Alanna Moriarty Final Paper

Alanna Moriarty

Professor Robert Williams

Digital Media

26 March 2014

Sexuality Sells: Gender and Sexuality Representation in Media

            Every day in the United States, we are constantly bombarded with images and videos of men and women, often scantily clad, selling some product or social expectation. More often than not, these media feature women, or just their body parts, inviting consumers to think of women as limbs instead of whole people. Models are posed to be ultra-sexualized and eye-catching, demanding viewers to subconsciously associate products with desire and physical gratification. For decades, women, and even some men, are actively working to eliminate the hyper-sexualization of females in media. For the most part they are unsuccessful in convincing advertising companies that women are more than just props for men or articles of clothing. With the increased cohesion and visibility of LGBTQ activists in the past decade comes a new wave of protest against discrimination and stereotyping. Despite the efforts of feminists and the LGBTQ community, television programs and print advertisements are still largely heteronormative, ignoring and even detracting from the alternative standards of femininity, masculinity, and sexuality that are increasingly evident in U.S. society in the 21^st century.

Marilyn Monroe, actress and beauty icon, posed next to a bottle of "Ma Dame" perfume by Jean Paul Gaultier. Compare the feminine shape of the bottle to the actual woman beside it; note the differences.

“Sex sells.” How often do we hear that line in books, movies, and TV shows? Whether an ad for body wash or burgers, media consumers are surrounded by suggestive photos of women who are told to be “sexy” and portray risqué messages. Often these images are demeaning and misogynistic, placing women in a lower social class than men. Women are being told they are not good enough, while men are told they are desirable and have a right to be with as many women as possible. Even animal rights group PETA discriminates in advertisements featuring nude female models, but men who are at least partially clothed. Additionally, while male-centered ads offer sayings like “Ink not mink,” women-centered ads give suggestive remarks such as “Pleather yourself,” and “Fur trim: unattractive” over a shot of a woman’s bikini line (PETA). Some ads even appear to promote violence against women, like the one below tagged, “Shackled, beaten, abused.” Yet when men are posed in similar ways, companies face backlash. In 2013, Kraft ran an ad in People magazine featuring a nude male covered strategically with a picnic blanket. Though not as suggestive as other ads, it made people uncomfortable, such as web-based group One Million Moms. Moms wrote to Kraft asking them to remove the image, acknowledging that, though women are objectified much more frequently, it “still wasn’t moral” to feature naked and suggestive male models as advertisements. If consumers are aware of and upset about such ads, then why are companies still using scantily-clad and dismembered women? 

A PETA ad featuring a battered and chained woman is meant to gain sympathy from viewers. But is it really just advocating violence?

 Revealing images of females are not the only manifestation of sexism, however. In a 2009 Nike campaign, the company sought to pit men against women in a competition to promote the Nike+ wristband (Arab). Posters feature captions like “Ladies first. Men second,” and “One more thing for men to rule.” Are men and women not already in enough competition for necessities like jobs and fair representation in government? Why add more pressure for women to prove they are as good as men? Popular clothing store JC Penney sold a sweatshirt online for young girls that read “I’m too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me (Bean).” Do we really want young girls to think their appearance is more important than their minds? When did we stop telling girls they could be mathematicians, astronauts, and presidents? Is there truly no other way to sell a product than to make out an entire gender, more than 150 billion people, to be nothing more than a prop (United States)? Even the way media targets men is harmful. In this Axe™ commercial for their Chill collection, men are unable to control themselves around “hot” women. While this example is seemingly harmless, it can lead to the blaming of women for male actions, including rape and other forms of assault. It is nothing more than a reiteration of the saying, “boys will be boys.” Take this ad for Dolce & Gabbana, where the female looks like she is about to be gang-raped. A similar situation appears in an ad for Calvin Klein jeans (Abraham). Until we, the consumers, can convince companies otherwise, we will continue to be bombarded with hyper-sexualized, misogynistic, and degrading stereotypes of women.

A Nike+ ad that encourages competition between men and women.

