COMM 499: The LGBTQ Revolution and the Media Spring 2018
Larry Gross [[email protected]] Office hours: TJ Billard [[email protected]] Office hours:
Class: Thursday, 2:00 – 4:50 PM ASC Room G34
Few aspects of social change have been as dramatic as those experienced by LGBTQ Americans in the decades since the middle of the 20th Century. In 1950, LGBTQ Americans were defined as criminals, sinners, and mentally ill. They were subjected to discrimination, ostracism and persecution. Yet, starting from this position of vulnerability they were able to form a common identity, redefine themselves, and engage in an ultimately successful struggle for equality, dignity, and inclusion. While the goal of full equality has not yet been achieved, the victories are not yet secure, and discrimination and persecution still exist, there has probably not been any other civil rights struggle that has achieved as much in as short a time.
This course will trace the history of this struggle, with particular attention to the role of the media—entertainment, news, and other domains of popular culture—in reflecting and shaping the images, and self-images, of sexual and gender minorities in the United States.
Because of their “invisibility” sexual and gender minorities provide a unique example of the role of cultural stereotypes in socialization and identity-shaping and can thus illuminate these basic communicational processes. Definitions and images to be analyzed (within a historical and cross-cultural context) are drawn from religious, medical and social scientific sources, as well as elite and popular culture.
In addition to the readings there will be required weekly viewings of films that will be available through Kanopy, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
Grading will be based on class assignments & participation (10%), two take-home papers (25% each), and a take-home final exam (40%). The two take-home papers and final exam will be evaluated on the clarity of your argument, your understanding of the concepts in the readings and screenings, and the successful tying together of issues.
You are required to submit questions/comments about the assigned readings via Blackboard prior to class discussion, no later than 10 p.m. on Tuesday evening. A portion of your grade will also be based upon class participation, so you should ensure that you are prepared to discuss the readings if called upon.
Annenberg School for Communication Academic Integrity Policy The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct and academic excellence. Any student found responsible for plagiarism, fabrication, cheating on examinations, or purchasing papers or other assignments will receive a failing grade in the course and may be dismissed as a major.
Plagiarism USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that 2 2 COMM 430 -- SPRING 1994 -- individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. SCampus, the Student Guidebook, (www.usc.edu/scampus or http://scampus.usc.edu) contains the University Student Conduct Code (see University Governance, Section 11.00), while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A. All academic integrity violations will be reported to the office of Student Judicial Affairs & Community Standards (SJACS), as per university policy, as well as Communication school administrators. In addition, it is assumed that the work you submit for this course is work you have produced entirely by yourself, and has not been previously produced by you for submission in another course or Learning Lab, without approval of the instructor.
Students with Disabilities Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Website and contact information for DSP: http://sait.usc.edu/academicsupport/centerprograms/dsp/home_index.html, (213) 740-0776 (Phone), (213) 740-6948 (TDD only), (213) 740-8216 (FAX) [email protected].
Stress Management Students are under a lot of pressure. If you start to feel overwhelmed, it is important that you reach out for help. A good place to start is the USC Student Counseling Services office at 213- 740-7711. The service is confidential, and there is no charge.
