Boy Bands and Gay Youth

Miller, D. A. (1998). Place for us: Essay on the Broadway musical. Cambridge:

Harvard.

Epstein, J. (2000, May 9). The boys on the bandwagon. Advocate, 36-43.

Backstreet Boys. (1999). I Want it That Way. On Millennium. Jive.

N*Sync. (2000). Bye, Bye, Bye. On No Strings Attached. Jive.

98 Degrees. (1998). I Do. On 98 Degrees and Rising. Motown.

Barr, A. (Writer), & Burrows, J. (Director). (2001). Crouching Father Hidden Husband

[Television series episode]. Will & Grace. Los Angeles: National Broadcasting

Company.

Schroeder, A. (Producer), Rudnick, P. (Writer), & Oz, F. (Director). (1997). In & Out

[Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

November 19, 2007
After reading “In the Basement,” I feel boy bands in the late 1990s served the same role as Broadway musicals for gay youth. There was the stereotype that gay youth liked boy bands (just like gay youth liked musicals). Both types of music allowed gay youth to express themselves. The main difference or should I say improvement was by the time of the boy band explosion there were media outlets that represented young gay culture and provided an opportunity for young gay people to be more vocal.
The article “Boys on the Bandwagon” describes one man’s attempt at explaining the myth that gay guys automatically like boy bands, “I think liking boy bands reinforces some people’s ideas about me being gay, but I also think that the stereotype that all gay guys like boy bands is dumb. In fact none of my gay guy friends like boy bands nearly as much as I do” (Epstein, 2000, p. 36). Meaning gay youth are boy band fans, but do not have be.
The stereotype that gay youth like music they can dance to is reinforced by boy band music videos including N*Sync’s “Bye, Bye, Bye,” Backstreet Boy’s “I Want it that Way,” and 98 Degrees “I Do.” Other media clips including the Will & Grace episode titled “Crouching Father Hidden Husband” and the exploring your masculinity scene in In & Out, show homosexuals embracing and the music and enthusiastically dancing.
The article introduces the idea that boy bands not only help pre-pubescent girls figure out their sexuality, but also serve the same role for boys who are discovering their same-sex orientation (Epstein, 2000, p. 36). Magazine covers with the Backstreet Boys in wet t-shirts and 98 Degrees shirtless revealing their six packs and bulging biceps were consciously marketed to both demographic groups. This helped gay youth of the late 1990s openly admitted to being boy band fans.
The other music explosion of the late 1990s was pop princesses including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore. Girls viewed pop princesses as role models and gay youth listened and danced to their music. Pop princesses helped heterosexual males figure out their sexuality and provided examples of the ideal female.

Drag Culture

Sontag, S. (1964). Notes on “Camp.” Retrieved November 12, 2007, from

http://interglacial.com/~sburke/pub/prose/Susan_Sontag_-_Notes_on_Camp.html

Rogers, M. (1999). Hetero Barbie? In G. Dines & J. Humez, (Ed.), Gender, race, and

class in media (pp. 94-97).

Cohen, B. (Producer), Beane, D. (Writer), & Kidron, B (Director). (1995). To Wong

Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar [Motion picture]. United States:

Universal Pictures.

Mulroy, T., Snell, C. (Writers), & Roberts, B. (Director). (1997). New York and Queens
Television series episode]. The Drew Carey Show. Los Angeles: American

Broadcasting Company.

Machlis, N. & Danon, M. (Producer), May, E. (Writer), & Nichols, M (Director). (1996).

The Birdcage [Motion picture]. United States: MGM Distribution Company.

November 12, 2007
Due to drag culture’s emphasis on extravagance and being glamorous it can be considered camp. Media examples of drag culture include To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar, The Birdcage, and an episode of The Drew Carey Show titled “New York and Queens.” These examples show the importance of costumes and props and emphasis on character.
In To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar the opening scene reveals all the preparation needed to look female including hair, make-up, and undergarments. The wardrobe was representative of each of the main character’s personas. This relates to Sontag’s (1964) “Notes on Camp” and the idea that camp is the glorification of character. Vida Boheme was representative of classic beauty wearing elegant ball gowns and carrying herself in a stately way. Noxeema Jackson was adventurous, wild, and full of attitude represented by her gold and animal print wardrobe. Senorita Chi-Chi showed off her Latina roots with her vibrant colored outfits. The drag queen beauty pageant in the beginning of the film allowed the three main stars and other drag queens to show off their personas.
The Drew Carey Show episode titled “New York and Queens” portrayed the feud between competing drag shows, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. The over-the-top viewers’ costumes support the notion that the “hallmark of camp is the spirit of extravagance. Camp is a woman walking around in a dress made of three million feathers” (Sontag, 1964). The Rocky Horror Picture Show side had overtly sexual costumes and yet felt uninhabited to do the “time warp.” The Priscilla Queen of the Desert side had feathered head pieces as well as glittered and sequined costumes while “shaking their groove thing.”
The opening sequence in The Birdcage introduces the audience to the club environment and entertainers. The entertainers at first glance could pass as females as a result of “femininity being a manufactured reality entailing a lot of artifice, a lot of clothes and a lot of props” (Rogers, 1999, p.99). It is not until the wardrobe change where the performers undress and reveal their stuffed bras, genital constricting underwear, and masculine physique that the audience knows they are male.

