LGBTQ Representation
[Music]
hello
now before we begin i’d like all of you
to very quickly close your eyes
and think for a quick moment about a
person who you know
in your life who you feel like you’ve
looked up to and you feel that you
feel represented by in media and
television
so go ahead
okay open your eyes now i’d like to hear
from some of you in the audience
who is someone who you feel like you’ve
been represented by
and what similarities do you think that
you and this person share
it can be your shared gender or race or
it can be anything from a common
interest to a hobby
does anybody would anybody like to share
yes
thank you anybody else
and it doesn’t have to be anything that
i’ve listed so far it can be any kind of
similarity that both of you hold
thank you now i’d like for all of you to
think very quickly
what kind of world would you be in right
now if that person did not exist
what kind of life would you be living
right now would you have gone to a
different college
university or would you have not
attended school after high school
would you be in a different profession
right now what kind of life would you be
living if this person was not in your
life
now putting all of these questions aside
i’d like for all of us to very quickly
think about
television and media and how
representation can have a very
important impact on all of our lives and
more specifically
on the queer community now i’m not
saying that i suffered growing up
because i did not see more gay
characters on television
but what would all of you what i would
like all of you to think about right now
is just for very briefly consult the
importance
of representation in the media
now since the dawn of modern society
humans have developed mindsets that have
lasted for thousands of years
with these mindsets there has been a
common pattern among them
this pattern being a resistance to
change
while all of us may consider ourselves
to be
acceptable to change and more adaptable
to change
we still have a trait built into our
mind that makes us resist this kind of
change
for me it could be moving to a different
home losing one of my pets
or getting a new pair of shoes for some
of you it might be
marrying your partner moving out of
state or going to a different school
than you thought you were going to
and some obviously might find it easier
than others to be
adaptable to this kind of change
but the list can go on forever a
particular change that has become a key
component
in this modern era is lgbtq plus
representation in media
now members of this community have
received very little representation in
history
as culture has developed in human
civilizations over thousands of years
heterosexuality has become the norm due
to human drive to reproduce between a
male and a female
yet a mysterious part of sexuality that
hasn’t been explored
is homosexuality in the ability to
transition and identify with a different
gender
but due to our reproductive drive this
realm of sexuality and gender has almost
never been given focus
this is because of our human intuition
has developed
over time in western culture to consider
normal relationships between
to be between a man and a woman
this ideal has become popularized all
over the world
and it has become the mainstream of
modern culture and society
acceptance and norms stay with the
mainstream and resist
change within the culture of realm of
realm
and of gender and sexuality from these
norms some religions and ideologies have
learned to hate the lgbtq plus community
because of our differences
in terms of sexuality and gender and
oftentimes uneducated people have used
their strength in numbers
to suppress our community now
despite these setbacks we have realized
a new surge
of representation in the 20th century
alone
through movements like the civil rights
movement led by dr king and american
minorities
as well as the stonewall brides led by
african-american transgender women and
gay men
and women we have realized that through
their fighting
has come a new realm of a new genre
of television and media that has been
dedicated towards the representation
of lgbtq plus people we see how
celebrities
like ellen degeneres george takei
lily singh laverne cox
ricky martin sam smith and so many
others
have opened to the public regarding
their gender and sexuality
identification
and through this opening as i have said
has created a new realm of genre
and film and television that is
dedicated towards this community
and it is able to showcase the realities
and struggles
of our community through television and
oftentimes
through drama comedy and humor and with
other
realms of television
a great example in television in my
opinion would be rupaul’s drag race
which is a television show competition
show that is dedicated towards
the elevation of androgyny and drag
and has provided a safe space for queer
men to express themselves freely
another example would be tv shows like
pose and the l word
which have showcased the struggles and
stories as well as the tales
of fictional transgender and gay women
i often i often find myself looking up
to a numerous uh
people within the lgbtq plus community
who have used
their stories uh and they have provided
a safe space for everyone in this
community not just here in the united
states but around the world
to share and hopefully bring light to
several struggles that we face today
i find that i look up to celebrities
like rupaul charles
billy porter and trixie mattel who have
shown me that
it is okay to be gay in a hateful world
and that it is important to spread
love through your art or your passion
for whatever you
decide to pursue in your life i also
find that i look up to people
and along with actors and comedians like
kate mckinnon
joel kim booster and wanda sykes who
have shown me that
if you often times find trouble
expressing yourself you can always use
humor to convey your messages or to
convey
your different emotions to people and
that you don’t have to use humor to
hide who you are or what your emotions
truly are
and with this surge of representation a
spotlight has been shown onto the queer
community
unfortunately this has also led to
several unforeseen consequences
as media conglomerates and television
