Chicks,Dicks, and Contradictions

This essay examines Playgirl as a rich, yet overlooked, archive in the history of American pornography. Although the magazine often is dismissed as the token attempt of a masculinist industry to equalize its representational politics, I argue instead that a significant synergy exists between Playgirl and entwined debates over pornography, gender, and commercialized sexuality in 1970s America. Employing established conventions of the women's magazine, Playgirl utilized that form toward granting women access to explicit images. Yet given its “better lifestyling” advice on how the sexually liberated woman might find empowerment by viewing male nudes, Playgirl's reluctance to display full-frontal nudity until the midpoint of its first year fashioned an initially compromised aesthetic. Not only were women interpolated as untutored viewers within this regime of genital obstruction, but models also were all but emasculated. Consequently, the degree of male exposure that could be handled by both viewers and models was questioned, critiqued, and debated across Playgirl's letters to the editor section, aptly entitled “In-ter-course.” As an artifact of sexual media history, Playgirl is invaluable because readers are able to trace throughout its pages the ways in which changing tides of gendered power began to problematize pornography's routine dichotomy between masculine subjectivity and female objectification.     

Portrait of a Woman Artist

The analysis of the film Camille Claudel works to uncover the textual negotiations and sources of viewing pleasure rhetorically constructed into the cinematic representation of the film's subject. I argue that female viewers, in particular, are presented with a paradoxical viewing experience as the film both invites identification with Claudel, the film's subject, at the same time that it creates a sense of distance from the woman artist through her representation as an object of the filmic gaze. I conclude that these competing images may be seen as both ideologically interesting to female viewers and simultaneously challenging for feminist ideals.     

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess: Reception of the Texts by a Sample of Lesbian Fans and Web Site Users

This qualitative study of television reception examined the ways in which a sample of lesbian fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess incorporated their experiences as viewers, fans, and Internet users with relation to their sexual identity as lesbians. Specifically, this study examined the ways in which participants used these television programs to inform their sexual identity development. Results indicated that participants used television and the Internet to normalize and affirm lesbian experience, to decrease negative feelings regarding their lesbian identities, and to decrease social isolation.     

“She invited other people to that space”: audience habitus,place, and social justice in Beyoncé’s Lemonade

We argue that place offers an effective framework for connecting popular culture with social justice narratives by exploring audience interpretations of Lemonade in 2016’s tumultuous racial climate. Working from interviews with 35 of Lemonade’s listeners/viewers regarding their understanding of the album, we argue that audience members used Lemonade to plot spaces of racial pride, community, and equality. Supporting previous audience studies’ findings, Beyoncé’s audiences engaged actively with the text and explored the complex symbolism through interpretive communities, but the audiences we spoke with also transcended these spaces. Using Lemonade as a tool to understand and reimagine historical social movements, audiences deployed the album to cultivate an anti-racist habitus in attempts to make their worlds more just.     

Entertaining mobility: the racialized and gendered nation in House Hunters International

House Hunters International invites viewers in the United States to temporarily and vicariously escape their daily lives through the stories of those fellow citizens and the occasional foreign nationals fortunate enough to buy homes abroad, including vacation homes in the tropics. Of course, other people, including viewers with access to the show, actually live their daily lives in those vacation paradises. The actors are presented as seeking an “authentic” experience away from the local population that is often tokenized and seen as static or invisible. In many instances, women and people of color who are a part of the visual landscape represent these places. This paper considers the ways the show frames mobility as entertainment, which ignores the politics of gender, race, and class that enables such mobility in the first place. This article concludes by considering María Lugones’ conceptualization of “traveling worlds” in order to propose a different way to articulate international house hunting.     

Romantic Relationships and Their Social Context Among Gay/Bisexual Male Youth in the Castro District of San Francisco

Abstract

This article examines the culture of romantic relationships among gay/bisexual male youth in the Castro District of San Francisco.

The article seeks to specify the cultural ideology that informs these relationships, drawing upon ethnographic observation, autobiographical accounts, and informant cultural exegesis. The article also seeks to link thinking and experience inside romantic relationships (e.g., bonding, jealousy) to patterns of social behavior associated with romantic relationships (e.g., relationship sequestering, cheating), showing how both are informed by shared assumptions which make these emotions and gestures intelligible to the group. Beliefs about love, compatibility, and monogamy are explored. Reciprocity, including its degradation into negative forms, is examined with focus on the units of value that are exchanged in romantic relationships, in particular sentimental gifts. Gestures of commitment that mark commencement of a romantic relationship as well as extension of the dynamics of a relationship after “breakup” (as in “revenge sex” and “rebound relationships”) are examined. Cultural systems that challenge adherence to a romantic ideology, such as a prestige economy associated with sex linked to an ethos of sexual exploration/recreation, are weighed against the pull of romance. “Drama,” a hallmark of gay youth, is viewed in the context of romantic culture.     