Sexual Assault Resource Center The Center for Women & Men and the Sexual Assault Resource Center are one and the same. Student Counseling Services is a separate place that also offers confidential counseling and support groups on a variety of other topics. To schedule an appointment with Student Counseling Services, call (213) 740-7711 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays or visit the Engemann Student Health Center on the University Park Campus COMM 499: LGBTQ REVOLUTION & THE MEDIA 3
COMM 499: The LGBTQ Revolution and the Media Spring 2018
Required films to be viewed on Kanopy, YouTube or Vimeo
CLASS DATE WEEKLY FILM TITLE Weds, January 10 ------Weds, January 17 The Boys in the Band Weds, January 24 Killing of Sister George Weds, January 31 When We Rise, Ep. 1 Weds, February 7 When We Rise, Ep. 2 Weds, February 14 Off the Straight and Narrow Weds, February 21 Philadelphia Weds, February 28 Further Off the Straight and Narrow Weds, March 7 When We Rise, Ep. 3 SPRING BREAK: MARCH 11-18 Weds, March 21 Tongues Untied & Framing Lesbian Fashion Weds, March 28 Paris is Burning Weds, April 4 When We Rise, Ep. 4 Weds, April 11 TBA Weds, April 18 TBA Weds, April 25 Screening for final exam 4 4 COMM 430 -- SPRING 1994 --
COMM 499: The LGBTQ Revolution and the Media Spring 2018
Larry Gross [[email protected]] Office hours: TJ Billard [[email protected]] Office hours:
Class: Thursday, 2:00 – 4:50 PM ASC Room G34
SYLLABUS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
All readings are required. The readings are in Up From Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men and the Media in America, by Larry Gross and The Columbia Reader on Lesbians and Gay Men in Media, Society, and Politics, edited by Larry Gross and James D. Woods, available from Amazon. Additional required readings will be posted on Blackboard.
1. JANUARY 11: Introduction
SCREENING: CBS Reports: The Homosexuals (March 7, 1967)
2. JANUARY 18: Coming Out and Coming Together / Other Times, Other Customs
Course texts: “Coming Out and Coming Together,” in Gross, pp. 21–39 “Introduction: Being Gay in American Media and Society,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 3–22 “Other Times, Other Customs,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 25–30 “A Matter of Difference,” by Martin Duberman, in Gross and Woods, pp. 31–33 “Intimate Friendships,” by Erica E. Goode, with Betsy Wagner, in Gross and Woods pp. 33–36 “Capitalism and Gay Identity,” by John D’Emilio, in Gross and Woods pp. 48–55
Blackboard: “Thinking Sex,” by Gayle Rubin (1984) in Pleasure & Danger, edited by Carole Vance (Boston: RKP), pp. 267–319 [excerpts]
3. JANUARY 25: Who’s a Queer? / Queer Perspectives
Course texts: “Who’s a Queer? Identities in Question,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 75–78 “Strangers at Home: Bisexuals in the Queer Movement,” by Carol Queen, in Gross and Woods pp. 105–108 “Just Add Water: Searching for the Bisexual Politic,” by Ara Wilson, in Gross and Woods, pp. 108–112 COMM 499: LGBTQ REVOLUTION & THE MEDIA 5
“To Be or Not to Be,” by Leslie Feinberg, in Gross and Woods, pp. 112–116 “With Downcast Gays: Aspects of Homosexual Self-oppression,” by Andrew Hodges and David Hutter, in Gross and Woods, pp. 551–562 “The Woman-Identified Woman,” by Radicalesbians, in Gross and Woods pp. 562–565
