a show based on lesbians and bisexual women. This is a huge hit with men and women. As for shows that are based on gays I cannot say there is.

LGBT characters on television admittedly have come a long over the years. But still have a lot further to go, especially gay stereotypes. Not all gays hate sports or doing “manly” stuff. And hopefully in the next 10 to 20 years we do get to see a change.

Stereotypes Of Masculinity In The Media

The media plays a huge role in people’s opinions and thoughts without people realizing. If you were to ask a child what the role of a man was, chances are you would get an answer like “A man is to provide for his family” or “A man is to protect his family and be strong and focused”. We first start to form thoughts and opinions at a young age. Here is a video on Disney movies that most kids would have seen a number of times that would have influenced their minds:

From this video kids learn that women belong to men, they have to be strong and then fighting another man is to prove your masculinity. With media so big it has a huge influence in these thoughts. And it is not until we are older that we realize that what we see on TV is not actually how men are. The media portrays men to have a number of stereotypes, power/control, being strong, and an alpha and as we all know a lack of emotion. Not only are these stereotypes but this is what people are defining a “real” man as. If a man does not meet these then are they a man. Really once you are male then you are a man no matter what. But thanks to the media the title of being a man has requirements and expectations. This then leaves males to try put a front on and it’s not until they find trust in someone that they can feel they can show the true them. As a society we should not have to hide. Here is a link to a page that has a video that men have talked about masculinity and their views on it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/23/what-masculinity-means-to-men_n_6527710.html

These stereotypes are still dominant but in the last few years I have seen a change in this. We see that the roles of stereotypes have not only been broke but near flipped around. If we take Melissa and Joey for example. Melissa is a politician, she provides for her niece and nephew. She is the one that is strong and in power. But Joey has fallen from power and has become a “manny”. He is the one that cooks, keeps the place clean and who the teens go to if they need advice. This is a prime example of what life is really like now a days. We see that men do have feelings and that women can be on a higher level than men and that men are ok with this.

We now see that media is slowly changing their stereotypes, but manly in sitcoms. In order for these stereotypes to change us we need reality TV to show the real side of men but personally I don’t think this will be happening anytime soon.

Is "Reality TV" Really Reality

In the last few years reality TV has become the most popular genre on our TV’s. As you can see from the bar chart below it holds the highest percentage. Unfortunately I could not find figures for 2012 to 2015. But I can tell you that the most popular reality TV shows according to IMDb are, keeping up with the Kardashians, Dancing with the stars and Dance Moms. 

http://www.statista.com/statistics/201565/most-popular-genres-in-us-primetime-tv/

The definition of reality TV is “Television programmes in which ordinary people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative.” But what many viewers may not know is that reality TV has become more scripted as in a sense of writers creating plot lines and situations that will create conflict. Editors can also edit the clips to intensify situations more than what they really were.

For example, when a viewer sees an argument between two people on screen and the camera cuts to a clip where we can’t see them talk but we can still hear them, chances are that what they are saying was said in a different conversation and the editor placed it to an argument to exaggerate the situation more. This is done so often that they have even created a name for this, frankenbiting.

Here is a video about reality TV lies:

But why is reality TV so popular? The reason it’s so popular in production is because it’s cheap to make. The stars that are in these shows get paid less as they are not trained actors. The editing of the show also has low pay and the writers don’t need to do out script after script. For the viewer’s popularity, viewers are not fully aware of all the set ups and believe that all these situations and arguments that reality TV stars get themselves into are for real. This then intrigues the viewer and leads them to wanting to know more. It also allows a viewer to escape their everyday life and watch the life of another unravel. As a reality viewer myself, I find that I get engrossed with the drama and even though I know the situation is not real or fixed, I still feel myself needing to know more. It does become an addiction and I feel that’s what gets the viewers. Reality TV also gives a viewer to compare their own lives to others, which can lead to a boost in happiness.

I will be conducting an analysis on the reality TV show Dance Moms. The reason for this is because I didn’t want to focus on the partying aspects or the cheating that happens in most reality TV shows. With Dance Moms we see the different views from the mothers, from the teacher and also from the kids which I feel is something that most reality TV shows don’t have. Since I have started this analysis I have found myself wanting to know more and have actually started watching the show. Down below is a trailer tease for Dance Moms and also scripting secrets from Dance Moms.