Pleasurable critiques: feminist viewership and criticism in Feminist Frequency,Jezebel, and Rosie Recaps

In an introduction to her webseries Tropes vs Women in Video Games, critic Anita Sarkeesian makes a disclaimer: “This series will include critical analysis of many beloved games and characters,” she says “but remember that it’s both possible, and even necessary, to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects.” Sarkeesian’s statement pre-empts a common complaint made of feminist criticism: namely, that it inhibits the consumer’s pleasure in her or his favourite texts. In this paper, I argue that feminist criticism is in fact intrinsic to many viewers’ enjoyment in popular culture. Surveying texts such as Feminist Frequency, Jezebel, and the television recap series Rosie Recaps, I develop the concept of pleasurable criticism as a way of describing the increasingly visible modes of feminist enjoyment discernible in the broader culture. By identifying pleasurable criticism as a viewing practice, this paper demonstrates how feminist criticism can be constitutive of rather than extrinsic to pleasure.     

“All of My Lovers Fit Into This Scale”: Sexual Minority Individuals’ Responses to Two Novel Measures of Sexual Orientation

Previous qualitative research on traditional measures of sexual orientation raise concerns regarding how well these scales capture sexual minority individuals’ experience of sexuality. The present research focused on the critique of two novel scales developed to better capture the way sexual and gender minority individuals conceptualize sexuality. Participants were 179 sexual minority (i.e., gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer, asexual) individuals who identified as cisgender (n = 122) and transgender (n = 57). Participants first completed the new scales, then provided qualitative responses regarding how well each scale captured their sexuality. The Sexual-Romantic Scale enabled the measurement of sexual and romantic attraction to each sex independently (same-sex and other-sex). Participants resonated with the way the Sexual-Romantic scale disaggregated sexual and romantic attraction. Although cisgender monosexual (lesbian/gay) individuals positively responded to the separation of same- and other-sex attraction, individuals with either plurisexual (bisexual, pansexual, or fluid) or transgender identities found the binary conceptualization of sex/gender problematic. The Gender-Inclusive Scale incorporated same- and other-sex attraction as well as dimensions of attraction beyond those based on sex (attraction to masculine, feminine, androgynous, and gender non-conforming individuals). The incorporation of dimensions of sexual attraction outside of sex in the Gender-Inclusive Scale was positively regarded by participants of all identities. Findings indicate that the Sexual-Romantic and Gender-Inclusive scales appear to address some of the concerns raised in previous research regarding the measurement of sexual orientation among sexual minority individuals.     

Transgender as Ingroup or Outgroup? Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Viewers Respond to a Transgender Character in Daytime Television

From November 2006 to April 2007, the daytime drama All My Children featured Zoe, the first transitioning transgender character on broadcast television. Acknowledging historical tension within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community over transgender acceptance, this study examines how lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) viewers of All My Children reacted to this character. LGB viewers were more likely to dislike the character than non-LGB viewers, yet were also more trans-supportive than non-LGB viewers. Further evaluation suggests LGB viewers' negative response to Zoe was tied not to the transgender status of the character but specifically to unhappiness with a plot development seen to threaten the identity of the lesbian character, Bianca. Applications of social identity theory and implications for community politics are discussed.     

That Man Behind the Curtain: Investigating the Sexual Online Dating Behavior of Men Who Have Sex With Men but Hide Their Same-Sex Sexual Attraction in Offline Surroundings

This study investigates how men who have sex with men (MSM) use chat and dating sites based on theories of stigma-related offline behavior and online self-disclosure. We hypothesize that hidden MSM (those who self-label as heterosexual or who hide their same-sex sexual attraction from family, friends, acquaintances, or a female romantic partner) differ from open MSM in how they behave on gay chat and dating sites and in offline gay venues. Drawing on a survey of 12,002 MSM, we show that hidden MSM tend to mask their identity on gay chat and dating sites while avoiding offline gay venues. They also focus more strongly on online sexual activities (e.g., masturbating during online chats) when using gay chat and dating sites. However, they spend the same amount of time on these sites, and they use them to initiate offline sexual encounters as often and as fast as open MSM.     

