Caught In Her Canvas

Representation is simply a reflection of society. Representation itself is neither positive nor negative. To what degree identities are represented in media is the deciding factor. Representation is hence brought up in conversation primarily when discussing lack of representation. Typically, marginalized identities are portrayed through offensive or destructive stereotypes from the dominant culture’s perspective. This leads to misinformation and wrongful assumptions being made by a wider audience causing more damage to those communities, as well as anger and disappointment from the marginalized groups. This issue arises from a lack of diversity in writer’s rooms and as well as producers. “Jack Moore, writer and co-showrunner for Netflix's "Dear White People," said part of the effort to diversify LGBTQ storytelling is to diversify the writers' rooms. "A huge part of the puzzle the industry has to work on is allowing queer women, queer Latinx people and other underrepresented members of our community to tell their own stories," said Moore, who identifies as bisexual. "This is one way networks, artists and creators can go beyond telling the same white, queer stories over and over” (Dawson 2020). 

Discourse around queer representation is nothing new, however now that we are in an age where queer representation is expected new issues arise: the lack of intersectional representations. Representation is often discussed through individual identities which is counterproductive as no one is predominantly one identity and identities are deeply interconnected. There is a huge difference in experience between a white queer person and a Latino queer person and a Black queer person. "When you look across the TV landscape, the LGBTQ population looks well represented,” de Armas told NBC News. “But when we look deeper, and at intersectional groups, it is clear there is a need for greater diversity in LGBTQ representation. White LGBTQ people are most represented on screen, while female LGBTQ people of color and Latinx LGBTQ people are below parity compared to their population estimates"(Dawson 2020). BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) individuals are often clumped together as if their identities are interchangeable. As if one of them is represented, that means a job well done. The time is now, 2024, to continue to advocate for queer representation, specifically calling for diverse queer experiences. 

This call for more diverse representation is not unfounded. Most crave to see themselves in media but representation is more than just being able to relate to a character. Positive representation of marginalized identities encourages the growth of resilience by "buffering discriminatory experiences" through “coping through escapism, feeling stronger, fighting back, and finding and fostering community” (Craig 2015). A considerable example of the positive effects of representation comes from the early 2000s when The L Word first aired. Lesbian and queer communities started forming in bars and homes for watch parties which naturally led to other activities in community (Bendix 2017). Online communities were also born during this time where it was not as safe or easy to find other queers, not only providing a safe platform for a sense of normalcy and belonging, it also gave itself for advocacy and activism (Kern 2014, Pratt 2008). Due to the rise of social media in mainstream culture and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Generation Z has grown accustomed to creating active and vibrant online communities for both broad and niche topics. Therefore it's not surprising that Queer communities have arisen from the love of T.V. shows, films, and musicals revolving around queer themes and/or containing queer characters. These online communities typically provide a safe space for the discussion and discovery of sexuality, especially for those who are not able to find that in their countries, cities, or even homes. 

Queer representation is not just necessary for the queer community. Normalizing queer stories and experiences in media will eventually normalize it in the real world. Despite currently having a sizable volume of representation –“Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people make up an estimated 4.5 per cent of the U.S. population, and, according to Nielsen's (2020) inaugural report, they were 6.7 per cent of the top 10 recurring cast members in the top 300 programs on broadcast, cable and streaming platforms in 2019”– there is not much differentiation. Where is the representation of queer experiences intersected with other marginalized identities (which will be referred to as complex queer representation)? Although there is still a long way to go, the ‘white gay man’ is much more digestible as there is only one ‘abnormal’ part of his identity. As most socio-political issues not involving race, the privilege of whiteness does not simply disappear. “Everytown's Transgender Homicide Tracker found that there was a 93% increase in tracked homicides of trans and gender-nonconforming people in the United States and Puerto Rico over the last four years… Notably, while only 13% of the transgender community is estimated to be Black, according to UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute, Black trans women accounted for nearly three-quarters of the known victims” (Mandler 2022). Therefore it is necessary to advocate for complex queer representation as according to Gillig, Rosenthal, Murphy, and Folb (2017), "stories can affect the real-world beliefs of individuals by transporting them into a narrative world in which their attention and cognitive resources are engrossed in the story." In their study, Gillig, Rosenthal, Murphy, and Folb surveyed a group of predominantly straight participants who had and had not watched an episode of Royal Pains which centred a trans storyline on their level of transportation into the narrative, identification, and emotions evoked (Gillig et al, 2017). From the data generated, the researchers concluded that the participants who viewed the trans episode displayed more positive attitudes towards the trans community as well as trans-positive policies than those who did not (Gillig et al, 2017). Complex queer representation holds the ability to save lives by reinforcing tolerance of the queer community, which can lead to acceptance.

