2-24-2010 sexuality minorities, “sexual otherness” and heterosexism in media

http://laist.com/attachments/la_zach/gay_rights_memo.jpg

http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/adam-lambert-gay.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff37/HarleyDad69/Sexy%20Graphics/LESBIANS.jpg

http://msp233.photobucket.com/albums/ee27/first_kiss/lesbians.jpg

http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/nelly-tipdrill.jpg

From the reading I learned about sexual minorities. Most of the readings focused on homosexuality between gay males and female lesbians. I wanted to try and find some ethnic images of different races viewed in a sexual manner because that is harder to find than homosexual images. Lesbianism is encouraged by heterosexual males, lesbian are seen as a turn on. Gay men are being viewed in media more because of the debate about Gay Marriage.

I was disappointed when I couldn’t find any images of different ethnicity viewed in a sexual manner other than in music, movies, or some magazines. I wanted to find images that were mainstreamed for African-American, Latino, or other races. I wanted to examine what influenced them. But after an hour of searching I decided to just choose mostly homosexual images.

The first two images from the top are homosexual male couples. The top first image made me stop and think; this image looked like two heterosexual males. When viewing other images I noticed that there were common stereotypes within the images. Either the men looked like heterosexual/commonly dressed men or they were depicted as being feminine. When I say the gay men were depicted as feminine I mean that the men were wearing make-up or dressed outside of their gender norm in bright colors and/or costumes.

The lesbian images on the other hand were there for pleasure. All the images I viewed of lesbians were seductive kissing/embracing or posing for the viewer. Lesbians are viewed as a fantasy for heterosexual males. The two images that I have chosen support my last claim and these images were common.

The top lesbian couple seems to be viewed by a “male gaze”. They are directly looking out at the viewer. The lesbian couple is about to embrace one another but they have stopped in a seductive manner to look up at you, the viewer. Also notice how both of these lesbian couples are wearing some kind of lingerie. Most of the images depicting lesbians had some kind of lingerie on, never fully nude.

The last image I have chosen was Nelly, a music rap/hip hop artist, who is known for his sexualized lyrics and music videos. In this image the women are in bikinis. Nelly is displaying his heterosexuality through proving his sexuality in his music videos. There are no fully nude males or females that I could find that were of another race depicted in a sexual act with another person.

When searching for sexual pictures of different races it was hard to find ones that were not bias, racist, offensive, or “poking fun” at how other races are depicted sexually. I thought it would have been easy to find images of a Latino couple being sexual, but it was not.

2-17-2010 Examples of socially constructed "appropraite" sex

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2-10-2010 Masculinity as specifically sexualized

http://media.photobucket.com/image/sexuality%20in%20vogue%20media/Spreaditdotorg3/lebron_vogue-gisel.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_iM3TPA0DIEuvi4pgTrai3xJydYLMUBfc_G_leggAcYkHPKAm0Vgg1VCxCvoD3rwZEwhaIj2_AkrgrdQMeqmSBCLcqnjFP7WMKpAw69W1GFTGJYW7yAllnC6E5qMBN9tXD_IUP6dKYxA/s400/skyy.jpg

http://adoholik.com/pics/ksad2_large.jpg

http://www.adrants.com/images/dg_girl_down.jpg

I'M Real (Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez)

Are you early
(Miss Mary Jane, I'm analyzin' the game)
End the games, unchose me
(To bring pain, pretty women, and fake thugs, one in the same)
Ever since you told me
(There's only room for two, I'll be makin' less room for you)
Now only God can hold me
(Hug me, love me, judge me, the only Man that hugs is above me, holler)

I met so many men
And it's like their all the same
My appetite for lovin'
Is now my hunger pain

And when I'm feelin' sexy
Who's gonna come for me
My only problem is
Their insecurity

(Tired of bein' alone) Yeah, yeah
(See you arguin' on the phone) Yeah, yeah
(Are you tellin' all your friends) Yeah, yeah
(That your n**** don't understand) My love

'Cause I'm real
(The way you walk, the way you move, the way you talk)
'Cause I'm real
(The way you stare, the way you look, your style, your hair)
'Cause I'm real
(The way you smile, the way you smell, it drives me wild)
'Cause I'm real
And I can't go on without you

Girl, I've been thinkin' 'bout this relationship
And I wanna know is this as good as it gets
'Cause we've been through the worst times and the best times
But it was our time, even if it was part-time
My baby lookin' at me, smilin' at me, laughin' like we wasn't happy
But not knowin', ever growin' and we're gettin' married
Hard lovin', straight thuggin'
Baby, I ain't doin' this here for nuttin'
I'm here to get it poppin', hop in, let's ride up in the Benz
Hair blowin' in the wind, sun glistenin' off my skin,
hey
I'm nasty, heh, you know me
But you still don't be feelin' me, baby

