KCB101 Media And Communication Texts

Choose a cultural group (e.g. young people, GLTBI people, women) and analyse how this group is represented using at least three media texts as examples.  In your essay you will identify the key ways the text represent the group you have selected and discuss how these representations relate to broader ideological perspectives discussed in lectures and tutorials.

compare and contrast your three chosen texts, examining how they are indicative (or not) of changes to how these cultural groups have been constructed in the media. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate your understanding of the KCB101 unit content, and, as such, you should aim to draw upon the concepts introduced in the readings and lectures throughout the semester, as well as any additional research that supports your argument.

The numbers of gay and lesbian characters on television and in movies have been increasing considerably. In the view point of Bond (2015) media can create meanings about sexuality or sexual orientation and its plays a vital role in understanding the sexual identities in our everyday lives. Sexuality refers to the physical or the emotional attraction of a person towards another; either of same or opposite sex. Gay and lesbians are the ones who are attracted to same sex while the bisexuals are the ones who are attracted to both sexes (Cleland 2014). Media portrayal of the LGBT people has been varying and evolving the way media has been portraying the gay, lesbian, transgender or the bisexual community. In the contemporary situation, the media representation is not limited to television series or movies but there are other media platforms as well like websites and advertisements that are creating greater impact on the viewers and the society. The purpose of this essay is to carry out a critical discussion on the representation of the LGBT cultural group by the various media platforms.

Discussion: 

In order to analyze the role of media in representing the LGBT people, three different media have been selected. Discussion on the same can be made below:

1. Advertisement: Vicks Vapor Rub advertisement

Vicks India has made a strong advertisement for the transgender people and their rights with a heartwarming advertisement. Recently, the Company has come up with a advertisement title, ‘Touch of Care’ waves with the two most controversial issues that the country faces; adoption and the transgender rights. The 3 min long advertisement narrated a beautiful story and represented the transgender people as the one who deserve to enjoy all rights like any other person (Vicks India 2017). According to the media representation theory, representation is not the same thing as watching on the television but it is something that happens in real life. In this aspect, Ayoub and Garretson (2014) commented that all the media products represent the real world to us and so the theory of representation is all about how a particular group of people is represented in the media. Craig et al. (2015) commented that representation often leads to judgment and thus, the viewers can also share or present their point of view.

The advertisement that Vicks India came up with, represented the society of India. The theme of the advertisement focused on an important societal issue, adoption and the rights of transgender. Although, the transgender people have been given legal rights in India, they do not receive the social acceptance that they deserve. The advertisement portrayed the story of Gayatri Sawant, the transgender activist who adopted the orphaned Gayatri by fighting against the country’s societal stigma to raise Gayatri as her own child. The advertisement portrait the relationship of a mother and a daughter where the mother (although a transgender) wants her daughter to become a successful doctor but the ad ended with the message that Gayatri wants to become a lawyer and wants to fight for transgender people like her mother so that they get their societal rights and live their life with dignity.

2. TV Show: Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black is an American web television series based on Piper Kerman’s memoir and talks about her experience at FCI Danbury, a minimum security federal prison. The television series has popularized lesbian sexuality and the heterosexual mode of viewing. In an article, Wells (2015) commented that the television series has butchered out the sexual and feminine representation and represented women and lesbian in a stereotypical way. As stated by Ayoub and Garretson (2014), representation in the media is an essential process that is produced and exchanged within different cultures. This particular television show has presented a critical representation and praised its nuanced and empowering representation of the ‘other’ people. In Orange is the New Black, the creator of the series has documented the experience of Piper Chapman, the white middle class woman who had been sentenced to  months imprisonment but in a low security circumstance. The series embodied an entire range of human stories and emotions and most impressively assembled the female character. Orange is the New Black has not represent the lesbian group in a vulgar or a nasty way but has represented them a powerful group of people that is driven by violence in the prison. The series is more character focused and shows the socio-culture of the particular country or state.

The story of Orange is the New Black is not about the federal women in prison but it is about one federal women’s prison and the inmates who reside there. The character of Piper has been distinctly portrayed as a strong character who has studied up on the social etiquette of the prison. Although the story depicted that it becomes clear that the prison has its own social orders, but the women had no other choice but to co-exist with each other. The TV series has undoubtedly represented the transgender people on a larger spectrum that is beyond just sexuality. The TV series has taken a drift turn from the usual comedy and drama that the usual TV series show on a regular basis but this particular TV series had something greater to offer. There are many instances when the series had taken turn towards comic timing but on the very other time, it showed a character that is comfortable, vulnerable and blameless in her own way.

3. Website: Minus18

Minus 18 is the largest network for the Australia’s LGBT people. This website is meant to provide support and mentoring to the LGBT young people. It is run by more than 40 young volunteers working with other community members (Minus18.org.au 2017). The aim of this website is to provide online support to the people who have been facing issues related to sexuality, gender or health. The power of the internet and the social media cannot be declined and it has supported many youths to overcome their distress. Similar approach has been found in case of Minus 18. This website has been helping the ‘other’ group of people to meet with their partners or loved ones. This is a unique way of supporting this particular group of people and showing the support to the LGBT community (Balogh 2016). This particular community is associated with a number of events as well that helped it to create better recognition of this group of people and helped them to lead a life that the common and straight people lead.

