~ Source 1 - Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis Across Two Seasons ~

Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis Across Two Seasons

Deborah A. Fisher, PhD, Douglas L. Hill, PhD, Joel W. Grube, PhD, and Enid L. Gruber, PhD

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2000838/

Tone of voice - very factual and formal. Approaches the issue with little opinion more factual evidence, something to consider for my own style and approach to the essay.

Abstract

Two annual content analyses of programming from the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 television seasons (n= 1,276 and 1,439 programs, respectively) were conducted to assess the presence of behaviors and verbal messages related to the sexuality of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. Sexual content associated with nonheterosexuals was found in about 15% of programs overall; however, rates of occurrence within episodes were low. Of 14 genres, only movies and variety/comedy shows had substantial percentages of programs that contained nonheterosexual content. Programs on commercial broadcast networks were less likely to have nonheterosexual content than those on cable networks, especially those on premium cable movie networks. Implications of the continued lack of attention to sexual minorities are discussed for both heterosexual and nonheterosexual viewers.

Social taboos surrounding sex are becoming widely broadcast but homosexuality is still not being equally and realistically portrayed via film and television. Self objectification

 "One theme that has been especially ignored is the portrayal of sexual issues related to gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals."

"Before 1970, almost no gay characters could be found on television, and their relative absence from the screen continued until the 1990s (Wyatt, 2002)."

 "In recent years, the number of shows with leading or recurring gay characters has varied from 16 in the 1997-1998 season to 29 in the 2000-2001 season (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, n.d.). Although these numbers represent an increase compared with the past, they are still quite small compared with the overall number of characters appearing on television shows broadcast each season."

"According to social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2001), one important way in which television influences viewers is by providing vicarious experiences on which to model beliefs, attitudes, and behavior when real-life experiences are more limited. A closely related idea is that the media—by depicting sexual scenarios that people might not be able to see anywhere else—provide scripts for enacting various sexual behaviors (Gagnon & Simon, 1973)"

"In fact, as many as one in five teens reports that “entertainment” is their most important source of sexual information (Gibbs, 1993 as cited in Brown & Steele, 1995)."

"the lack of positive role models on television is more extreme for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth (Kielwasser & Wolf, 1992)."

"Most lesbians and gay men grow up in a straight community with few gay role models; thus, they are particularly vulnerable to the portrayals of gay people in the mass media (Fejes & Petrich, 1993; Ryan & Futterman, 1998)."

"Yet, sexual minorities are often ignored by the mainstream media and treated as if they do not exist. This exclusion has been posited to contribute to keeping sexual minorities invisible and without power, a process which Gross refers to as “symbolic annihilation” (Gross, 1991; Gerbner & Gross, 1976)."

"The small number of gay characters on television, and even smaller number of adolescent gay characters, is proposed to contribute to a feeling of isolation among nonheterosexual youth (Kielwasser & Wolf, 1992)."

"cites examples of gay characters who were rarely, if ever, shown in sexual or romantic contexts such as Sidney in Love Sidney, Steven Carrington in Dynasty, and Marilyn McGrath in Heartbeat. More recent examples include Matt Fielding in Melrose Place, whose sexual orientation was prominently featured in promotions before the show's premiere, and then rarely included in storylines for the first several seasons (Wyatt, 2002). Until very recently, the two openly gay characters on NBC's currently popular prime-time series Will and Grace—Will and Jack—were rarely shown being physically affectionate with other men; however, the lead female character Grace, who is heterosexual, has often been shown in sexual situations with men. Will and Grace also has been criticized for reinforcing heterosexual norms and stereotypes about homosexual traits such as gay men being feminine, flamboyant, and promiscuous (Battles & Morrow-Hilton, 2002)."

"Despite the overwhelming heterosexuality of mainstream media representations, portrayals of gay and lesbian individuals on television have become somewhat more common since 1997 when Ellen became the first television show to have a gay leading character. This increase can be seen in the introduction of gay characters on many shows such as Spin City, ER, Dawson's Creek, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as shows that focus on gay characters in leading roles such as Will and Grace and It's All Relative. In addition, cable stations have included shows such as Queer as Folk, Six Feet Under, andOz that depict gay characters in more complex plot lines and with more explicit sexual behaviors." - Quotes referring specifically to certain tv shows

"Regular television watching is proposed to create a shared set of conceptions and expectations about social reality among otherwise diverse viewers. Based on cultivation theory, some researchers have suggested that the lack of portrayals of homosexuality on television may influence the beliefs among heavy viewers that homosexuality is abnormal or extremely rare. According to Gross (1994)"

(1) To what extent are nonheterosexual sexual themes, specifically sexual behavior and talk about sex, found in television programming overall and what patterns emerge across program genres, network types, and prime-time versus nonprime-time programming? (2) When nonheterosexual sexual content does occur, what is its frequency and how does it vary across genres, type of network, and prime-time versus nonprime-time programming? - Research questions the paper aims to address.