The construction of gender is one of the most influential aspects of American identity today. Women and men’s roles have been divided differently for centuries. Women fell into the category of the caregivers and nurturers, where as men were seen as the protector and the breadwinner. These gender roles have been slowly changing; however the stereotypes associated with the roles still prevail. Thrown into the age old stereotypes associate with females and males are new stereotypes surrounding gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals. These stereotypes produce a definition of what GLBT entitles, which does not define the individual or the group. Instead, these stereotypes limit the amount of response that certain groups/individuals receive.
Today the stereotypes aimed at the GLBT community have begun to sway away from the idea of gayness being the result of a medical defect, to more stereotypes aimed at their personal lifestyle choice. For most, the only exposure to the GLBT is through the mass media or word-of mouth. Unfortunately, many stereotypes spread this way. Amongst the many media outlets, gays are portrayed as overly feminine, flamboyant, and obsessed with sex, lesbians are portrayed as butch, unkempt, obsessed with sex, or as sex objects. Bisexuals are mostly portrayed as sexual teases. As for transgender individuals there is almost no representation of them except for the sporadic clip of a gaudy cross dresser.
All of these stereotypes, as well as numerous others limit the conversation and the perspective of the GLBT community. Dennis Dugan exemplified this issue in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, where Chuck and Larry are pushed into the roles of a stereotypical gay couple and challenged the entire time to fit the “definition” of a gay couple. This in not just an overly dramatized Hollywood scene; members of the gay community are also continuously forced to prove their “gayness."
This harms the GLBT community on a very personal level. Because these stereotypes are so ingrained in society GLBT individuals have a completely distorted image to live up to. The only representation they have is Jack McFarland playing the flamboyant overly feminine man on Will and Grace, Fab Five from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, or the most flamboyant off the wall group a reporter can find in a gay pride parade. Neither of these characters even begins to embody the diverse uniqueness of the GLBT community. As a result, there is no REAL, DOWN TO EARTH GLBT role model for the GLBT community. This is extremely harmful to their community, especially to those whom might think they identify with the GLBT community.
Many individuals whom think they might be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender remain in a state of confusion if they feel they don’t conform to the media’s stereotypes, such as James Hipps (http://www.gayagenda.com/2009/09/do-stereotypes-discredit-the-glbt-community/ ) whom began questioning his sexuality as a young teen. James often thought he may be gay, but he didn’t understand how he could be. After all he DIDN’T fit into any of the stereotypes. He used to sit there thinking “That boy sure is cute, but I can’t be gay, I don’t want to be a florist! I can’t be gay, I love to play sports! I can’t be gay, I love cars!” Thus coming out for James was even more difficult because he didn’t have any masculine gay role models.
Further more, if gay individuals think they have to be a hair-stylist or florist or walk and a talk effeminately to be gay, or that you have to look like a sloppy guy and be butch to be lesbian, or be a sexual tease to be bisexual, or wear gaudy makeup and an ill fitting dress to be transgender, then there are surely others who aren’t gay whom feel the same way. Case in point, my friend Oscar who thought my friend Zile couldn’t be gay and that he was just joking because “he didn’t act like it”.
But what can we do to IMPROVE things?!?!?!?!
Well I have a few suggestions up my sleeve, one of which just came to me! (probably should have thought about this for the presentation….)
Anyways I suggest we Eliminate gender labels. They aren’t getting us anywhere. They obviously didn’t work very well in keeping women home in the kitchen mopping and cooking and they sure aren’t helping society transition into a post sexist state that accepts the GLBT community as equals. Gender labels only cause conflict and confusion. So lets get rid of them. One way to eliminate gender labels is to eliminate the concept of genders, or become “gender neutral”. This concept is called genderqueer. This means that a person could be considered both a man and woman, or neither a man nor a woman. By becoming genderqueer, this allows people to get to know a person based off their personality before judging them based on labels and stereotypes.
I further suggest the teaching of gender neutral pronouns. The teaching and implementation of gender neutral pronouns such as the singular “they” or “one” or the more contemporary terms such as “Xe” and “Ze” aid in removing the assumption that one is feminine or masculine. By removing the assumption that one should behave feminine or masculine the stereotypes and assumed characteristics that attach themselves to gender specific pronouns are removed. So add them to your vocabulary, LEARN THEM, LOVE THEM, USE THEM.
And for the final suggestion, (that light bulb I was talking about earlier that I should have used in my group’s presentation). Force the media to incorporate a more broad range of individuals into their programs, and support the ones that are already on the up and up and providing more accurate examples of the GLBT community. One example being Greys Anatomy. They are one of American’s most popular TV shows and recently they have begun to incorporate actors portraying the individuals from the GLBT community. Not only do they have actors embodying individuals from the GLBT community, but they also avoid casting them in stereotypical roles or giving them stereotypical personalities. BRAVO abc BRAVO.
Check out this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-RvAIuIfNc
So lets stop limiting the conversation, throw out the gender labels and ignorant, narrow stereotypes. Join the conversation and get to know the GLBT community on a REAL level, for everyone is unique, and equality should be accessible to all.
.....to be continued