In spite of the right approach made by this particular website to create a better world for the people, it has dragged some criticism as well. The website has been termed as a dating website that does nothing to do to help the other group of people but it is a website that is influencing people to move towards the other path and not the straight path (Ayoub and Garretson 2014). The website can be considered as a right approach made by a particular community to improve the situation of the gay and the lesbians who have been not given the proper rights to survive in the society. There is no involvement of a any third party and it is mostly depended on the particular group of people only.

Comparative analysis and interpretation of the findings:

Media has the capability of showing things about society but through careful mediation; this is nothing but re-presentation. In order to make this representation meaningful, it is important to share and recognize the situation of people. Thus, this representation should have certain ideologies behind them. However, sometimes the representations are encoded into the mass media texts in order to reinforce dominant ideologies in the society. It is when the ideologies are circulated through the mass media channels, the same ideology or beliefs can be adopted by the people as well. The advertisement that Vicks India came up with can be easily regarded as a means of creating ideologies in the society in order to improve the situation of the transgender people in the society.

There is no doubt that the lesbian, gay and the transgender people have to kept on struggling in their lives in order to get the proper opportunities and rights to lead a respectable life in the society. They have always been considered as unnatural sex rendering to their selection of partners. At times, the societal reforms have also created a situation when the society has questioned on their normality and they were also being considered as unsafe for the society. As pointed out by, media representation gives the chance of presenting this group of people in a way that would create dignity for them but on the same issue, dash commented that increasing media visibility does not necessarily transform the social tolerance and in fact, it lead to the situation that drag the political issues into the matter. Therefore, it can be said that the ‘frilly lesbian’ representation in the Orange is the New Black could not reassure that the viewing audience would change their perspective towards the particular cultural group and that the lesbian people are just like the straight people as well.

In the view point of, the social media is a unique platform for many to represent their point of view and to influence others as well. In fact same commented that the need for representation of the lesbian or the gay people have become more important with the emergence of the social media. People can come up with their ideas or point of view on the matter and can easily share the same with others. When the same was limited to the other traditional media, there was very less chance that the gay or the lesbian could fight for their rights. In fact, it could be considered as a reason that these people have often found to loss their opportunity towards life. However, it should not be the actual situation and thus, there should be certain ways to think about this group of people as well. The social media and the internet have provided the opportunity for the LGBT to speak for them and also share their lives with others.

Conclusion:

A critical analysis of the representation of the LGBT on the various media has been carried on in this essay. It has been found that the exposure of this group of people in the media has increased compared to what used to be before. This can be regarded as a positive approach of the media in improving the condition of this group of people. As it has been found that in the advertisement of Vicks, the organization has come up with the approach that there is no difference in the love of a mother. It does not require one to be straight or not to love her daughter. This powerful message has definitely shaken the society and delivered the message that the rights should be equal for all. In terms of the TV series, Orange is the New Black, it has been found that the character of the lead role who is a lesbian is very strong and she is not an of fun to anyone. The way the society looks at the transgender or the other people, it clearly defines that there is some gap between the actual situation and the way people takes it. Lastly, the website, Minus 18 is also helping the Gay and the Lesbian people to get a better life that they are deprived of. Therefore, it can be said that the representation has been changing and people are definitely being forced to rethink about their opinion of this group of people.

References:

Ayoub, P.M. and Garretson, J., 2014. Getting the message out: media context and global changes in attitudes toward homosexuality. Comparative Political Studies, p.0010414016666836.

Balogh, S. 2016 Student Wellbeing website may still contain link to Minus 18 Available at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/student-wellbeing-website-may-still-contain-link-to-minus-18/news-story/040acaa58556f624df30cc142bfb7160 [Accessed on: 3-6-2017]

Bond, B.J., 2014. Sex and sexuality in entertainment media popular with lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents. Mass Communication and Society, 17(1), pp.98-120.

Bond, B.J., 2015. Portrayals of sex and sexuality in gay-and lesbian-oriented media: A quantitative content analysis. Sexuality & Culture, 19(1), pp.37-56.

Cleland, J., 2014. Association football and the representation of homosexuality by the print media: A case study of Anton Hysén. Journal of homosexuality, 61(9), pp.1269-1287.

Craig, S.L., McInroy, L., McCready, L.T. and Alaggia, R., 2015. Media: A catalyst for resilience in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth. Journal of LGBT Youth, 12(3), pp.254-275.

Croteau, D. and Hoynes, W., 2013. Media/society: Industries, images, and audiences. Sage Publications.

Hindustantimes.com 2017 Vicks makes a strong case for transgender rights with heartwarming new ad. Available at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/vicks-makes-a-strong-case-for-transgender-rights-with-heartwarming-new-ad-watch/story-3ZSl1YsBpryR37daqYfxmK.html [Accessed on: 3-6-2017]

McInroy, L.B. and Craig, S.L., 2015. Transgender representation in offline and online media: LGBTQ youth perspectives. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 25(6), pp.606-617.

Minus18.org.au 2017 About us Available at: https://minus18.org.au/ [Accessed on: 3-6-2017]

Vicks India 2017 Vicks - Generations of Care #TouchOfCare Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zeeVEKaDLM [Accessed on: 3-6-2017]

Wells, J. 2015 Tyler Oakley: how the internet revolutionized LGBT life Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/tyler-oakley-how-the-internet-revolutionised-lgbt-life/[Accessed on: 3-6-2017]