            Fortunately, there are people working to end this type of advertising. A new feminist movement is gaining traction across the U.S., aided by social networks like Twitter and Tumblr. Feminists, by definition, believe that “men and women should have equal rights and opportunities,” (Mirriam-Webster). These social activists are making a trend of pointing out examples of sexism in daily life with Twitter accounts like @EverydaySexism and @Feminism, as well as blogs like Feministing.com and Arewomenhuman.me, as well as the Representation Project. They even bring awareness to the ridiculous portrayal of women in advertising with a video that places men in female roles in advertisements. Additionally, activists point out that there are repercussions from misogyny for men as well as women, especially when it comes to body image. Increasing numbers of LGBTQ+ advocates are also petitioning to change the diversity of U.S. inhabitants featured in modern media. They seek not only to de-commodify women, but also to advocate for less heteronormative media that features queer and androgynous people in a non-stereotypical and non-sexual way. The LGBTQ+ community is a driving force for queer and gender equality, most notably in repealing bills such as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the Defense of Marriage Act, and is a valuable ally to the feminist movement.

Public speaker and LGBTQ activist Ash Beckham was made famous from a TedxTalk she gave on "coming out of your closet" and being true to oneself.   

         Positive representation of women and LGBTQ+ people is increasingly common in modern media. In 1976, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire was released, the first in a series of novels featuring bisexual and polyamorous protagonists, most notably Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt (Rice). A more recent novel called Luna, by Julie Ann Peters, features a transgender woman as a primary character. The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce, published throughout the 1980’s, stars Alanna of Trebond and her twin brother Thom. Both characters defy gender norms at a young age, secretly betraying their father so Alanna may illegally train to be a knight and Thom may become a sorcerer (Pierce). Heteronormativity is being challenged outside of literature as well. In 2012, Target released an ad featuring a newly married gay couple with the caption, “Be yourself. Be together,” (Wong). The advertisement drew praise from bloggers like David Badash, as well as the Family Equality Council and the Human Rights Campaign. Television and professional sports are also calling attention to the population of queer athletes, especially during the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The knowledge of homophobic and anti-gay laws in Russia prompted President Barack Obama to choose two openly gay athletes to represent the United States during the opening and closing ceremonies, including professional tennis player Billie Jean King (Press). Additionally, Michael Sam became the first openly gay athlete to be drafted into the National Football League after telling his story during an interview with ESPN (Ell). As more well-loved and reputable celebrities openly disclose their sexuality, as Ellen Page recently did, traditional ideas of what it means to be “gay,” “masculine,” and “feminine” are challenged, subsequently altering social norms and ideals.

Judith Lorber, a professor of sociology and women’s studies at the City University of New York. She has written four books about gender (in)equality in society, and about the social construction of gender v. sex.

            Despite all the gains women and queer people are making in the media industry, there is still a long way to go. A 2014 study revealed that women account for a measly 15% of protagonists in all films released in 2013. Additionally, women were only 30% of all characters in every 2013 movie combined (Dockterman). This is incredibly disappointing considering this is the year empowering movies such as Catching Fire, 12 Years a Slave, and Disney’s Frozen were released. It is even more disturbing when one considers how few films, especially in 2013, pass the Bechdel Character Test. One would think women’s roles in film and television improved since the early 20^th century, but even back in 1975 actress and comedienne Shirley Maclaine addressed the problem. In the 1940’s and ‘50’s, “you had Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford and Katharine Hepburn playing woman judges, woman politicians, woman mayors, [and] woman judges…[because] you were not allowed to play a love scene in a bedroom,” (Maclaine). Once “bedroom scenes” were allowed on air, the men running the studios and writing the scripts “put [women] back in the bedroom, and we haven’t been judges or politicians ever since. We can’t get out of the bedroom now.” Though there are a few notable exceptions, such as Commander in Chief, starring Geena Davis, and more recent shows like Scandal, women play very few parts in which they are both humanized and multi-dimensional. Even independent and interesting characters like Catwoman are squeezed into skin-tight outfits and made into sex objects. It is a struggle that both women and members of the LGBTQ+ community share.

Disney princesses: models of strength, beauty, and...feminism?