Blackboard: “The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto,” by Sandy Stone (1992), in Camera Obscura 10(2 29), pp. 150–176 “What Does It Mean to Be ‘Mostly Heterosexual?’” by Brian Mustanski (2013), in Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-sexual-continuum/201309/what-does- it-mean-be-mostly-heterosexual “Teens These Days Are Queer AF, New Study Says,” by Zing Tsjeng (2016), in Broadly https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/kb4dvz/teens-these-days-are-queer-af-new-study- says “Dear Men of ‘The Breakfast Club’: Trans Women Aren’t a Prop, Ploy, or Sexual Predators,” by Janet Mock (2017), in Allure https://www.allure.com/story/janet-mock-response-the- breakfast-club-trans-women
4. FEBRUARY 1: Inventing Sin: Religion and the Church / Making Us Sick: The Medical and Psychological Establishment
Course texts: “The Abominable Sin: The Spanish Campaign Against ‘Sodomy,’ and Its Results in Modern Latin America”, by Walter Williams in Gross and Woods, pp. 125 – 135 “The Homosexual Movement: A Response by the Ramsey Colloquium,” by the Ramsey Colloquium, in Gross and Woods pp. 141–147 “In God’s Image: Coming to Terms with Leviticus,” by Rebecca T. Alpert, in Gross and Woods pp. 147–152 “Making Us Sick: The Medical and Psychological Establishment,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 153–156 “The Product Conversion—From Heresy to Illness,” by Thomas Szasz, in Gross and Woods pp. 157–162 “I was Raising a Homosexual Child,” by Flora Rheta Schreiber, in Gross and Woods, pp. 164– 169 “A Symposium: Should Homosexuality Be in the APA Nomenclature?” by Judd Marmor, Irving Bieber, Ronald Gold, in Gross and Woods, pp. 175–179 “If Freud Had Been a Neurotic Colored Woman: Reading Dr. Frances Cress Welsing,” by Essex Hemphill, in Gross and Woods, pp. 180–184
Blackboard: “Inventing Sin: Religion and Homosexuality,” by Larry Gross, in Truthdig https://www.truthdig.com/dig/inventing-sin-religion-and-homosexuality/ “How Christians Turned Against Gay Conversion Therapy,” by Jonathan Merritt (2015), in The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/how-christians-turned- against-gay-conversion-therapy/390570/ 6 6 COMM 430 -- SPRING 1994 --
“Conversion Therapy is ‘Torture’: LGBT Survivors are Fighting to Ban ‘Pray the Gay Away’ Camps,” by Nico Lang (2017), in Salon www.salon.com/2017/03/21/conversion-therapy- is-torture-lgbt-survivors-are-fighting-to-ban-pray-the-gay-away-camps/ “AMA Takes Several Actions Supporting Transgender Patients,” by Robert Nagler Miller (2017), in AMA Wire https://wire.ama-assn.org/ama-news/ama-takes-several-actions- supporting-transgender-patients “The New Science of Sex and Gender,” by the Editors (2017), Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-new-science-of-sex-and-gender/
5. FEBRUARY 8: Gay Power, Gay Politics / Stonewall and Beyond
SCREENING: CBS Reports: Gay Power, Gay Politics (April 26, 1980)
Course texts: “Stonewall and Beyond,” in Gross, pp. 40 – 55 “Homo Nest Raided! Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad,” by Jerry Lisker, in Gross and Woods, pp. 364–366 “The ‘Gay’ People Demand Their Rights,” by Lacey Fosburgh, in Gross and Woods, pp. 366– 367
6. FEBRUARY 15: Up From Invisibility: Fictional Representations in Film and Television
Course texts: “At the Movies,” in Gross, pp. 56–80 “Television Takes Over,” in Gross, pp. 81–93 “Hollywood under Pressure,” in Gross, pp. 143–155 “Up From Invisibility: Film and Television,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 291–296 “Stereotyping,” by Richard Dyer, in Gross and Woods, pp. 297–301
Blackboard: “Where We Are on TV,” by GLAAD (2016) “The Trans/Romance Dilemma in Transamerica and Other Films,” by Traci B. Abbott (2013), in Journal of American Culture 36(1), pp. 32–41 “Regressing, Progressing, or Transgressing on the Small Screen? Transgender Characters on U.S. Scripted Television Series,” by Jamie C. Capuzza and Leland G. Spencer (2017), in Communication Quarterly 65(2), pp. 214–230
