Sex Representation

• taking gay characters & making them too good to be true.
• respectable, all American
  
• couldn't be too gay (sexuality)
• initially there was a taboo on touching
• the "kiss" built ratings and controversy
  
• lesbians were underrepresented.
  
• more acceptable to show women kissing rather than men.
  

• Ellen Degeneres show in '94
• came out on the show.
  
• what was mild in ellen's show is adult content
• rather, sexual activity on heterosexual shows is not.
  
• will and Grace - was normal
• performing acceptance rather than breaking taboos
• "gays are like you and i"

female gay kiss: fashion, aesthetic, profitable
male gay kiss: comedy, taboo.
Kissing is a metaphor for sex.
when same sex characters kiss - builds controversy & ratings.

• 3 stages:
• 1. News and Documentaries
• Disease, moral or immoral
  
• 2. daytime tabloid talk shows
• as screwed up as everyone else
• 3. youth oriented and reality TV
• real world (MTV)

transgender: introduced as villains or sympathetic victims. the role of victim seems to be the entry into being considered normal or human.
" social pressures to conform to one gender or another"

- are marginal to gay consumer market

1. political struggle - resistance to gay e. military, boy scouts
2. Economic Dimension - gay money vs. Straight money

what is pornography?
sexually explicit material that is primarily designed to produce sexual arousal in viewers straight, gay, bisexual audiences.

- systematic discourse built upon the submission of women's sexuality to men.
- does serious harm to women
"pornography is the theory; rape is the practice" - Robin Morgan

1. liberal position ( weakest position )
--free speech right of people to express themselves however they want
--it has no effect and does no harm
2. pro-sex feminist:
--sexual freedom/ pleasure and women's sexual expression is a key component to women's freedom - esp. to minority groups such as lesbians.

Production ---> Texts ( become a part of society ) ---> readers ---> Lived Cultures

pornography has become normalized.
Production: examine the industrial production of pornography - as an industry
--10-14 Billion $$ a year
>more than hollywood tix sold.
>thinking about porn is all about female bodies

ignores the realities of the vast majority of workers in the industry
>global labor conditions in pornography

males make up more than 70% of the market
its the messages to them that dominate the field of representation.

Joe Gallant - "the future of america is Violence"
>the representations are pushed to be harder and harder - Upping the Ante.
the main purpose of pornography is to aid masturbation
> the stories of pornography then work not just in the head but also in the body.

the vision btwn fantasy and reality does not exist.
"the issues that are not able to be solved in reality are solved in fantasy"

pornography is a capitalist industry
>Rick Wolff --

• tapping into a real need in people
  
• -> channeled through an industrial lens
• -->opportunity to make money
• can never take the discussion of pornography away from the fact that its capitalist.
  
• society is not over-sexed, its over-commercialized.
  

- shows what they would like to do in real life.
-a rite of passage into manhood - validates one's maleness
- education about what women want
- relieving boredom
- allows men to enjoy the fantasy of endless variety
--it reflects the ideal world for some men.
-easier than real relationships
---rejection makes them feel powerless and unwanted
---porn gives them that control, the need to matter and makes them feel better about themselves.

consumers: encouraged by the culture to go along w/ it
-small number of women like the hardcore stuff
- many women prefer "erotica"
a lot of women are turned off by it.

expresses a conventional sexuality that takes us into our own lives and bedrooms, changin nature of the industry - market creates new needs.
not looking at divience but normality.
not representing people having sex - suddenly became an ideology and story about sexuality.

women are caught in the discouurse of being naughty and nice. 

sex is essentially dangerous for women.
sex is like pandora's box.
for boys, sex was natural and expected.
culture teaches women that they need men.

• a. the pleasing women discourse - pure chaste, pleasing to men.
  
• b. the together woman discourse - fully satisfied in her career, independent

a. male sexual drive
--men posess a powerful sexual drive
--must be satisfied

b. normal/danger dichotomy
--nothing bad about male aggression
--good/bad guys, up to girls to know the difference.

a. hetero sex as female victimization discourse
--soon as girls step into sex w/ men all dangers are coming

b. the true victim
--the real victim has done ALL they could to avoid dangerous situation.

a. love hurts
--put up with it and stand by your man
--you will get hurt, he's a jerk
b. love conquers all
--you can bring out the best in him
he only needs the right woman.

female pleasure w/o penalty!!

"damned if i do, damned if i dont" - discourses are confusing.
strategies for managing contradictions:
1. just letting it happen
2. because women are stoned or drunk -or pretend to be
3. doing everything but intercourse
4. choosing to be a bad girl
5. perceiving themselves as in control - playing with fire
6. like the thrill of extreme sports

1. stroking a man's ego.
2. trying to like it.