Course Description

At the core of the course is the question how feminism has become a demonized and ridiculed “F-word” in an age when issues of gender and sexuality are at the center of constant, often explosive political debates. These debates often connect media representation and political representation but tend to do so in simplistic ways that bypass or distort decades of sophisticated feminist theory and practice. We will trace back such representations through the decades around case studies that encompass film, video, television and new media practices. The case studies come from the United States and beyond, taking into full account the global interconnectedness of media production and consumption as well as the transnational travel of feminist ideas. The main goal of the course is to evaluate how useful feminist thinking is to understanding the relays between media and political representation; and to develop a lasting critical apparatus to analyzing the politics of gender and sexuality in the media.


Thursday, October 17, 2013

Why showing homophobia in television is important in getting rid of homophobia in society


Homophobia is often compared to racism and sexism because they are all deeply embedded in our culture, according to Walters. Homophobia, like racism and sexism, will take both time and patience until people will be able to see it eradicated from society altogether. Homosexuality television and film has evolved over the years with respect to how society has begun to accept homosexuality more and more. Even showing gay people on television in the 1950’s was radical, and now it is becoming more common to see gay people on TV in normal settings.

A large part of the evolving attitude towards gay people in both television and real life can be attributed to accurate homophobic depictions in television. According to Walters’ article, “by letting homophobic behavior off the hook, homophobia thrives, particularly under the surface of polite behavior,” and television is only presenting “a very small and skewed part of the puzzle” if it does not truthfully depict homophobia. In other words, television needs to address homophobia in the same way that it advocates for gay rights. If television showed gay people but left out the struggles that they have to face regarding homophobia, then this would be an unrealistic representation of what life is like for gay people, therefore taking a step in the opposite direction in the fight for gay rights. Also with homophobia present, the viewer will probably tend to sympathize with the gay character who has to overcome this hardship.

In the episode we watched in which Ellen comes out to her parents, her parents were not accepting at all. This made the viewer feel bad for Ellen and hope that her mom and dad could realize that her daughter was still the same, and continue to treat her the same way. By the end of the episode, her parents were more accepting, which put the viewer at ease. Had her parents been accepting from the start, it would have been unrealistic and the viewer wouldn't have felt compelled to root for Ellen throughout the episode.
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