“Hedge Your Bets”: Technology’s Role in Young Gay Men’s Relationship Challenges

Technology is playing an increasingly pervasive role among young gay men in the process of meeting potential romantic or sexual partners. We investigated challenges posed by technology related to young gay men’s relationships. Focus groups (n = 9) of young gay men aged 18–24 (n = 43) were transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was used to identify two major themes regarding challenges to relationship development and maintenance. Subthemes include unrealistic expectations of relationships, inauthentic self-presentation online, sexual primacy over romance, increased opportunities for infidelity, and jealousy. The implications of this study for sexual education and sexual health promotion are discussed.     

Domesticating Hermione

WIKTT, or “When I Kissed the Teacher,” is a listserv for the circulation and discussion of fan fiction featuring a romantic/erotic relationship between Harry Potter characters Hermione Granger and Severus Snape. WIKTT discussions reflect the discursive functioning of online fan fiction communities, as well as members' negotiations of the Harry Potter canon, conventions of the romance genre, and current gender norms. Tracing WIKTT's debates around the representation of rape in Hermione's fan fiction romances achieves two complementary goals by both showing the variety of modern women's interpretations of heterosexual exchange, and charting the complex process by which fan fiction communities and genres emerge from ideologically heterogeneous cycles of on-going discussion. Thus, while fan fiction communities can represent an alternative to editorial controls and the supply and demand model of professional publishing, the exact content of those visions will vary widely across and within various writing communities.     

Crafting Mixed Sexual Advertisements for Mainstream Media: Examining the Impact of Homosexual and Heterosexual Imagery Inclusion on Advertising Effectiveness

ABSTRACT

This research applied both qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the effectiveness of mixed sexual advertisements that explicitly feature both homosexual and heterosexual models within the same message. Drawing on theoretical framework of social identity theory, this study predict mixed sexual advertisements could create a perceptual social categorization that includes both homosexual and heterosexual identities and reduces intergroup competitions between homosexual and heterosexual viewers. Results indicate that mixed sexual advertisements elicit better ad evaluation than strictly gay-themed advertisements when evaluated by a mix of homosexual and heterosexual participants. The findings suggest mixed sexual advertisements could balance between homosexual-themed advertising and gay window advertising by addressing homosexual audiences without alienating heterosexual viewers.     

Television And The Domestication Of Cosmetic Surgery

An exploration of the discursive production of cosmetic surgery on the television shows Extreme Makeover and Nip/Tuck illustrates that these programmes contribute to and reflect the processes through which cosmetic surgery has become domesticated within increasingly globalised contexts. I demonstrate that across a range of cultural sites, including some feminist scholarship, the press, and surgical television, post-feminist frames have displaced feminist frames for comprehending cosmetic surgery, enabling the culture's surgical turn. Feminist attention to risk, oppressive standards for appearance, and the cultural and discursive location of suffering around the deviant body is displaced by the post-feminist celebration of physical transformation as the route to happiness and personal empowerment. It is this logic that is played out through Extreme Makeover's rendering of surgery as the solution for personal suffering and a meting out of justice to the “moral” individual. Extreme Makeover explicitly domesticates cosmetic surgery by publicising its benefits and undoing the former imperative to hide surgery rather than be viewed as “inauthentic.” As a corollary, the show promotes a system of visual eugenics where “unaesthetic” raced and gendered facial and bodily features are erased. Nip/Tuck gestures toward feminist responses to surgical culture through making its violent interventions into the body explicit, by including a feminist character, and through incorporating plot lines which critique the narcissism and gendered cruelty of surgical appearance work. However, these gestures serve as dramatic devices, the political potential of which is curtailed by the requirements of the melodrama to favour sensational story arcs and to retain a degree of sympathy for the surgeon leads. Thus, both shows contribute to a post-feminist mediascape which renders the inevitability of the culture's surgical turn, providing limited frames for viewers negotiating their own responses to the meanings of cosmetic surgery.     

Young Adult Dating Relationships and the Management of Sexual Risk

Young adult involvement in sexual behavior typically occurs within a relationship context, but we know little about the ways in which specific features of romantic relationships influence sexual decision-making. Prior work on sexual risk taking focuses attention on health issues rather than relationship dynamics. We draw on data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (n = 475) to examine the association between qualities and dynamics of current/most recent romantic relationships such as communication and emotional processes, conflict, demographic asymmetries, and duration and the management of sexual risk. We conceptualize ‘risk management’ as encompassing multiple domains, including (1) questioning the partner about previous sexual behaviors/risks, (2) using condoms consistently, and (3) maintaining sexual exclusivity within the relationship. We identify distinct patterns of risk management among dating young adults and find that specific qualities and dynamics of these relationships are linked to variations in risk management. Results from this paper suggest the need to consider relational dynamics in efforts to target and influence young adult sexual risk-taking and reduce STIs, including HIV.     

