It Ain T Easy Being Bisexual On Tv Summary

661 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sexual orientation in the media

Amy Zimmerman, the author of It Ain’t Easy Being Bisexual on TV, successfully conveys her point that the media falsely portrays bisexuals on television. This article targets TV watchers in order to inform them that what they watching is false. The author wants readers to stop believing everything they see on TV. Zimmerman is effective at persuading her readers that bisexuals and bisexuality is portrayed incorrectly in the media through her use of examples from TV shows.

Zimmerman affectively uses pathos in order to get her point across. She provokes emotion by analyzing shows that people love. Zimmerman encourages her readers to feel excitement by talking about what they already know. From “…award winning television series from Netflix first broadcast in 2013…” (565) Orange is the New Black, Lary King’s talk show, Game of Thrones, to House of Cards her readers are sure to know one of these shows. Presenting …show more content…

Zimmerman does not leave you to guess who these characters are or what show they are from. Yet again, Zimmerman appeals through emotion to her audience. She includes information about shows and characters that people are raving about. By doing this Zimmerman is showing her readers that she understands not everyone who reads her article will have watched these shows. Including these little pieces of information to her unaware readers portrays empathy towards her audience. For example, Zimmerman includes a concise sentence packing in all the information you need to understand what she is talking about when referring to Orange is the New Black. She says, “…Piper Chapman, who describes herself as a “former lesbian” who has only ever been interested in women…” (565). By including this piece of information readers are able to understand all the information they need to know about Pieper’s love in order to make sense of the article. This enables the reader to feel more connected to the text as well as the

Show More
Related

  • Wal-Mart vs. Pyramids, by Laura Carlsen

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pathos in persuasive writing involves engaging the readers’ emotion. In the article, Carlson’s use of pathos is clearly present. She uses phrases such as “phenomenal takeover”, “commercial conquest”, “alleged discrimination”, and “cultural insensitivity” to describe Wal-Mart. These are powerful words of rhetoric in the sense that this language is used to a pick a side, one against the Wal-Mart franchise. These statements also arouse emotion by personifying the company as an empire, per say, overtaking territories everywhere. This, along with the use of language, such as discrimination and insensitivity, clearly evoke a negative outlook on Wal-Mart. Carlson is also able to conjure up anger amongst the reader by showing how Wal-Mart could care less for the land they are building on, as workers “had orders to hide any archaeological relics they found.” By presenting a side for her audience to take and her jab at Wal-Mart, Laura is able to appeal to the reader’s emotion and successfully includes pathos in her persuasive argument.

    Read More

  • Media's Influence on Sex, Gender, and Identity Perception

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sex and Gender was the subject of the two movies Dreamworlds 3 and Further Off The Straight & Narrow. In Dreamworlds 3 Sex is portrayed as a status of life and happiness in the media. This media displays people as objects that can be manipulated for sexual pleasure. As the media is populated with sex it tiptoes around gender, specifically that of gays or lesbians. The film Further Off The Straight & Narrow emphasized the movement through media gay and lesbian topics. This text analyzes iconic television programs and how they reflect the societal stance during that time. As a member of a generation that has had the topic of these issues prominent I believe they are important but are banal. In this reflection I will be responding to two questions, what would woman driven Dreamworlds look like? And Do you agree with the statement that if you are not on television you don’t exist?

    Read More

  • On LBGTQ Issues and Interviewing a Lesbian Person

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    For my interview portion of this response I interviewed a friend of mine named Nicole who is a bisexual. When I asked her about her fears of coming out her she said that her only fear was being seen as some kind of pervert or sexual predator.” I came out to my friends first, some were shocked but soon it just became something that people just knew and after awhile it became just as relevant as my hair color”. She also stated that after she came out to her friends some of those friends came out to her soon after. She admitted she was treated differently by people because of the discrimination bisexuals get by both hetrosexuals and homosexuals.“People tolerate bisexuals but they are not respected” She said that many people treated her as if she was confused or like she was only pretending to like girls because they believe that would attract men. She explained that most people tend to believe that bisexuality doesn’t exist.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Ray Comfort's '180'

