Wednesday 18 September 2013

Gossip Girl - Sexuality

Gossip Girl is a show that revolves around spoilt teenagers (who turn into young adults as the show progresses) who live in New York's Upper East Side. The show has been dubbed to be over-sexualised and to be a bad representation of women in the media due the women in the show being unfaithful to short-term partners. This is the only major negative portrayal in the show. 

Eric is a recurring character who came out as gay halfway through the first season. His mother disapproved of his choice at first, but soon came around. This was both a negative and positive portrayal of homosexuality, because at first, his mother was ashamed of him. This is a negative representation, because it could make gay members of the audience feel ashamed of who they are. She later told him that she accepts him for who he is and she loves him, which balances out the portrayal to more positive. 



The clip shows Blair talking to a man who is clearly ashamed of his sexuality and is pretending to be straight. Blair threatens to post evidence of his sexuality online, and then Eric comes in. He proudly announces that he's gay, and the man who's ashamed calls him a "faggot". This is an incredibly negative portrayal of sexuality in the show, but Eric doesn't let it phase him. He walks away, and Blair posts the evidence online. The man freaks out, still not admitting to anything.


This is a mostly negative representation of sexuality/homesexuality in the show. There's positive aspects, because Eric is proud of his sexuality and gives the man a chance to admit his secret, but when he retaliates, Eric leaves. The portrayal could be a lot more positive, and I think the show tried to be more positive with the sexuality, but it does give off a negative vibe. It should promote being gay better instead of having too many characters being ashamed of it.

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