Beyond Simple Differences: Moderators of Gender Differences in Heteronormativity

ABSTRACT

Heteronormativity is a culturally embedded system defining acceptable identities and behaviors in romantic relationships. Recent literature has suggested that heteronormativity is strongly associated with political attitudes, personality characteristics such as tolerance of ambiguity, and key demographic variables such as gender and sexual orientation. However, interactions between gender and other factors have not been thoroughly explored as predictors of heteronormative attitude and beliefs. The current study (N = 306) expands the understanding of predictors of heteronormativity, particularly as they interact with gender. In the current study, higher education was associated with lower heteronormativity among women, but not among men, and expressiveness was associated with lower heteronormativity among men, but not among women. Finally, a 3-way interaction showed that the relationship between education and heteronormativity for men (but not women) depended on trait expressiveness. Future studies are recommended, including observation of changes in heteronormativity over time and exploration of mechanisms that reinforce or reduce heteronormativity.     

“L” is for Looking Again

This paper focuses on an important aspect of the Showtime television series The L Word: its exploration of the representation of gender and sexuality in contemporary visual art. The program presents a sophisticated feminist perspective on the histories of female and lesbian representation, and it uses the work of particular contemporary artists, who are known for their engagement with questions of female, lesbian, and/or queer representation, to advance its critique of a long history of erasure, misrepresentation, and objectification. Simultaneously, while foregrounding its awareness of the contradictions of trying to create new forms of representation in a thoroughly commercial and commodified context, the program uses works of art to present the possibility of inventing alternative images or of redefining existing ones. The show's consistent attention to innovative art constitutes a formal device that offers a counter-discourse to those conventions of representation required by the show's need to appeal to a broad audience. In this way, The L Word offers attentive viewers new ways to look at and think about apparently familiar images and narratives.     

“Nyota Uhura is Not a White Girl”

This essay examines the online debate surrounding representation of the Black/African character of Lt. Uhura in the 2009 prequel film, Star Trek. Some fans, particularly those viewing the film from a gender/race intersection, applauded her portrayal, while others, including many “slashers” who espouse a homoerotic reading of classic Trek from an ostensible gender/sexuality standpoint, disapproved—especially of Uhura's romantic storyline. Virtual observation and appraisal of these discourses demonstrate the adaptability of Patricia Hill Collins' intersectionality framework to studies of media reception, especially in terms of hegemonic and interpersonal domains of power and cultural studies notions of articulation. Accordingly, the investigation finds the first fan faction's rhetorical efforts more authentically and pro-actively oppositional.     

“How Big is Big Enough?”

This article examines the representation of masculinity in Sex and the City through an analysis of the characters Big and Steve. Although the show is unique in that it presents female characters as the primary subjects of identification and presumes a female audience, it participates in the patriarchal project of measuring men, especially Big and Steve, against each other. At first, Big represents classic old-style phallic male character, the hero of both fairy tale and Hollywood romantic comedy. Steve, on the other hand, represents the new man, a flawed hero of modern relationship myths. However, throughout the course of the series, the illnesses of these two characters shift these representations. The series ultimately opens space for new representations of masculinity.     

Barbie and the straight-to-DVD movie: pink post-feminist pedagogy

As Barbie’s popularity began to decline across the first decade of the twenty-first century, the iconic doll underwent a makeover and became a maven of the straight-to-DVD sector. Across the movies produced since 2001, the narratives reflect an awareness of feminist criticism and seek to remediate Barbie’s particular femininity and the associated gender performance that has fallen into disfavor. Interestingly, these efforts are often facilitated by a movement in time and place that relocates Barbie from the here and now, as she plays the protagonist role in adaptations of classic works of fiction set in the past. Working with methods of textual analysis and informed by the history of literature for children, media studies, and feminist theory, we explore the complex composition of Mattel’s straight-to-DVD Barbie movies and consider how the adaptations intersect with feminist discourses. Looking closely at Barbie and the Three Musketeers (2009) in the wider context of the DVD series, we argue that the Barbie DVDs perform a post-feminist pedagogy and inculcate the post-feminist sensibility among young viewers and consumers worldwide.