7. FEBRUARY 22: AIDS and the Media
Course texts: “AIDS and the Media,” in Gross, pp. 94–109 “Cries and Whispers: AIDS and the Media,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 387–391 “Illness and Deviance: The Response of the Press to AIDS,” by Edward Albert, in Gross and COMM 499: LGBTQ REVOLUTION & THE MEDIA 7
Woods, pp. 393–402 “The Second Wave,” by James Kinsella, in Gross and Woods, pp. 402–407 “A Test of Who We Are As a People,” by Vito Russo, in Gross and Woods, pp. 408–410
8. MARCH 1: Reality TV and Celebrity Culture
First Take-Home Paper Due In Class
Course texts: “Hollywood’s Gay Nineties,” in Gross, pp. 156–183 “Beyond Prime Time,” in Gross, pp. 184–207 “Do Ask, Do Tell: Freak Talk on TV,” by Joshua Gamson, pp. 329–334
Blackboard: “Year of the Queer: Hollywood and Homosexuality,” by Larry Gross, in Truthdig https://www.truthdig.com/dig/year-of-the-queer-hollywood-and-homosexuality/ “The Household, the Basement, and The Real World: Gay Identity in the Constructed Reality Environment,” by Christopher Pullen (2004), in Understanding Reality Television, edited by Su Holmes and Deborah Jermyn (New York: Routledge), pp. 211–232 “These Young Queer Celebrities Prove That Sexuality Doesn't Need A Label,” by Zara Barrie (2016), in Elite Daily http://elitedaily.com/dating/queer-celebrities-sexuality- labels/1540356/ “How ‘Survivor’ and CBS Prepared for Outrage at Transgender Contestant’s Outing,” by John Koblin and Christopher D. Shea (2017), in New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/arts/television/survivor-contestant- transgender.html “The Outing of a Transgender Contestant Was an Ugly Moment, but Survivor Was the Perfect Place for It,” by David Canfield (2017), in Salon www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/04/17/survivor_got_the_outing_of_trans_contestant _zeke_smith_just_right.html “I’m Gender-Fluid. Vogue, Got a Minute to Talk About This New Cover?” by Jacob Tobia (2017), in Cosmopolitan www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a10307449/vogue-gigi- zayn-gender-fluid-appropriation/
9. MARCH 8: Fit to Print? Journalism
Course texts: “Journalism’s Closet Opens,” in Gross, pp. 110–130 “Fit to Print? Journalism,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 349–353 “The Homosexual in America,” by Time, in Gross and Woods, pp. 356–359 “A Rebuke for TIME’s Pernicious Prejudice” by Kay Tobin, in Gross and Woods, pp. 359–361 “A Minority’s Plea: U.S. Homosexuals Gain in Trying to Persuade Society to Accept Them,” by Charles Alverson, in Gross and Woods, pp. 361–363 8 8 COMM 430 -- SPRING 1994 --
Blackboard: “Transgender Images in the Media,” by Willow Arune (2006), in News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity, edited by Laura Castañeda and Shannon B. Campbell (Thousand Oaks: Sage), pp. 110–133 “Writing in the Margins: Mainstream News Media Representations of Transgenderism,” by Thomas J Billard (2016), in International Journal of Communication 10, pp. 4193–4218 “The Transgender Tipping Point,” by Kathy Steinmetz (2014), in Time
10. MARCH 22: Queers in Cyberspace
Course texts: “Old Stories and New Technologies,” in Gross, pp. 221–232 “Queers in Cyberspace,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 527–530 “We’re Teen, We’re Queer, and We’ve Got E-mail,” by Steve Silberman, in Gross and Woods, pp. 537–539 “Logging On, Coming Out,” by Jeff Walsh, in Gross and Woods, pp. 540–541
