I Blame the Media…

Someone on facebook wrote:

"...baffled by the amount of young people that are trying on homosexuality like they try on shoes. What has caused this sudden influx of gayness?"

This caused me to really pay attention to things going on around me.. I thought enough of the question to do an experiment.. So I decided to take note of the homosexuality witnessed just in one week in primetime media.. (because what people do in their own lives is their business) 

Findings (of just a few shows that I don't watch on a normal basis, but for the purpose of the experiment made an exception):

Heroes - The college cheerleader and her roomate kiss

Melrose Place - Female was hired to try to "persuade" one of the characters to work for another PR firm by coming on to her sexually.

Gossip Girl - There was a 3 some.

Brothers and Sisters - One of the main characters is gay

Greek - Some of the main characters are gay

House - "13" is bi-sexual

And probably the largest one talked about this week, American Music Awards - Chris Lambert kisses his keyboardist. Kids are still awake people!! Children are very impressionable at ANY age, they're still learning right from wrong. (If you're an adult and you feel homosexuality is right for you, then all power to you, but as a heterosexual parent, I think I should have a right to be at least warned if there's a potential for my kids to see something I'd rather them not.  I don't even let my kids see GI Joe because I think it's too violent. So don't start in on me w/ the morality issues.)

Now GLAAD is going off on CBS for blurring out the kiss..

In a lame attempt at trying to cover their tracks, the following morning when discussing how wrong his actions were, CBS then proceed to SHOW the Britney/Madonna Kiss from a few years ago WITHOUT blurring it. Are we as a society trying to create a doublestandard here? Is it "ok" or "acceptible" to see women all over eachother, but it's perceived to be "more wrong" when men do it? I've heard that it's more "sensual" and "seductive" to see two women together, but to see two men is just... GROSS..

I'm not one to blame the media for anything I do, but I know that others (weakminded) ARE influenced by what they see or hear. I also know that the media in efforts to be more "realistic" tries to mimic life. Some easily influenced people try to mirror what they see as acceptable, and the media feeds off of life. It's a symbiotic relationship. This really is no different than the impulse to buy something you see a celebrity wearing on a show, or something you see on a commercial. Homosexuality is now being "advertised" in pretty much the same way. It's being passed on as "normal" or even "glamourous".

In a way, I DO blame the media for not giving us a choice or proper warning, and in another way I don't. And you can't say, "If you don't like it, don't watch TV." That would be like saying don't open your eyes, because it IS everywhere. In the media's defense, this would be a completely different conversation if a major TV station made a new show that had NO Blacks, NO Hispanics, and NO Asians. Well guess what? Homosexuals are also a group that have to be represented as well.

At the end of the week, I've found myself back to being de-sensitized to the whole thought of homosexuality in the media once again. This was just an exercise in thought for me. It never really got me emotionally "riled up" or even angry. But I guess that goes to me not really being influenced by what others do. I'm content in my life and feel that everyone deserves to be happy and I wish everyone was, but that's never going to be the case as long as people are different from one another. Someone HAS to have something to say.. I think that's the definition of a "HATER".  I would hate for someone to have put in their facebook "Man, what's up with all these African Americans  in the media. Of course they'd probably use a different word. So what can you do? Maybe they should see it from that "side of the tracks".

Here's my closing thoughts: I'm not taking sides, nor passing judgement here. I'm just trying to get to the root of someone's question and it provoked my interest. The media mimics real life. Homosexuality has been around longer than any of us reading this blog.. It was a staple in the Roman Empire. It was thought to make a king stronger to have young boys as concubines. It was socially acceptable then and over time has become taboo. Well, I guess it's coming back around again because it's being readily fed through the media. I think what made homosexuals creep back into the metaphorical "closet" was the first thought that AIDS/HIV was a "homosexual" disease in the 80s-90s. So of course you wouldn't want to be perceived as sick just because of your sexual preference. That doesn't mean homosexuality went away, it was just more "underground". As we've become more educated and accepting of change (I know you can't argue that we're more accepting, we have a black president for goodness sake), more socially liberal, if you will, people find it empowering to show their true thoughts, beliefs and diversity. So you have more people opening the door to that "closet" and stepping out. To my the original question, I don't think they're "trying it on" I think they're just being honest with themselves.