Seeing Lesbians through a Predisposed Media

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Seeing Lesbians through a Predisposed Media
The way in which the media represents lesbians is subject to changes in time and dominant political themes. For example, the mere idea of starting a television series based on the lives of lesbians would have most probably caused an outrage in the 1950`s and 1960`s. This is because such ideas would not have been considered to be in line with dominant political and cultural themes of the time, which lay more emphasis on the division of labor and the primary role of females as a ‘caretaker` characterized by active participation in domestic roles. However, during the 1990`s the idea of a woman as taking responsibility of her own life and participating in outdoor activities and roles began to be accepted, due to the recognition and contribution of feminism as a significant ideology. Following that, it has become relatively easier to recognize and accept the existence and contributions of homosexuals, in the years that have followed. Likewise, this change in the dominant mentality of the population has been reflected in the media. However, I would like to argue that despite the growing recognition of free will, individuality, and the overall liberty of self expression in our generation, the media seems to lean slightly more in favor of the classic heterosexual depiction of women, in general, which inevitably reinforces traditional gender roles and ideas regarding sexuality.
This idea has been supported in the article by Jayne Caudwell, wherein she uses examples of two popular movies, namely, Girlfight and Bend it like Beckham, to illustrate this point. She makes it clear that in both movies, there are times during which the seemingly concrete lines or boundaries that differentiate being straight from being lesbian, are rather vague, despite the fact that the main characters are essentially straight CITATION Jay09 \l 1033 (Caudwell). Personally, I think that such movies tend to reinforce principles of heteronormativity. This is because their glory lies in the fact that they are responsible for depicting the social as well as somewhat political tensions and oppositions that may arise due to the transgression from the traditional gender roles, for these women.
Taking Beirne`s article regarding The L word into consideration, she highlights the fact that the notion of lesbian femininity can be quite diverse. That is to say, she asserts how the series recognizes the idea of lesbians coming in different shapes and sizes, and possessing a large variety of characteristics CITATION Reb06 \l 1033 (Beirne). These individual traits need not consist of behaviors that are primarily associated with males in particular. For example, as the series illustrates, it is quite possible for lesbians to be trendy and sweet while also being very possessive at the same time, which is a trait associated with masculinity.
Moreover, the series also de...