Gay TV and straight America / Ron Becker.
New Brunswick ; London : Rutgers University Press, 2006Description: x, 283 pages; 24 cmContent type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volume 001: 28138ISBN: 9780813536897Other title: Gay television and straight AmericaSubject(s): Homosexuality on television | Homosexuality -- United States -- Public opinion | Public opinionDDC classification: 791.45653 BECItem type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
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Book | MAIN LIBRARY Book | 791.45653 BEC (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 111757 |
Browsing MAIN LIBRARY shelves, Shelving location: Book, Collection: PRINT Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)
791.45617 MAR Comic visions : television comedy and American culture / | 791.45617 NEA Popular film and television comedy / | 791.4565 UND Understanding reality television / | 791.45653 BEC Gay TV and straight America / | 791.457 ALE Channels of discourse, reassembled : television and contemporary criticism / | 791.457 DUN Television drama : form, agency, innovation / | 791.457 THO Television drama : theories and identities / |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
After decades of silence on the subject of homosexuality, television in the 1990s saw a striking increase in programming that incorporated and, in many cases, centered on gay material. In shows including Friends, Seinfeld, Party of Five, Homicide, Suddenly Susan, The Commish, Ellen, Will & Grace, and others, gay characters were introduced, references to homosexuality became commonplace, and issues of gay and lesbian relationships were explored, often in explicit detail.
In Gay TV and Straight America, Ron Becker draws on a wide range of political and cultural indicators to explain this sudden upsurge of gay material on prime-time network television. Bringing together analysis of relevant Supreme Court rulings, media coverage of gay rights battles, debates about multiculturalism, concerns over political correctness, and much more, Becker's assessment helps us understand how and why televised gayness was constructed by a specific culture of tastemakers during the decade.
On one hand the evidence points to network business strategies that embraced gay material as a valuable tool for targeting a quality audience of well-educated, upscale adults looking for something "edgy" to watch. But, Becker also argues that the increase of gay material in the public eye creates growing mainstream anxiety in reaction to the seemingly civil public conversation about equal rights.
In today's cultural climate where controversies rage over issues of gay marriage yet millions of viewers tune in weekly to programs like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, this book offers valuable insight to the complex condition of America's sexual politics.
Introduction: the importance of gay-themed tv -- Straight panic and American culture in the 1990s -- Thinking about gay people : civil rights and the confusion over sexual identity -- Network narrowcasting and the slumpy demographic -- The affordable, multicultural politics of gay chic -- Gay material and prime-time network television in the 1990s -- "We're not gay!" : heterosexuality and gay-themed programming -- Straight panic in the 2000s.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
CHOICE Review
Becker (Miami Univ., OH) opens this explanation of the spike in gay visibility on television beginning in the mid-1990s by distinguishing "straight panic" from homosexual panic. Identifying straight panic as a by-product of multiculturalism that destabilizes straights' perceptions of their heterosexuality, the author argues that this perception of instability coincided with a shift in the marketing strategies for television. As they lost control over programming to cable's multiplicity of channels, the "big three" networks shifted their target audience from a multigenerational demographic to one more narrowly defined. Primarily, they emphasized attracting 18- to 45-year-olds, whom they regarded as the consumers who spent most money. Because they defined this group as more liberal and better educated, they also believed its members were attracted by edgier programming--for example, sitcoms that allow a heterosexual audience to understand its relationship with gays more clearly without feeling that its heterosexuality is threatened. This title includes 35 illustrations, 35 pages of notes, a 12-page index, and an appendix listing gay-themed television episodes between 1992 and 1998. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. J. J. Marchesani Pennsylvania State University, McKeesport CampusThere are no comments on this title.