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the “180” movie Ray Comfort outstandingly used rhetorical appeal throughout his argument in a thorough way to further grasp his audience’s attention. He used pathos, ethos, and logos during the course of his dispute of abortion and the Holocaust. Comfort uses pathos more frequently than the other two appeals, to plea to the audience’s heart strings. An example of when pathos was used was when

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Still Separate Still Unequal

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, the emotion is felt when Kozol speaks to a student from a New York, Bronx high school, “Think of it this way,” said a sixteen-year-old girl. “If people in New York woke up one day and learned that we were gone…how would they feel? Then when asking how she thought the people of New York would feel she replied, “I think they’d be relieved” (Kozol 205). By mentioning the thoughts and emotions of individuals involved with the issues of school system segregation and inequality his reader cannot help but develop a feeling of empathy for children that feel as if no one cares about them and their issue. Kozol also uses pathos effectively by reading letters to his reader he received from young elementary school children that are not afforded the same amenities as other children in wealthier school systems, amenities such as toilet paper or the appropriate amount of restrooms. Which causes students to hold the urge to relieve themselves out of fear of being late for class (Kozol 214). With the proper use of pathos, Kozol places the reader in the same situation and assistances the reader with an understanding of his reason for conveying a concern to help children in this unfortunate situation. Another example of Pathos is when he speaks of the letters that came from third-grade children asking for help with getting them better things. He mentions a letter that had the most affected on him that came from a girl named Elizabeth, “It is not fair that other kids have a garden and new things. But we don’t have that.” (Kozol 206). This example being only one example of the few things mentioned in the letter. The tone of the little girl from when Kozol reads gives a pitiful and sad feeling. By stating this, it acts on the reader’s emotional state which creates a sense of wanting to resolve the problem of

    Read More

  • Lyndon B Johnson Use Of Ethos Pathos Logos

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    For example, Johnson used pathos to touch people’s hearts. He states it by saying, “Long suffering men and women peacefully protested the denial of rights as Americans. Many were brutally assaulted. One good man, a man of God, was killed.” (Johnson, n.d.)

    Read More

  • Male Bashing On Tv Analysis

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    Michael Abernathy’s article “Male Bashing on TV” uses many television sources and percentages to explain how men are treated like idiots inside of the media. Abernathy is a television reviewer, cultural critic, and queer culture commentator (350). While Heather Havrilesky's article “TV’s New Wave of Women:Smart, Strong, Borderline Insane” is the opposite and uses television sources to explain how women are treated as smart yet crazy inside of the media. These two articles describe how men and women are portrayed differently in television shows and the media. The articles have smaller subtopics in common which are the portrayal of men and women in the media, the comparison of men and women in each article, and how Abernathy and Havrilesky want

    Read More

  • Erotic Objectification: Equally Degrading

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    This essay sets out to distinguish how male characters can be portrayed in the same fashion as their female counterparts, and therefore become subjected to the same erotic objectification. This will be researched under the circumstances that the production revolves around gay characters and the assumed audience is exchanged from a homogenous crowd of heterosexual spectators, to a homogenous crowd of homosexual spectators. To support this claim there will be references to a segment from the American remake of the television series Queer as Folk (USA, dev. Ron Cowen, Daniel Lipman, 2000-2005) where Brian Kinney (Gale Harold) and Justin Taylor (Randy Harris) first meet.

    Read More

  • Essay On Bisexuality

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the most enabling definitions of bisexuality comes from a bisexual activist named Robyn Ochs. According her her, “bisexuality is the potential to be attracted – romantically and/or sexually – to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree” (Ochs). However, bisexuality did not always refer to sexual orientation. One of the first uses of the word ‘bisexual’ can be found in Psychopathia Sexualis, a late nineteenth-century forensic study authored by psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. The study was one among many which pathologized homosexuality. In this work, however, ‘bisexuality’ is used to describe what is now known as ‘intersexuality’ in which “a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male” (Eisner 14-15; What is Intersex?). Sigmund Freud’s idea of bisexuality more closely fits what we know as bisexuality today, however he regarded it as a primitive sexuality found in male children which would develop into heterosexuality or homosexuality later on (Eisner 15). Appropriately, one of the first people to refer to bisexuality as a normal, viable sexual orientation was Alfred Kinsey, himself a bisexual (Queen and Lawrence 1216). According to him, “the world is not to be divided into sheep and goats. Not all things are black nor all things white” (Kinsey 639). Though as many as 1.8% of Americans identify as bisexual, many people continue to discriminate against them or assert that they do not exist (Gates). This kind of marginalization is known as biphobia. On the whole, the Wikipedia article for biphobia covers a variety of topics and presents goo...