companies have realized how
public opinion towards the queer
community has become more positive
over time they’ve taken the opportunity
to capitalize off of our representation
now while it’s not may not seem to be
a bad thing as any sort of
representation of a marginalized group
is almost always welcome
there tends to be an absent-minded
aspect as to how queer characters are
portrayed on television
due to a lack of diversity in staff
according to the ucla hollywood
diversity report which was completed in
2018
91.9 of men make
up the majority of writing staff
on major films and television shows
86.2 percent of writing staff
are white now
in case if some of you weren’t already
aware of this these statistics
are very alarming just because
this shows that a lack of diversity
can lead to different ideas of how queer
queer characters should be portrayed we
can see how
women here only make up 30 a 13.8
percent just in 2016
which shows that oftentimes men and
particularly white men
often rely on historical stereotypes
which are oftentimes
outdated in order to develop characters
in entertainment stereotypes are a
frequent first step in
character development and with this
little outside knowledge
writers and producers often have times
trouble defining characters with
minority statuses
now take this example from two scenes
from two separate tv shows the real
o’neills and difficult people
in which gay men and particularly gay
men stereotypes
are used in media
so let’s walk you through this i’m a
bear
typically we’re barrel adjusted covered
in hair most comfortable and flammable
got it uh that makes sense that’s an
honor they’re like bears
and we like to float on our backs
[Music]
so some of the terms that you’ve just
heard like bear wolf and dolphin
are oftentimes used in the game uh male
community within the queer community as
a way not of identifying each other but
kind of as like a playful nickname that
we put on each other
but in television it tends to be all
these characters think about it’s all
about
what kind of person am i what kind of
label can i put myself
and while put on myself or and while
these characters have used these labels
as a key component people have often
times
used that in real life i’ve often been
asked what kind of
animal are you are you a bear or a twink
and i’ve often times just ignored the
question because i don’t even want to
answer it myself
other people find it funny and that’s
really up to them for everyone it’s very
different within the queer community
but it’s not a key component in who we
are as people
but according to television and writing
stuff it’s the opposite
now these common tropes that are put on
tv can have negative effects on viewers
while it is good while it is a good way
to introduce people to the tip of the
iceberg that is the queer community
we almost realize that there is the rest
of the iceberg that is still to be
discovered
now the idea of people being able to
empathize and understand certain
characters on television can actually be
witnessed
right here in the parasocial contact
hypothesis which was developed by dr
gordon w alport and was later analyzed
by an mit comparative studies group
and here i’ll just read you this quote
anxiety and hostility that acts as
barriers to intergroup contact could be
removed if the majority group
experiences intergroup contact
vicariously
rather than in person so allow me to
break this down
essentially anxiety and hostility that
act as barriers to intergroup contact
people oftentimes hold hostilities and
anxiety
towards each other a great example would
be how
african american people and white people
often have hostilities towards each
other
due to their difference in skin color
and particularly
for the queer community people have
often times
relied on outdated stereotypes in order
to pre-judge us which is not true
now could be removed if the majority
group
experiences intergroup contact
vicariously rather than in person
if people watch tv shows that have
proper representation of queer
characters they are better
able to understand who we are as people
and
show the rest of the public that we are
not a defined set of characteristics we
are more than what
television uh says we are
and being able to understand and
empathize with characters on screen
particularly queer characters can help
reduce stigmatization
around the lgbtq plus community this is
why misrepresentation can have deep
consequences
when the queer community and any
minority group for that matter are
misrepresented
to a wide range of audience members who
can be swayed easily in terms of their
beliefs via television
more stereotypes can be created
and this can be harmful as queer people
are often denied jobs harassed
and physically harmed due to our
differences from other members
of society painting a better picture
through proper representation
in television can help stereotypes and
misconceptions fade away over time
but why is this so important why is it
so important that characters are
portrayed in a part
in a particular matter according to what
i’ve just shown you today
putting the queer community aside it is
critical that representation in media
and television that properly shows the
stories
and struggles of queer characters and
minority characters in television
as it provides a foundation for a
younger generation
no i do have to mention that while i am
a member of the queer community i cannot
speak for
everyone i only represent a very very
small
aspect of what this entire community
represents i cannot speak
on lesbian or transgender male or female
issues as i’m not part of their
community
what i can do however is shine a
spotlight and hope that all of you have
seen that
representation can have a bigger impact
than what we think it is
what i can do yeah so what i can do
right now is
just show the importance of all of this
when we see ourselves and other people
we are better able to understand and
learn and grow in a world that is
increasingly divisive
by seeing people like myself in
television and media i was better able
to cope with my differences from the
rest of society
and i hope the rest of you will learn
more and grow as well with me
thank you very much
[Music]