Print Ad Analysis April 15, 2011 Sophie Greaves & Jessica Mercado |
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Historically, gender and queer theorists have claimed to be the deconstructers of hetero-normative identity by transforming the general public’s understanding of prescribed gender and sexual identities. These hegemonic categories reduce identities and gender roles to cultural norms of being hyper-masculine and/or hyper-feminine and place heterosexuality as the standard, customary form of sexual orientation. Even in homosexual relationships, which claim to resist traditional sex and gender constructions, ideas of hetero-normative gender structuring permeate into interactions among and presentations of gay and lesbian relationships. Despite this “heightened consciousness of gender” (Weston 1993), hetero-normative representations of homosexuals have prevailed in the media, often even in advocacy of gay rights. The images we have selected all include an underlying theme of male-male and female-female relationships that have been forced into a hetero-normative understanding of the oppositional and complimentary nature of male-female relationships. Examining hetero-normativity in the media through the lenses of romance, bodies and clothing, and passivity and violence, we hope to engage with the greater societal structures that influence the construction of gay/lesbian identity and presentation of homosexual selfhood. |
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Romance |
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Bodies
and Clothing |
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Passivity and Violence |