Straight Mistaken for Gay

Besides the classic Seinfeld episode titled “The Outing,” an example of straight mistaken for gay is the Scrub’s episode titled “My Musical.” The song “Guy Love” describes the borderline homosexual relationship between very good friends Turk and JD. Some lyrics include, “Let's face the facts about me and you, our love unspecified though I'm proud to call you "chocolate bear" the crowd will always talk and stare” and “Than explain our guy love, that's all it is guy love he's mine I'm his there's nothing gay about it in our eyes.”

Gay Pretender

The gay pretender examples I found were in Ugly Betty and Will & Grace. In the Ugly Betty episode titled “Petra-gate,” an upcoming designer pretends to gay in order to be taken seriously in the fashion industry. In the Will & Grace episode titled “A Chorus Lie,” Matt Damon guest stars and pretends to be gay in order to participate in the gay men’s choir that will be traveling around Europe. Jack catches Matt Damon’s character checking out a woman and tries to get Grace to “in” him. Grace is overly flirtatious, undresses in front him, and sits on him in order to get him to cave. The running joke is you don’t mind because your gay.

Queer Representation

Raymond, D. Popular culture and queer representation: A critical perspective. In G.

Dines & J. Humez, (Ed.), Gender, race, and class in media (pp. 98-110).

Holbert, S. (2007). Where we are on TV: GLAAD’s 12th annual study examines

diversity of the 2007-08 primetime scripted television season. Retrieved

November 8, 2007, from http://www.glaad.org/media/release_detail.php?id=4054

Kucserka, S., Becker, V., Pennette, M. (Writers), & Brock, T. (Director). (2007). Don’t

Ask, Don’t Tell [Television series episode]. Ugly Betty. Los Angeles: American

Broadcasting Company.

Wiener, R., Schwartz, K., Khan, N. (Writers), & Woods, B. (2006). Lincoln Lover

[Television series episode]. American Dad. Los Angeles: 20th Century Fox

Television.

Palmer, K. (Writer), & Burrows, J. (Director). (2000). Gypsies, Tramps & Weed

[Television series episode]. Will & Grace. Los Angeles: National Broadcasting

Company.

Werksman, H., Stanton, G. (Writers), & Lazarus, P. (Director). (2007). Petra-gate

[Television series episode]. Ugly Betty. Los Angeles: American Broadcasting

Company.

Poust, T., Kinnally, J. (Writers), & Burrows, J. (Director). (2001). A Chorus Lie

[Television series episode]. Will & Grace. Los Angeles: National Broadcasting

Company.

Charles, L. (Writer), & Cherones, T. (Director). (1993). The Outing [Television series

episode]. Seinfeld. Los Angeles: National Broadcasting Company.


Fordham, D. (Writer), & Mackenzie, W. (Director). (2007). My Musical [Television

series episode]. Scrubs. Los Angeles: National Broadcasting Company.

November 8, 2007
After reading “Popular Culture and Queer Representation,” I examined current television shows for the number of homosexual characters and their characterizations and examples of gay pretenders and straight mistaken for gay. Unfortunately, the number of homosexual characters has declined since this article was published. Therefore, several of my examples are from the same shows.
According to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) 12th annual “where we are on TV” study, the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters is down for the third year in the row (Holbert, 2007). The show Ugly Betty has two homosexual male characters, one of which is a teenager. Mark and Justin are portrayed as being obsessed with fashion, have higher pitched voices, and flamboyant expressions.
One episode titled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” describes Mark’s hesitation to come out to his mother. He goes as far as to pretend his co-worker, Ugly Betty, is his girlfriend and introduces his mother to her family. His close friends encourage him to be truthful, and when he does his mother tells him that he has to live with the choice he has made. Despite parental disapproval, Mark feels better about himself because he no longer has to put on these stupid charades or keep any more secrets.
Other queer representations I found were in American Dad and Will & Grace. Part of American Dad’s humor is relying on stereotypes. In the episode “Lincoln Lover,” Stan describes criteria for identifying homosexuals including tight clothes, colorful drinks, liking musicals, checking their nails in an effeminate way, and being for equal rights. In the Will & Grace episode “Gypsies, Tramps & Weed,” Jack’s and the stereotypical gay icon, Cher, guest stars. Comedies rely on stereotypes so that the material is acceptable to heterosexuals.

