I already responded to OP, I made my position clear above. They wanted a discussion and I'm offering an alternative view. That's my right
Lack of diversity in LGBTQ+ tv shows and how it has an effect in the real world
- Thread starter Jhughes1995
- Start date
This is an important conversation for the LGBTQ community to have but you probably won't find intelligent discourse here. This is the place every white guy with an instagram has a dedicated thread, but every black guy is in the Black Men thread. Gay guys in a nutshell. Pay attention to who comes out to present AlTeRnAtIVe ViEwS whenever anyone asks why gay media is overwhelmingly white.
How does this help the discussion if you're going to dismiss a large part of the community? It feels like you're labeling every white guy as racist which means they can't have an opinion on lgbt representation.
It feels more like you're unable to have a conversation about race without feeling like your own racism is being called out and uncomfortably deflecting in an attempt to dismiss the point being made, probably because you consider yourself liberal. Again, gay guys in a nutshell.
Well, you kinda entered the thread and implied that the 2 pages of discussion before yours are not “intelligent discourse”. Would you mind contributing some of the intelligent discourse that you feel is missing in this thread? For example.. by answering the less intelligent posts that came before yours, or by providing your own view?
I am in my mid-50s. Back when I was growing up there were almost no gay characters on TV and when there were the portrayals were usually bad. The fact that we are having this discussion shows how far we have come. Fact is there are gay african american characters on TV. First of all have you ever watched Pose??? It's excellent TV and features tons of diverse and interesting queer characters. Marcus on Hacks is a complex compelling character who is an over-achiever, nerdy, handsome, gay and black and has sexy love interests and a complex personality and storyline. The Last of us episode someone mentioned was fantastic and actually very realistic feeling in terms of the characters and their relationship. I think with these things you just can't force them, you have to let them happen organically. We have come a long way and should be thankful for the progress we have made.
A somewhat older excellent show with a handsome interracial gay couple was Six feet under.
Yes, good show. Scandal also had a gay older couple which isn't something you see often and a couple of gay actors in various roles. It was made by Shonda so things got a bit crazy towards the end.
Nothing is ever good enough for some people. They just live to complain or find things to be negative about. Progress is never quite fast enough.
Perfectly summed up. They are glass half empty minded people rather than glass half full. They want to wallow in their suffering and oppression instead of focusing on the positive. I was that type of person once upon a time. Glad to have moved on. It's a miserable outlook
What does letting it happen organically mean? Did non white LGBTQ people show up later in human history than white ones?
First the premise that there are no queer people of color on TV is false. Second, if you believe there are not enough queer people of color on TV what exactly do you want to do about it? Organically means it happens and is not forced. Like the examples I gave.
Explain to me how overwhelmingly white media is organic and not forced, considering white people are 60% of the US, not 90%.
So what do you propose doing about it? You are just complaining and not offering concrete solutions and then jumping on people with different views.
I can't answer the question without a better understanding of why the majority of [a certain demographic within the LGBTQ community] thinks massive statistical overrepresentation of white men is a preferred operating model.
heinz.friedrich
Expert Member
Discrimination on shallow characteristics is pretty normal which is sad. But people are always judged on their bodily characteristics, nomatter if they are gay or straight. Men that are taller experience more respect from other people than smaller men. The sex sites are based on shallow characteristics and so on.
The disctintion is totally arbitrary.
I am also discriminated. I am nearly never represented, because I am not AMerican. I view other identities like the location as more important than race. US-American make up 330 million people and Afro-Eurasian are 6.7 billion people and actors of famous movies always live in the USA or another English speaking country, although it should be the other way around.
I can identify Asians, Africans and European but not AMerican because of their privileges, they did not experience the same struggles as I.
Ok that last sentence was a joke but the discussion are pretty stupid on these kind of topics so forgive me
People have to learn to identify with everybody nomatter if they are black or white or something else or even straight. That is basic empathy. That is why I always promote spirituality. You learn to see the unity of all people instead of separating people into an hierarchy.
If you identify more with specific people than others you have a bias. That is always a sign of negativity. You have a bias towards your own sexuality. I never cared about sexual orientation in movies. You have a bias towards your fittness in films and towards your race. That is what I read into your texts.
Your biases can be in both direction. You can see your race or fittness as superior or inferior. In both cases you should accept yourself and others as they are. You live far better this way in contrast to people that separate people contantly into different groups.
heinz.friedrich
Expert Member
Media is overwhelmingly American and English speaking. I think there is even an overrepresentation of black people in specific regions like the UK in the media. You cannot simply say overrepresentation or underrepresentation is discrimination that is not a very thoughtful thinking process. I explain that below.
There are different jobs that have different averages. You have an overrepresentation of women in specific fields and men in other fields. You have an overrepresatation of black people in sports you have an overrepresentation of other groups in other fields.
You have to compare the interests and the resources of specific groups and also the cultures. Jews had an overrepresentation in specific field in the Weimar REpublic. That does not mean they are evil or so. That has to do with specific factors. Of course, The Nazis thought that has to do with evil intent. But you have to look at it through an unbiased lense. You have a specific identity and you usually privilege your own identity in your thinking process.
The main media is in Hollywood ( I guess) and you also have to look who studies this media stuff and what the race distribution is in this region. California has a lot of Asians (I guess) so the companies usually reflect that and have an overrepresentation. But I dont think they are so interested in becoming Hollywood stars. So that factor can also influence the media representation.
The media does not reflect the country as a whole, because people do not necessarily move. They want to stay near their family.
THe porn industry is ( I dont know where) but you have to consider the region as a factor, too. There is so much you have to consider.
I bias against a race would be: If you have too equally qualified people and you choose always the person of one race. I bias is not automatically the representation as there are so many factors.
No, they wouldn't. They would argue that movies like Moonlight are perfect examples of the point that even if gay media becomes more inclusive of demographics other than white men, the universality of the stories is not impacted at all. White people are the ones who think they can't relate to stories about people of color and go out of their way not to consume them, not the other way around. People of color have never lived in a world where they were not expected to internalize the universality of white stories.
Brokeback Mountain, Call Me By Your Name, Philadelphia, Bros, Carol, Boy Erased, My Policeman, Love Simon, The Danish Girl, etc. -- all of these are about white people yet are considered important "LGBTQ" stories, not "White LGBTQ" stories. When this is pointed out as problematic and indicative of larger issues navigating LGBTQ spaces, white gays come out in droves to say things like:
A. Stop complaining
B. Fix it yourself
C. I don't have a problem with it
D. You should be lucky you're represented at all
E. Moonlight and Pose exist
Please tell me how any of those options is helpful or represents a shared sense of community? I'll wait.
A. Stop complaining
B. Fix it yourself
C. I don't have a problem with it
D. You should be lucky you're represented at all
E. Moonlight and Pose exist
Please tell me how any of those options is helpful or represents a shared sense of community? I'll wait.
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