    Read More

  • Media Portrayal of Transgender Characters

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    The depiction of transgender women characters in mainstream television has been offensive, insulting and derogatory. An article from GLADD called “Victims or Villains: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television”, examines 102 episodes and storylines on mainstream television that contained transgender characters since 2002. Of these, more than half were characterized as containing negative representations of transgender. In 2007 only 1% of television series had a recurring transgender character, which has slowly increased to 4% in 2013.

    Read More

  • Bisexuality And Bisexuality

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bisexuals are typically misunderstood, because they do not belong with the homosexual community or the straight community. They are commonly referred to as “fence sitters,” who are not invested in the interests of either community. In The Scientific Quest to Prove Bisexuality Exists, there was an example of a bisexual woman who felt that she could not even come out to the lesbian community at her college. The fact that one sexual orientation minority might actually fear another sexual minority based upon inaccurate stereotypes is a tragedy in the least. The stereotype that bisexual people are untrustworthy, and create a “wild card” of insecurity in a relationship has made them shunned by both gay and straight partners. Bisexuals are often not even taken seriously due to the assumption that they cannot maintain a monogamous relationship. In Bisexuality: The Psychology and Politics of an Invisible Minority, this stereotype was debunked

    Read More

  • Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and the Media - Lesbians on TV

    3592 Words  | 8 Pages

    When television first appeared back in the 1940's, times were very different.  What we would consider completely normal today would have seemed quite taboo just a few decades ago. For example, in 1953, Lucille Ball was not allowed to say the word "pregnant" while she was expecting baby Ricky and it wasn't until the 1960's show Bewitched, that we saw a married couple actually sharing the same bed.  Considering how conservative the television networks were back then, it is not hard to deduce that something as controversial as homosexuality would be far from discussed or portrayed at any level.  It was only in 1973 that television premiered its first homosexual character.  Over the next three decades the emergence of gay and lesbian characters in television has increased and decreased as the times have changed. Due to the resurgence of conservatism that came back in the early 1980's, homosexual topics were again reduced to a minimum.  Since that time though, as many people can see, there has been a rise of gay and lesbian characters on television. One might think after a first glance at the previous sentence that there has been progress among gay and lesbian communities to have a fair representation in the media.  However, if one looks hard at the circumstances surrounding their portrayal, many people may start to believe that if there has been any progress then it has been quite minimal.

    Read More

  • Gay and Lesbian Visibility in Movies and Television

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 1990s saw surge of gay characters in both television and movies. From Ellen Degeneres and her character Ellen Morgan coming out under much scrutiny on the TV show ‘Ellen,’ to Julia Roberts and Rupert Everett comedically playing off each other in the motion picture ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding.’ Sure, gays and lesbians have been around forever, especially in Hollywood. But never has there been a time to be more out. With the popularity of shows like Will and Grace, which feature leading gay characters, as well as Dawson’s Creek and it’s supporting character of teenager Jack McPhee, we are slowly seeing gay and lesbian characters creeping into the mainstream media.

    Read More

  • Reason why People Watch Reality TV Shows

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    A second reason for people’s love of reality television, is the fact that reality TV can stir the viewer’s emotions. “While some cheer for their favorite celebrity on Dancing with the Stars….” (Lehmann). “ Or cry with joy watching Say Yes to the Dress…” ( Lehmann). These are just two of many example quotes that show that people sometimes get very emotional by simply watching other people live out their lives so publicly. Many people id...

    Read More

  • LGBT Community and Discrimination.

    1284 Words  | 3 Pages

    Adam Sharpiro, Megan Schultz, Christina Roush, Cassandra Schofar, Emily Shilling, Tawnia Simpson, Natalie Sampiller. Portrayal of Homosexuality in Media. 26 March 2014 .

    Read More

More about It Ain T Easy Being Bisexual On Tv Summary

Open Document