'Cause I'm real
(The way you walk, the way you move, the way you talk)
'Cause I'm real
(The way you stare, the way you look, your style, your hair)
'Cause I'm real
(The way you smile, the way you smell, it drives me wild)
'Cause I'm real
And I can't go on without you

Now people lovin' me and hatin' me, treatin' me
ungratefully
But not knowin' that they ain't makin' or breakin' me
My life I live it to the limit and I love it
Now I can breathe again, baby, now I can breathe again

Now people screamin' what the deal with you and so and so
I tell them n****s to mind they biz, but they don't hear me though
'Cause I live my life to the limit and I love it
Now I could breathe again, baby, now I could breathe again

(Tired of bein' alone) Yeah, yeah
(See you arguin' on the phone) Yeah, yeah
(Are you tellin' all your friends) Yeah, yeah
(That your n**** don't understand) My love

'Cause I'm real
(The way you walk, the way you move, the way you talk)
'Cause I'm real
(The way you stare, the way you look, your style, your hair)
'Cause I'm real
(The way you smile, the way you smell, it drives me wild)
'Cause I'm real
And I can't go on without you

'Cause I'm real
(The way you walk, the way you move, the way you talk)
'Cause I'm real
(The way you stare, the way you look, your style, your hair)
'Cause I'm real
(The way you smile, the way you smell, it drives me wild)
'Cause I'm real
And I can't go on without you

http://www.lyrics007.com/Jennifer%20Lopez%20Lyrics/I'm%20Real%20(Ja%20Rule%20Mix)%20Lyrics.html

The media I have chosen depicts male patriarchy and how women are seen as lower class citizens within our culture. Attwood and Brooks discus how the male body has become a sexual object increasing in our society; but males have not been as objectified as females. Women are being demeaned in media and observed through the male gaze.

The women in the images I have chosen are only a minute reality that I view on a daily basis in my society. The Vogue cover has been an issue for a while. Some compare this cover to King Kong and relate LeBron to Kong who was viewed as an African sexualized beast that couldn’t control his lust for the white Caucasian blonde woman.

Dissecting this Vogue cover I notice how he is towering over the whimsical Gisele in an authoritative masculine manner. LeBron is displayed as a physical man with his mouth open, legs spread in a confrontational manner, while dribbling a basketball, and he is securely holding the woman next to him in a tight manner. Images like this is discussed in Attwood and Brooks; they discuss how men are seen as powerful while women are seen as objectified, weak, or trophies that are there for pleasure. Media messages are giving males scripts for out culture to follow by displaying male models in this way.

The Skyy vodka magazine advertisement is viewed in the same way. The man has control over the woman. The man has no face so we can identify with him or fantasize that we are him. The woman is directly between his legs directly below his dick. She is wearing a small bikini and is looking up at him, taking off her sunglasses to get a better look. This advertisement is seen through the male gaze. Sexual scripts are being laid out and we are expected to read this ad as being appealing. We are supposed to be wanting to be this man.

LongLast condom advertisement states, “The tough part isn’t getting her to say yes. It’s getting her to stop saying yes.” Again males are given ideas about how women are supposed to act toward sex and sexuality. This ad depicts how the woman is only there to please the man. The statement makes it seem like he is forcing her to take pleasure in having sex. This is creating a fantasy not reality according to Brooks.

The Dolce & Gabbana image has multiple men surrounding one woman. If I were able to remove the woman this advertisement would look homosexual in nature. But because of that one woman the fantasy is created. A three-some or more; but the three-some would not be encouraged unless it was seen to be a heterosexual act involving a woman. If the woman wasn't involved the masculinity of the men would come into question.

Berkowitz discussed in his study how groups of mixed genders, in porn shops, made the men feel like they had to exaggerate their masculinity to stay masculine. I feel that the Dolce & Gabbana image is doing the same thing; all of these men are looking down at the woman as an object of lust, their interest is directed at the woman, and some have taken off their shirts to become more masculine themselves. The men in this image are obviously the dominating ones who have taken control of the helpless woman.

I also included the lyrics I'M Real (by: Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez) to this blog because it depict scripts and how (men) “And it's like their all the same”. These lyrics also discuss the lust for sex. Not really love but sex. It goes on to talk about settling because the relationship is not improving. This song is a little confusing because it talks about so many different subjects. It discusses how men are all the same; they have the same “insecurities” or traits. It also goes into how Lopez says she is being “real”.

But what is real? Media is creating rules that we have to follow or else we get teased, bullied, asked about our masculinity/feminity, or looked down upon by our society. These scripts in our society tell us how to think. Right now scripts are beginning to change but we are still encouraged to be heterosexual. Men are encouraged to be the pursuer of women while women are supposed to be the pursued.