The Portrayal of Sexuality in the Media

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The media is a large part of our everyday lives; everywhere we go we can find a source of media. It influences our thoughts, feelings and behaviours every day as it is a huge influence in today’s society. Society heavily relies on the media to show them what is in the norm and what is going on in the world. The media also serves as another way to display the normative of the society. Sexuality is a big part in the media and what is appropriate sexuality. The media negatively affects the people who do not fit society’s ideal normative. This includes people with a sexuality that is not the normative of heterosexuality. In the media, these people of other sexualities are excluded and made to feel they do not fit into society. My pyramid shows how society classifies people by their sexuality in the media. This involves highlighting the normative sexuality and excluded any other sexuality from the mainstream media. In today’s modern society, the media plays a large role in our everyday lives. We are each affected by the media each and every day as it is everywhere we go. The media surrounds us an influences our behaviour and our perception of the world. The media influences how people think and feel, especially about what is considered “normal”. People depend heavily on the media to inform them on what is important in the world and what is normal in the sense of how people dress, look, and behave. The media wants to target the “in” audience. The media wants to give the people what they want, and what people want is the normative because that is how society works, as also argued by Carrera et al. when they say “The implication of sex-gender in heteronormativity has been at the forefront of much trans activism.” (2013) The media display... ... middle of paper ... ...es that support other sexualities. This shows how heteronormative our society is. The pictures used in the pyramid are actual magazine covers which clearly displays the heteronormativity ideal by the media. Below are the only selective few media displays of gays, lesbians and transgenders. Finding these magazines was incredibly hard, most of the magazines that are directed for homosexuals and transgenders are not on store shelves but must be ordered. This shows that the medias main focus is heterosexuals and the media excludes any other sexuality much like society does. The media is a clear display of the society ideals of heteronormativity. It excludes any other sexuality and continues to enforce the idea of heterosexuality as being the most ideal sexuality. This pyramid and the contents on it show how the media is still promoting the notion of heteronormativity.

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