Halloween and Female Objectification

Berger, J. (1972). Ways of seeing. New York: Viking Press.
Messick, J. (Producer), Fey, T. (Writer), & Waters, M. (Director). (2004). Mean Girls

[Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

October 31, 2007
Female Halloween costumes are prime examples of female objectification. Females are expected to be sexy not scary. Whereas, males have the choice of being macho, funny, or scary.
A clip form the film Mean Girls accurately describes the female Halloween costume situation. Lindsay Lohan’s character comments that Halloween is the night when dressing like a slut is acceptable. Common costumes are characterized by little or not clothes coupled with animal ears and tails or wings (her friends costumes included a mouse, cat, and bunny). Since this was Lohan’s first Halloween she assumed you should dress scary and decided to be bride of Frankenstein. When the males and females at party eventually run into her they think she is crazy and make remarks like you look so scary (as if it were a bad thing.)
Party City’s Halloween circular also supports notion that females are expected to dress sexy/slutty on Halloween. Costumes and their clever names include, Mile High Captain, Teacher’s Pet, Sponge Bath Betty, Serena the Snake Charmer, and Hot Flash. New additions to the circular include Betty Paige and Playboy inspired costumes. I was shocked and appalled by the plus sized and teen costumes respectively. Plus sized costumes were cut very short and cleavage revealing. The teen costumes had plunging neck lines, short skirts, and showed a lot of skin (entire bellies were revealed).
Despite the ridiculousness of Halloween costumes, female conform to the Halloween sexy/slutty norm. If not females did not they would be viewed as if something were wrong with them (example like they were ashamed of their bodies or were out of shape). The Halloween scenario further reinforces the notion that the female image is designed for male enjoyment (Berger, 1972, p. 64).

Gender Stereotypes in Beauty and the Beast

O’Hara, P. (1991). Belle. On Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack. Disney.

White, R. (1991). Gaston. On Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack. Disney.

Johnson, A. (1997). The gender knot: What drives patriarchy? Temple University

Press.

October 29, 2007
After viewing The Little Mermaid in class, I decided to examine gender stereotypes in Beauty and the Beast. I concentrated on two songs about major characters titled, Belle and Gaston. When I examined specific traits, I found that males were supposed to be aggressive, strong, and have an attractive wife and that females were supposed to be beautiful and happy to be someone’s wife.
The recurring lyric in the song “Belle” was “a beauty but a funny girl.” Belle was the most beautiful girl in the town but was considered strange because of her intelligence and desire to something more than get married with her life. When the epitome of manliness, Gaston, asks her to marry to him she says no. Belle refuses to be someone’s “little wife” and states how she “wants so much more than they’ve got planned.” Belle was in direct contrast to three blond, buxom females called the Bimbettes who nearly faint every time they see Gaston. It would appear that Belle was challenging gender expectations.
The lyrics in Gaston describe his masculinity in terms similar to Allan Johnson’s What drives patriarchy. Gaston is described as a “tall, dark, strong, and handsome brute,” “the greatest hunter in the world,” “no one fights like, no one as burly or brawny,” and “not a bit of him’s scraggly or scrawny every last inch of me’s covered with hair.” This supports the notion that men are supposed to be aggressive and dominant. According to Johnson (1997) men, “pump iron, talk and follow sports, study boxing and martial arts, learn to use guns, play football or hockey or rugby” (p. 97) In addition a man’s manliness is elevated by the attractiveness of their girlfriend or wife. The main reason Gaston wants to marry Belle is because of her looks. Gaston describes the situation as, “Belle is the most beautiful girl in town that makes her the best. And don’t I deserve the best?” Johnson (1997) describes the relationship between marriage and patriarchy as, “people routinely compliment a man married to a beautiful woman because he has proprietary rights of access to her” (p. 100).