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7/24/2019 Attitudes Towards Media's Portrayal of Gays and Lesbians
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/attitudes-towards-medias-portrayal-of-gays-and-lesbians 1/6
Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, Volume 2, July 1,
1999
www.ejhs.org
Attitudes Toward The Media's Portrayals of Gays and Lesbians
Peter B. Anderson, Akram Fakhfakh, Mary Alice Kondylis
University of New Orleans, Department of Human Performance and Health
Promotion, New Orleans, Louisiana
Introduction
There are a variety of ways that the media affects and tracks the attitudes that the
public has toward homosexuals. Examples include dissemination of information, bothaccurate and inaccurate, marketing, television shows, and public opinion polls.
Although we frequently hear references to "the gay community", Manning (1996)reminds us that multiculturalism is not about defining groups; it is about accepting
individuals. The writer argues that the gay community is merely a convenient, all-
purpose mythic entity. His contention is that this myth allows the gay media to present the idea of a shared purpose and identity and also provides the liberal media
with an easy way to achieve political correctness.
The media spent a great deal of time and effort in their coverage of the 1992-1993controversy of gays in the military. The findings of a recent study investigating theirselection and use of unofficial sources indicate that decisions made in the selection of
these unofficial sources were a result of the journalists' personal understanding of
newsworthiness, their personal definition of expertise, and the particular news frameschosen to structure individual stories. Additionally, it was discovered that almost no
attempt was made to obtain the views of more neutral parties; it was preferable to
present a "raging debate" to the public. Findings also suggest that former officers and
public officials were used to explain the military's viewpoint and political outsiders torepresent gay plaintiffs. Through this tactic, balance appeared to have been achieved
in a way that legitimized the views of one side while marginalizing the views of theother (Steele, 1997).
In contrast, a place where gays have not only not been silenced, but actuallyencouraged to tell all is in the increasingly popular medium of daytime talk shows.
Talk show hosts encourage public voyeurism, on-camera fights and vivid descriptions
of those whose identities differ from the norm. All this increases their ratings and
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makes more money for the producers of the show, and they do succeed where others
have failed by giving voice to those who are otherwise systematically silenced.According to author Joshua Gamson, this is the only spot in mainstream media culture
where it is possible for non heterosexuals to speak for themselves (Gamson, 1995).
According to Wilkerson (1994), even the medical profession may be considered part of the media, since its more traditional attitudes are reflected in both policy andthe dissemination of information. There are numerous examples of the perpetuation
of homophobic attitudes such as the treatment of people with HIV, "moralistic
interpretations of people with AIDS," certain conceptions about ways in which HIV istransmitted, media representation of AIDS, and even the way in which medicine's
"objectivity" reinforces a moral view inimical to gay men, lesbians and bisexuals.
The author concluded that the notion of medicine's "objectivity" and traditional
conceptions of the ethics of health care hinder an appreciation of the ways in which
medicine presumes and perpetuates homophobic values.
In a 1995 study, college undergraduates read two newspaper articles about an
"innocent victim" of AIDS. When asked to explain the implicit message, very few
could do so without prompting. However, when asked directly, most respondentsagreed that they understood the implicit message was that this "innocent victim" was
different from other people with AIDS who are somehow blameworthy. The few who
did identify the subtext on their own were those with a more positive attitude towards
homosexuals (Schellenberg, Keil & Bem, 1995).
Riggle, Ellis & Crawford (1996) conducted a study of the impact of "media
contact" on attitudes toward gay men. College students were asked to view a
documentary film of the life of a prominent gay politician. Participants completed theAttitudes Toward Homosexuals Scale either prior to or after the film. Results showed
that viewing the film had a significant positive effect on attitudes. However, the
results of another 1996 study showed that increased media attention aimed atdissemination of information regarding the nature of HIV/AIDS may actually increase
homophobic attitudes and anxiety concerning the disease and those affected (All &
Fried, 1996).
Yang (1997) examined changes in attitudes towards homosexuality in the U.S.through trends in public opinion polls. The data were categorized by issues related to
homosexuality which included legal status, morality, acceptability, causes, familiarity
with self identified homosexuals, as well as views on both military and nonmilitary
occupations, civil rights, marriage and adoption rights, and AIDS. The writerconcluded that public attitudes have shifted in a liberal direction across a number of
issues over time, but that levels of change vary and are dependant upon the particular
issues in question.
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The present study examined volunteers perceptions of media's presentation of
homosexuality, the impact of the media's presentations, and their personal attitudesand relationships with gays and lesbians. It was hypothesized that gender, age, and
level of religiosity would predict differences in each of the dependant variables.
Specifically, it was hypothesized that older, more religious men would demonstrate
significantly more negative attitudes towards gays and lesbians than younger, lessreligious women.