In the 2005 film TransAmerica, Felicity Huffman plays a transsexual woman who drives cross-country with a son she's never met. The film was critically acclaimed, and won several Academy Awards. But while Huffman is a brilliant actor, she is a straight, cisgendered female with no experience being transgender. Director Duncan Tucker claims he did his research on trans* people, but he did not cast or even consider casting a transwoman in the primary role. This is even more upsetting to the LGBTQ+ community when one considers that Calpernia Addams, an openly transgender actress, had a minor part in the same film (Ira). The trans* community struggles to find accurate representations in modern media, and when the occasional trans* character does appear, he or she is almost always played by a cisgendered actor. In February 2014, Jean-Marc Vallée and his Oscar-winning film Dallas Buyers Club came under fire for misrepresenting transwomen and for harmful historical inaccuracy. Jared Leto, a cisgendered male, was attacked for playing the role of Rayon, a transwoman and AIDS victim in the 1980’s. Critics claimed that Leto misrepresented trans* people, making Rayon out to be little more than a drag queen who offers comic relief. However, this is less Leto’s fault than Vallée’s, who was quoted saying he “never” considered casting a transgender actress, claiming he didn’t know of any trans* actors, and that, “I’m not aiming for the real thing. I’m aiming for an experienced actor who wants to portray the thing,” (Fox). The “thing,” of course, being an incredibly important transgender woman in the HIV/AIDS movement. In addition, Matthew McConaughey’s character Ron Woodruff is actually said to be bisexual, and not the womanizing homophobe the film makes him out to be (Hannaford). Fortunately, there are many positive examples of LGBTQ+ people in both film and TV.

Jared Leto as Rayon, a transgender woman from the film Dallas Buyers Club. The film has been attacked by critics for portraying Rayon as an overdone caricature of a drag-queen for shock value, and misrepresenting the Trans* community. Leto has also been under intense scrutiny lately for his transphobic and ignorant comments. He stares enviously at Janet Mock, editor of People Magazine and TransWoman.

            As far back as the 1930’s, TV and film portrayed homosexuals as flamboyant stereotypes and punch lines. Even shows as progressive as Will & Grace feature two primary stereotypes: a theatrical and superficial gay man, and a lawyer who is uptight and seemingly asexual. Jack and Will are near perfect foils, representing two ends of the "gay spectrum". However, Will & Grace did bring positive attention to the LGBTQ+ community, and does feature Sean Smith, the gay actor who plays Jack. More recently, shows like Degrassi, Modern Family, and The Fosters showcase interesting and realistic portrayals of gay, bisexual, and even transgender men and women. Degrassi, a modern continuation of the beloved 1980’s series, features gay characters, like Marco and Fiona, as well as a transgender boy named Adam. Two of Modern Family’s most popular characters are Cameron and Mitchell, a married gay couple with a young adopted daughter. Neither man embodies one stereotype: Mitchell is a conservative man who works outside the home, but loves musical theatre; Cam is a flamboyant stay-at-home dad and an avid sports fan. They complement each other without conforming to a particular idea of what a gay man should be. The Fosters is a relatively new show, first airing in spring 2013, about married, interracial lesbian foster mothers Stef and Lena. Neither is portrayed as “butch,” nor is one hyper-feminine: Stef is a tough police officer with a soft heart, and Lena is the fair-but-firm vice principal of a high school. Both women have a biological child. Additionally, their foster son Jude struggles with his sexuality when he realizes he is romantically inclined toward his best friend, Connor. The Fosters also features transgender character Cole, who is played by transgender actor Tom Phelan. Shows like these reinforce the idea that being part of the LGBTQ+ community is not always “othering,” and allows both straight and queer people to see that someone who identifies as queer can live what is seen as a “normal life.”

Will & Grace was one of the first beloved TV shows to feature openly gay men (Will and Jack). Further. Jack was played by openly gay actor Sean Hayes. The crew is seen here looking at Mitchell and Cam, a married gay couple from Modern Family, in surprise.

           Since the late 20^th century, feminists and LGBTQ+ members made momentous strides in securing equal and accurate representation of women and queer folks in various forms of media. With the help of blogs and other social networks, activists are able to spread their messages and protests across the globe, garnering the support of millions of people. Despite these victories, figures like Ash Beckham, Laura Jane Grace, and Stephen Ira have a long way to go before media are fully rid of their heteronormative messages and undertones. Women are still used in advertisements as props and limbs, and movies are still being released that paint transgender people negatively as drag queens. Hopefully U.S. consumers will be able to escape their ignorance using the same media that objectifies and oppresses them. Until then, we can start by resocializing ourselves and educating the next generation against the largely heteronormative media we are being fed in 21st century U.S. society.

 

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