Blackboard: “Breaking Boundaries: The Uses and Gratifications of Grindr,” by Stephanie Tong and Chad Van De Wiele (2014) “‘I Did It All Online:’ Transgender Identity and the Management of Everyday Life,” by Andre Cavalcante (2016), in Critical Studies in Media Communication 33(1), pp. 109–122 “Zero Feet Away: The Digital Geography of Gay Social Media,” by Yoel Roth (2016), in Journal of Homosexuality 63(3), pp. 437–442 “Disturbing Hegemonic Discourse: Nonbinary Gender and Sexual Orientation Labeling on Tumblr,” by Abigail Oakley (2016), in Social Media + Society “#GirlsLikeUs: Trans Advocacy and Community Building Online,” by Darah J. Jackson, Moya Bailey, and Brooke Foucault Welles (2017), in New Media & Society
11. MARCH 29: Queer Youth
Course texts: “You’re the First Person I Have Ever Told,” in Gross, pp. 216–200 “Denial and Erasure: Education and Culture,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 235–239 “Pop Tune Can Comfort Teens Unsure of Their Sexuality,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 286–287
Blackboard: “Gideon Who Will be 25 in the Year 2012: Growing Up Gay Today,” by Larry Gross (2007), in International Journal of Communication 1, pp. 121–138 “Gay—Straight Alliances and School Experiences of Sexual Minority Youth,” by N. Eugene Walls, Sarah B. Kane, and Hope Wisneski (2010), in Youth & Society 41(3) “It’s Time to Write LGBT History into the Textbooks,” by David Carter (2014), in Time http://www.time.com/2935029/stonewall-riots-lgbt-school-curricula/ COMM 499: LGBTQ REVOLUTION & THE MEDIA 9
“You Can Form a Part of Yourself Online: The Influence of New Media on Identity Development and Coming Out for LGBTQ Youth,” by Shelley L. Craig and Lauren McInroy (2014), in Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health 18(1), pp. 95–109 “Fostering Support for LGBTQ Youth? The Effects of A Gay Adolescent Media Portrayal on Young Viewers,” by Traci K. Gillig and Sheila T. Murphy (2016), in International Journal of Communication 10, pp. 3818–3850 “I Had 4 Boys—Until One of Them Told Me She Was Really a Girl,” by Kimberly Shappley (2017), Good Housekeeping www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a43702/transgender-child-kimberly- shappley/
12. APRIL 5: The Good Parts: Pornography
Second Take-Home Paper Due In Class
Course texts: “The Good Parts: Pornography,” in Gross and Woods, pp. 475–478 “Coming to Terms: Gay Pornography,” by Richard Dyer, in Gross and Woods, pp. 479–486 “Lesbian Pornography: Cultural Transgression and Sexual Demystification,” by Lisa Henderson, in Gross and Woods, pp. 506–517 “Looking for My Penis: The Eroticized Asian in Gay Video Porn,” Richard Fung, in Gross and Woods, pp. 517–525
Blackboard: “Sexually Explicit Media on the Internet: A Content Analysis of Sexual Behaviors, Risk, and Media Characteristics in Gay Male Adult Videos,” by Martin J. Downing Jr., Eric W. Schrimshaw, Nadav Antebi, and Karolynn Siegel (2014), in Archives of Sexual Behavior 43(4), pp. 811–821 “Transgender Porn Is A Best-Seller, But Is It Good For Trans People?” by Barbara Herman (2015), in International Business Times www.ibtimes.com/transgender-porn-best-seller- it-good-trans-people-2028219 “On the Fetishisation of Gay Men By Women in the Slash Community,” by Kiri Van Santen (2015), in The Mary Sue https://www.themarysue.com/fetishizing-slash/ “The Percentage of Straight Men Who Watch Gay Porn May Surprise You,” by Hayley MacMillen (2016), in Cosmopolitan www.cosmopolitan.com/sex- love/a5280496/straight-men-watch-gay-porn/ “Why Straight Women Watch Lesbian Porn,” by Lisa Power (2016), in Vice https://www.vice.com/en_nz/article/3b4pa3/why-straight-women-watch-lesbian-porn “Trans Porn in the USA,” by Redtube_Emma (2016), in Redtube Blog http://blog.redtube.com/2016/06/trans-porn-usa/ “Take a Guess at What the Most Downloaded Kind of Porn Is in Anti-LGBT States,” by Bethy Squires (2016), in Broadly https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/pg7jgv/take-a-guess-at- what-the-most-downloaded-kind-of-porn-is-in-anti-lgbt-states “Gay Porn Is Full of White Twinks, but That's Not What We Jerk Off To,” by Brian Moylan (2017), in Vice https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/zme9jy/gay-porn-is-full-of-white- 10 10 COMM 430 -- SPRING 1994 --