Depicting utopia in media is a perfect way to showcase a positive representation of complex queer identities. Muñoz conceptualizes queer utopia as a horizon of possibility, a space and time where queerness flourishes beyond the confines of heteronormative structures. It is not merely a destination but a process, a perpetual striving towards alternative modes of existence. Queer utopia, for Muñoz, is inherently a site of collective imagination and resistance against the oppressive regimes of normativity. “Queerness is not yet here. Queerness is an ideality. Put another way, we are not yet queer. We may never touch queerness, but we can feel it as the warm illumination of a horizon imbued with potentiality. We have never been queer, yet queerness exists for us as an ideality that can be distilled from the past and used to imagine a future. The future is queerness’s domain. Queerness is a structuring and educated mode of desiring that allows us to see and feel beyond the quagmire of the present. There here and now is a prison house… we must dream and enact new and better pleasures, other ways of being in the world, and ultimately new worlds… Queerness is essentially about the rejection of a here and now and an insistence on potentiality for another world” (Muñoz, 2009). The stage, hence, provides a unique space for the embodiment and enactment of alternative realities, making it an ideal medium for exploring queer utopian visions as it is a platform for challenging dominant narratives, disrupting normative conventions, and imagining new possibilities for queer existence.

Bendix, T. (2017) How ‘The l word’ changed lesbian television forever, NBCNews.com. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/nbc-out/commentary-how-l-word-changed-lesbian-television-forever-ncna783691 (Accessed: 06 May 2024). 

Craig, S.L. et al. (2015) ‘Media: A catalyst for resilience in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and Queer Youth’, Journal of LGBT Youth, 12(3), pp. 254–275. doi:10.1080/19361653.2015.1040193.

Dawson, L. (2020) Presence vs. representation: Report breaks down LGBTQ visibility on TV, NBCNews.com. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/presence-vs-representation-report-breaks-down-lgbtq-visibility-tv-n1251153 (Accessed: 05 May 2024).

Gillig, T.K., Rosenthal, E.L., Murphy, S.T. and Folb, K.L. (2017). More than a Media Moment: The Influence of Televised Storylines on Viewers’ Attitudes toward Transgender People and Policies. Sex Roles, [online] 78(7-8), pp.515–527. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0816-1.

Goltz, D. (2022). Queer Temporalities. Oxford University Press.

Kern, R. (2014) ‘Imagining community: Visibility, bonding, and L word audiences’, Sexualities, 17(4), pp. 434–450. doi:10.1177/1363460714524764. 

Mandler, C. (2022). Murders of trans people nearly doubled over past 4 years, and Black trans women are most at risk, report finds. [online] www.cbsnews.com. Available at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transgender-community-murder-rates-everytown-for-gun-safety-report/.

Muñoz, J.E. (2009). Cruising Utopia: the Then and There of Queer Futurity. New York: New York University Press.

Nielsen. (2020). Being Seen On Screen: Diverse Representation and Inclusion on TV. [online] Available at: https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2020/being-seen-on-screen-diverse-representation-and-inclusion-on-tv/ [Accessed 15 May 2024].

Pratt, M. (2008) The L word menace: Envisioning popular culture as political ... Available at: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=bgsu1213737135&disposition=inline (Accessed: 06 May 2024). 

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