Not Queer Enough by Brittny May

 NOT QUEER ENOUGH

By Brittny May

Television and films are ways for the general audience to have access to many stories around the world. For many the media we consume as individuals directly influences many aspects of our life. Queer representation, although better than years prior, is still not enough. All media is up for our own interpretation unless stated otherwise. They are constructed to represent people, places, and events. 

Queer representation in TV and film can be particularly impactful for young people. Eve Ng, an associate professor of media arts and studies at Ohio University, notes that representation can normalize queerness for everyone, regardless of sexuality, but that it is especially important for validating and helping younger audiences who are still in the process of self-discovery. She also states, "For queer young people, they're often still coming out to themselves, so it's not just, 'I want to see myself.' It's 'Wait, am I queer too?'" (Dong 2020). It helps individuals learn more about themselves instead of being stuck with a straight forward point of view it allows them to get an open mind.  

Overview of Findings (2020) | GLAAD

The GLAAD organization plays an especially important role by gathering statistics on queer representation. Their Studio Responsibility Index (SRI) maps the quantity, quality and diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) characters in films released by eight major motion picture studios during a calendar year. They have been doing this since 2013 with their goal being to increase fair, accurate, and inclusive LGBTQ+ representation in films. For its 2020 report, which was released Thursday, GLAAD analyzed the eight film studios that had the highest theatrical grosses in 2019 and found that of the 118 films released from these major studios last year, 22 included LGBTQ characters, marking the highest percentage of inclusive films in the report's eight-year history (Aviles 2020). Although, the inclusivity of this representation was sluggish because many of the characters had just less than 3 minutes of screen time and even less racial diversity than the year prior.

The reason I chose this topic is because for me the lack of representation lead to me start questioning my sexuality to just barely a few years ago. In middle and high school, I never really gave it much thought but I genuinely questioned why I was so disinterested in "boy" talk and absolutely felt uncomfortable when trying to date the opposite gender. I recently came out in 2017 after watching a show called One Day at a Time. I already was questioning and was still confused about my exact "label", but when I watched this show and found out just how much I related to the character of Elena it just made everything much more clearer. Everything about the show, from it being based on a small Cuban family (although im Mexican) with a grandma, mom, brother and sister to being working class to the sister finding out she likes girls was perfect. Like Eve Ng said, I wasn't really looking to being represented but more allowing myself to see a different perspective and realized "oh I actually might just be a lesbian".

References

Dong, M. (2020, September 16). How 'The Legend of Korra' changed the landscape of queer representation in animated shows. Retrieved November 9, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/09/16/how-legend-korra-changed-landscape-queer-representation-animated-shows/?arc404=true

Aviles, G. (2020, July 16). A record year for LGBTQ representation in film - for gay white men. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/record-year-lgbtq-representation-film-gay-white-men-n1234054

2020 GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index. (2020, July 16). Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.glaad.org/sri/2020