From Perverts to Fab Five: The Media's Changing Depiction of Gay Men and Lesbians
From "Perverts" to "Fab Five" tracks the dramatic change in how the American media have depicted gay people over the last half-century. Each chapter illuminates a particular media product that served as a milestone on the media's journey from demonizing homosexuals some fifty years ago to celebrating gay people--or at least some categories of gay people--today. The media, Streitmatter argues, have not merely reflected the American public's shift to a more enlightened view of gay people,...
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From "Perverts" to "Fab Five" tracks the dramatic change in how the American media have depicted gay people over the last half-century. Each chapter illuminates a particular media product that served as a milestone on the media's journey from demonizing homosexuals some fifty years ago to celebrating the gay community--or at least some sectors of the gay community--today.The media, Streitmatter argues, have not merely reflected the American public's shift to a more enlightened view of gay people, but they have been instrumental in propelling that change. The book spans the breadth of communication venues. Individual chapters focus on major news stories, entertainment television programs, and mainstream motion pictures that captured the public imagination while, at the same time, sending powerful messages about gay men and lesbians. Ideal for any reader interested in the changing depiction of gay men and lesbians in the media over time, or as required reading in media courses, From "Perverts" to "Fab Five" challenges our very understandings of the words "public" and "media" both.
List of FiguresIntroduction 11 "Perverts" on the Potomac: Homosexuals Enter the News Arena 62 Stonewall Rebellion: Reporting on an Epic Event 173 The Boys in the Band: Homosexuality Comes to the Big Screen 264 Soap: A Gay Man Comes to TV Land 375 AIDS Enters the News: Reporting on the "Gay Plague" 506 AIDS Becomes Major News: "Now No One Is Safe" 577 Gays in the Military: The Debate over Lifting the Ban 658 Fleeting Images of Lesbians: Killing, Kissing, Being Chic 739 Philadelphia: "A Quantum Leap for Gays on Film" 8310 A New Gay Man in Town: Hollywood Shifts to Positive Stereotypes 9311 Ellen: Coming Out, On Screen and Off 10412 Will & Grace: The Biggest Gay Hit in TV History 11513 Queer as Folk: "An Unvarnished Treatment of Gay Life" 12714 Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The "Fab Five" as Gay Reality TV 13715 Notes on Gay Visibility vs. Lesbian Visibility 14616 The L Word: Lesbians Move into the Spotlight 14917 Same-Sex Marriage: A Journalistic Love Fest 15918 Brokeback Mountain: "A Breakthrough Gay Romance" 169Conclusion: From "Perverts" to "Fab Five" - Progress in Three Stages ... and Waiting for a Fourth 179Notes 189Index 217
