WGSS11 PDF - Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Theories

Sept 3 Ideology is a body of ideas reflecting the social needs of an individual, or group. Class and cultures Categories of ideology - Explicit movies/tv/videos that are constructed to teach or persuade - Implicit: film/tv/video show values but the...

Sept 3 Ideology is a body of ideas reflecting the social needs of an individual, or group. Class and cultures Categories of ideology - Explicit movies/tv/videos that are constructed to teach or persuade - Implicit: film/tv/video show values but they are not swelled upon and more signals that messages Ideologies examples - Capitalism - Socialism.communism - Feminism - Environmentalism - Nationalism - Cultureal relativism - Religious fundamentalism - Romanticism - Moral relativism Sept 10 NO CLASSES AT ALL September 15-21st THIS WEEK - READ Homonatorvity 101 - READ A genealogy of queerbating: legal codes, production codes, bury your gays” - READ the 100 - Watch “Straight Acting” Last class recap (8-29) ABSENT - Ideology - Forms of power - Cultivation theory - Radical sexual thought - The charmed circle Two categories of ideology - Expicet or implicit - Do not necessarily say it but rather do things to infer the ideology Power: the ability to control a person or outcome typically against their say THREE FORMS OF POWER: - Discursive power (hold each other in society accountable) - Institutional power - System of power (foundation beliefs and practices created for society)  Cultivation theoryhy - Discovered that if you were to be exposed to media it would adjust your perspective - Morphed your reality Charmed Circle - Tak about how sexuality is similar to gender…it is a product of society - Inner curly “normal sexual practices” - Outer circle “bad sexual practices” Heteronormativity: - Promotes the idea that everyone is born heteronomativity cisnormativity: - Promoted the idea that cisgender is the norm or “default” Homonormativity: - The privileging of heteronormative ideals and constructs onto queer community - Intersects with different demographics Queer mainstream Norms - Normative assumptions around queer identities and communities - White, able-bodied, educated rich, citizen straight passing …ect Society began to accept the queer population who met the ideology they expect - Expected them to follow the Charmed Circle The Human Rights Campain - Not helping ppl of color - only benefit ppl who were heteronormatice Black Lives Matter - Had a hierarchy - Black men - Black women - Queer black ppl - Black trans Me too movement - Terry Crew - Didn't want to acknowledge his experience from his perspective Sept 12 Hays Codes (duscssion bourd) - Known as the motion picture production code - A set of “moral” guidelines - Aimed to regulate content and media - Wanted to appeal to the ideology - Cime and criminals - The bad guy loses, Good guy wins Sexual content: - Sticict limitations - Prohibited sexual scenes or lustful attitude  - Disallowed explicit references to sexual conduct na nudity Religion - Had to be painted in a positive light Language - profanity and vulgar language Morality - Were expected to portray characters in a way that upholds societal values and promotes “moral” behavior (gender roles) TROPE: common recognizable themes and plots seen in media/ story cliches The trope can be a variety of things such as theme symbol device character and more If you have seen tropes consistently in media can alter your reality gay/queer: insinuate they are struggling Queer characters in media created an idea that they were not allowed to be happy or weren't BURY YOUR GAY TROPE - Been in media since the early 19th century - Queer characters were portrayed as - Hypersexual - Voctums - Criminals - Tortured souls - Used their death as a form of justice, leaving the audience with a sense of relief - The queer community is using these tropes as a way to preserve themselves - The deaths of queer characters are used as a way to motivate the lot - Used queer character as character development for the hetero character This trope also feeds into the idea that people from the lgbtqia community are miserable THE LEXA PLEDGE - Hollywood had a pledge and was signed by the produced and writer - The idea was to receive the gay trope - Othe said that “struggling was a human experience” so they didn't feel the need to illuminate the queer trope Queercode: context so rich that we as the audience can confidently assume the character is queer without having to validate it Queer Bating HARM - Marketing technique ot reach a queer audience - Showcasing a new representation of queerness - Show a marginalized community in the hetero gaze - Often used for capital gain - Feed stereotypes and keep the population from seeing this group of people as ‘regular” Sept 24 - Autobiabophy MIDTERM 20pt of grade APA - sissy trope: flamboyant men - epistemology: the investigation of the nature of knowledge itself How and where do we get the information to conclude Sept 26 - Start thinking about midterm - this week, 5 videos, 2 readings DQ The lecture continued (the cultural power of the television Epistemology of the closet - Investigate knowledge and security Closet - Never something that happens once - Fundamental features of social life - Concealment of identity - Binaries - in/out - hetero/homo - Majority/minority - Same/Different Queering early television - Early television was not seen as artists but rather education and a way to send out a message about ideology - Little to no queer representation - Convos about queerness were mostly regulated on local talk shows OCT. 1 Masculinity and gaming - Online gaming sites identified how gender may not only be performed, but some ideal genders may be exaggerated in play practice. - Masculinity in online gaming is described as aggressive, violent, misogynist and homophobic. It is also more stereotypical and rigid than masculinity performed in - "real life" - Play and gaming has traditionally been a place for children to experience boyhood, to develop and define their gender. How video game demonstrate hypermasculinity - A term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression and sexuality Ways male characters demonstrate hypermasculinity 1. Showcasing strength by having and showing muscles  By having large and powerful weapons 2. Displaying aggression by dominating others with violent action 3. Practicing sexuality Mass Effect Fox News - Militarized Masculinity: A type of masculinity where "Masculine activities" such as violence, domination, and warfare tendencies are portrayed by hyper-masculine characters, especially men. - Hypermasculinity and Militarized Masculinity constantly redefine what it means to be a "man", through male socialization and the complex narrative based around typically male contexts, such as war, fighting, sports, and hero stories. - Digital games provide a space for this embodied play practice where gamers can die trying to prove their manhood Female character designs in Video games - Playable female characters appear less frequently than male characters. - When playable female characters are available, they are often hyper-sexualized than their male counterparts. - Dead or Alive Xtreme - Female characters are often upholding traditional gender norms and are often supporting characters. - Obvious critiques against these worst types of oversexualized designs are that they breed misogyny and sexual harassment. Queerness in video game - Heteronormativity and cisnormativity are the dominant ideologies in video games. - Playersexuality: When the sexuality of the romanceable characters is molded to suit the player. - the bisexual game mechanic is the most common form of queer representation in contemporary gaming. - "opt-in" gay content or the "Gay Button". When a game, on the surface, is straight and queer content can only be accessed if you choose to and try to seek it out. OCT. 8 No class on Tuesday Oct, 10 Lesbian portrayal in media - Lesbian representation in scarce - PANDOA BOX 1926 - Runs form man - More conforamtl with intimacy with other women - Lack of interest in mae attention - Lebinism and MALE GAZE - A concept i feminist thery that de scibes the way women are viewed and portrayed as sexual objects for pleasure of hetero men - Chracter wher emena tot be feared (problem) - Never about representation and more about showing what wold happen  - New queer era - - independent films created ot ocmat the negative stereotypes that were affect who society portrayed the queer community - A ajorty of lebien representation are still being done bu hetero men and therefore made through male gaze OCT. 22 - Semiotics the study of signs and symbols to interpret the world around us. - Key concepts - signs= a what being show’ signifier the c concept being portrayed - denotation= literal meaning - connotation= refers to the cultural or emotional association- attachment of meaning - codes= systems of signs that create meaning in media ( ca include music effects, tropes and structures and visuals) - Myth; ideology through cultural values - Com. act. - 1. Eale sexuation fro promotion and marketing Gender vs sex - Week two review. - transgender/ body dysphoria (misconception; not only those fo the trans community ) - - dominate ideo. Beliefs that trans individuals should fully assimilate - good/bad trans - Can pass as being cisgender - Transitioning: - Social transitioning: nae, pronounce, clothing - Medical transitioning; hormone surgeries and medical procedures - Legal: changing gender marking on identification documents ‘ - Transnormativity: refers to ways in which certain transgender identities and experiences are more privileged than others - Structure trans community into a hierarchy - Conformity to binary gender normas: - Medicalization of gender: - Visibility and representation; are rewarded with less oppression if they are at the top of this hierarchy - Use their identity as a way to justify transphobia - Trans in history/ PBS video in the canvas - Drag - Dress up and perform in a highly stylized way - For entertainment purposes/ not the same as trans–usually cisgender Victims and villains - In media, only about 12 % were considered groundbreaking, fair, and accurate in the last 10 years - Cross duress- a gender person that stresses as the opposite gender  - The murdering cross-dresser trope - The ‘real body” trope; relates true body at the end of the movie Oct.29 - True body trope - Reinforces notions of heteronormativity cisnormativity, patriarchy ect. Other tropes - Unhappy, menstrual ill, sexual predators, outcast, murders, victim, a problem to society whites= refer to the way that white dominant culture (customs, practices, or beliefs) operate as the standard by which all other groups are compared - Whiteness is the core understanding of race in America and has created a culture where nonwhite people are seen as inferior or abnormal - Used as a method of ranking human differences - Race was made for racism Racism def. - Discrimination or prejudice based on race - The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others. This creates power dynamics and created a feeling of superiority in the dominant race and inferiority in the subservient race Race = a social construct that catergorizes people based on physical characteristics Witness was used to provide the logic for genocide, slavery, and laws like Jim Crow Where did the concept of race come from?: - When European colonizers categorize newfound ethnicities - Scientific racism: the information that there was a superior race through “science’ - Siocial and poltical context: savery, soloniolism Privilege: he cultural currency afforded to a person or group of persons who are recognized as possessing desired social or political characteristics. Privle is the stability society gives White privilege; the inherent advantages possessed by a white person based on their race in a society characterized by inequality and injustice - Oct.31 - Witness - - Race Where did the concept of race come from?: - When European colonizers categorize newfound ethnicities - Scientific racism: the information that there was a superior race through “science’ - Siocial and poltical context: savery, soloniolism - Rasiscm  - - Privilege - he cultural currency afforded to a person or group of persons who are recognized as possessing desired social or political characteristics. - Privle is the stability society gives - White privilege - the inherent advantages possessed by a white person based on their race in a society characterized by inequality and injustice - White supremacy - - White gaze - Assume that the audience is white - Created nnarritive, plot, and storylines appeal to white audiences only Intersectionality - The interconnected nature of all our social identities - How we navigate through the world - Aknoedle the advantages and damages of our overlap in our identities Black feminist - Criticizes rights and feminist movement - Allowed the specific group - Hiprocecy: left queer black women out How intersectionality affects the LGBTQ2+ community - Gender passing Homonormativity: - The privileging of heteronormative ideals and constructs onto queer community - Intersects with different demographics Representation or cultural appropriation - The film industry centered around witness A stage model of representation - Sept one: Invisibility or nonrecognition - A race or ethnicity group rarely appears on the screen at all - Step two: Ridicule - A group will appear more frequently, yet will be depicted in consistently stereotypical ways - Step three: regulation - An ethnic group might find themselves depicted primarily in roles upholding the social order such as judge or police officers - Step four: Respect: in which members of the group occupy diverse and nuances roles Theoretical impotence of media stereotypes - Media construction of culture, race, and ethnicity remains important to study because of their potential impact on both sociological and psychological phenomena Primary and cognitive accessibility  - Suggests that media consumption encourages the creation of mental shortcuts used to make relevant judgments about various social issues - Orientalism: - Expaeragte stereotype to add to the plot Had an impact on politics and social discourse that encourages social violence Social identity theory and media judgments - Following the privileged group view towards other - The ingroup leading the outgroup follows whatever their option is Counter-narratives - An alternative or contradictory narrative. It is a strategy of bringing the stories and life experiences to this we are often on the outskirts of society Whiteness was to judge nonwhite people and cultures Nov. 14 Nov 24- rough draft (1000 word min./3-4 pg.) 2 in-class sources/ 2 outside scourses Peer review dec. 15 Final draft due Dec. 19 Final assignment: (define and explain its relation to the film) - Queer theory - Functions of queer and gender criticism - Ideology (is it implicit or explicit?) - Semiotics (talk about what the signs and symbols are suggesting) - A stage model of representation (what stage is the film in)(still talk about all the stages) Nov. 19 Dec. 3 is the last in-person class Final projects 2 in an doutside scources - ( 24th )Part one: queer fill video analysis- first draft COMPLETED) - ( 25th )Peer review (credit no credit) - ( )Queer film video analysis Ideologies to avoid -cisnormativity/heteronormativity (already talking about this later in the essay) Idelologi- feminism, nationalism, environmentalism, individualism, patriarchy, queer theory Themes- love, friendship Semiotics - Ding- anything that stands for or represents something else - Signifier- the physical form of the sign (word, image, sound) - Signified: the concept or meaning the signifier represents