twinks-but-thats-not-what-we-jerk-off-to
13. APRIL 12: Marriage and Other Fights
Course texts: “The New Right = The Old Wrongs?” in Gross and Woods, pp. 595–599 “In God’s Country,” by John Weir, in Gross and Woods, pp. 616–623 “A Place at Which Table?” in Gross and Woods, pp. 625–630 “Since When Is Gay Marriage a Path to Liberation?” by Paula L. Ettelbrick, in Gross and Woods, pp. 637–640 “Homocons,” by Matthew Rees, in Gross and Woods, pp. 640–642 “Blacks and Gays: Healing the Great Divide,” by Barbara Smith, in Gross and Woods, pp. 649– 652
Blackboard: “After Same-Sex Marriage, Then What?” by Robert P. Jones (2015), in The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/after-same-sex-marriage-then- what/396659/ “Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics,” by Kristen Schilt and Laurel Westbrook (2015), in Contexts https://contexts.org/articles/bathroom-battlegrounds-and-penis-panics/ “Philadelphia’s New, Inclusive Gay Pride Flag is Making Gay White Men Angry,” by Alex Abad-Santos (2017), Vox https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/20/15821858/gay-pride- flag-philadelphia-fight-explained “The Trans Woman Who Confronted Caitlyn Jenner Speaks: ‘Talking Softly Does Not Work’,” by Nico Lang (2017), INTO https://intomore.com/culture/the-trans-woman-who- confronted-caitlyn-jenner-speaks-talking-softly-does-not-work/684f140c629d494d? discovery=1 “Our Cowardice is Killing Trans Women,” by Mychal Denzel Smith (2017), in GQ https://www.gq.com/story/our-cowardice-is-killing-trans-women
14. APRIL 19: The Transgender Revolution
Re-read: “The Transgender Tipping Point,” by Kathy Steinmetz (2014), in Time
Blackboard: “Introduction,” by Joanne Meyerowitz (2002), in How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States (Cambridge: Harvard University Press), pp. 1–13 “Caitlyn Jenner: The Full Story,” by Buzz Bissinger (2015), in Vanity Fair https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/06/caitlyn-jenner-bruce-cover-annie- leibovitz “Has the Fashion Industry Reached a Transgender Turning Point?” by Alice Gregory (2015), in Vogue https://www.vogue.com/article/andreja-pejic-transgender-model “Violence and Visibility: Transgender Women on TV in 2015,” by Heather Hogan (2015), in COMM 499: LGBTQ REVOLUTION & THE MEDIA 11
Autostraddle https://www.autostraddle.com/violence-and-visibility-transgender-women- on-tv-in-2015-320481/ “Aydian Dowling Vies to Become First Trans Person on Men’s Health Cover,” by Andrew Daniels (2015), in Men’s Health https://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/aydian- dowling-mens-health-guy-0 “Should Cisgender Actors Be Allowed to Play Transgender Characters?” by Christopher Rosa (2017), in Glamour https://www.glamour.com/story/should-cisgender-actors-be-allowed- to-play-transgender-characters “One Million Moms Freaking Out Over ‘Roseanne’ Reboot’s Gender-Fluid Kid,” by Carla Herreria (2017), in Huffington Post www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/one-million-moms- boycott-roseanne-gender-fluid-character_us_59c41715e4b0cdc7732ff0c1
15. APRIL 26: Where Do We Go From Here?
Course texts: “A Niche of Our Own,” in Gross, pp. 233–251 “Facing the Future,” in Gross, pp. 252–264
Blackboard: More readings TBA
Final Take-Home Assignment Due Monday, May 7th