Gender Roles and Sexuality

Over the past couple weeks, the subject of homosexuality has been brought up in almost every one of my classes. This has been kinda neat because every class has brought a different perspective or subject about homosexuality. In this class we have mainly talked about gendernormative attitudes and portrayals in media. This gendernormative approach basically means that being heterosexual is "normal" . An example of this gendernormative perspective would be in the T.V. show Full House. In an episode, Michelle Tanner is playing with her two friends who are boys and they don't allow her to be superheroes with them and tell her she can be the superhero's mom. In this same episode, she proceeds to ask what the difference between boy and girls are and is given a false definition. She decides that it would be more fun to be a boy so she dresses like a boy to fit in with her friends that are boy. These gendernormative attitudes and lessons taught in this show are very typical for shows directed towards heterosexuals.

With this said, gay couples have become more prominent in television shows and movies in recent years. This is most likely because it is beginning to become accepted, especially in those states that allow homosexuals to get married. Illinois is the newest state to push through the law enabling homosexual couples to become legally married. Even though gay couples or people are featured in television shows or movies it is still "normal" to be heterosexual. Some examples of modern shows with gay couples or individuals presented in them are: Grey's Anatomy, Modern Family, Teen Wolf, and Glee. People still don't know how to react when showed gay couples on television or even in real life. There is a YouTube site in which they have kids react to certain subjects in the news or issues among our country. The video below is the video of children reacting to homosexual couples. (P.S. Sorry it's so long)