Method
Subjects
Of the 200 surveys completed, 2 had sufficient missing data and were eliminated
from analysis, other missing data was accounted for on each item. The respondents
(125 women and 65 men - 8 respondents did not reply to this question) had an age
range of less than 20 (2.0%) to over eighty (0.5%). Age frequencies were 39.9% below 40, 39.4% between 40 and 49 and 20.7% over 50 years old [Median = 40 to 49,
SD = 12.1, Range = <20 to >80]. The respondents were mostly white (79.3%) and
black (14.6%) with 1.5% Asian and 3.0% other.
Most, 52.5% defined themselves as religious, with 20.7% defining themselves as
very or extremely religious. On average they read a newspaper or magazine 5 days
each week, watched TV 3 days each week, have cable (80%), and watch a movie 5 or
more times each month.
Instrument
The instrument was 3 pages long and consisted of 10 demographic (e.g., age,
race, sex) and media exposure (e.g., how many days a week do you read the
newspaper, how many times a month do you watch a movie, do you have cable)
questions and 23 items related to attitudes about portrayals of gays and lesbians in the
media, the impact of those portrayals, and personal attitudes and relationships with
gays and lesbians (see Appendix A). The questionnaire was tested for face andcontent validity and pilot tested with a group of 30 volunteers at the airport prior to
the implementation of data collection.
As a result of the pilot test, the timing of visits to the waiting lounges and minor
adjustments in the wording of the questionnaire were made . All attitudinal questionswere answered on a 5 point likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree to
strongly agree, with agree, disagree, and neutral responses available. Behavioral
questions (e.g., have you seen the movie "Philadelphia") were posed in a "yes" or "no"
format.
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Procedure
After approval by the Human Subjects Committee at the University of New
Orleans, the survey was conducted at the New Orleans International Airport on bothdays of a weekend between 10 AM and 4 PM.. A male investigator in his twenties
went to different waiting areas 30 to 40 minutes before a scheduled departure to askvolunteers to complete the survey while they were waiting for their flight. Becausesome of the questionnaire items were related to perceptions of the effect that gays and
lesbians seen on TV and in the movies would have on children, the investigator
selected people who were traveling with children and asked them to volunteer to
complete the questionnaire.
Results
Pearson correlations revealed that gender was not related to any of the outcome
variables. Younger respondents were less likely to support the statement that toomuch sex on TV causes perversion (p<.001). Very religious respondents were more
likely to support the statements that the media glorifies homosexuality (p<.001) and
the media promotes homosexuality (p=.001). They are also more likely to state that
gays and lesbians are presented in too positive a way by the media (p=.004), too much
sex on TV leads to promiscuity (p=.01), and watching gays on TV leads to bisexuality(p=.003). In addition, they are less likely to welcome gays or lesbians in their homes
(p=.01), hire a gay or lesbian employee (p=.001), allow their child to have a gay or
lesbian teacher (p=.001), pediatrician (p=.002), physical education teacher (p=.002),
or friend (p=.01).
Multiple regression analysis revealed significant predictive value for level of
religiosity on 10 of 13 dependant variables (see Table 1 and Appendix A) . Only on
the items, "it would be alright for my child to have a gay or lesbian friend" (wherereligiosity predicted 3.5% of the variance and entered in the second step of the
regression analysis after gender), "too much sex on TV leads to promiscuity ( and the
item, "too much sex on TV causes perversion" (no variables entered in to theregression equation) was level of religiosity not a significant predictor for the outcome
variable. In every case being very or extremely religious predicted more negative
responses to attitudinal and behavioral items. Gender was predictive for two items:"watching gays on TV leads to bisexuality" (explaining 3.8% of the variance, F
(2,187) = 8.15, p<.001, endorsed more by men than women) and "it would be alright
for my child to have a gay or lesbian friend" (explaining 4.1% of the variance, F
(1,188) = 10.15, p<.001, endorsed more by women than men). Age was not
predictive for any item.
Table 1
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1. The Mass Media glorifies gays and lesbians.
2. The Mass Media are promoting homosexuality.4. Are gays and lesbians presented too positively by the media?
6. Too much sex on TV leads to promiscuity.
7. Too much sex on TV causes perversion.
9. Watching gays on TV leads to bisexuality.15. Gays are responsible for the AIDS epidemic.
17. Gays and lesbians are welcome in my home.18. I would hire a gay or lesbian employee.
19. It would be alright for my child to be taught by a gay or lesbian teacher.
20. It would be alright for my child to have a gay or lesbian physical education
teacher.
21. It would be alright for my child to have gay or lesbian friends.
22. I would take my child to a gay or lesbian pediatrician.
Discussion/Conclusions
The results were only partially supportive of the hypothesis. Age was not
predictive for any of the questionnaire items and gender was only predictive for twoitems and explained a very small percentage of the variance for each. Self reported
level of religiosity was predictive for most items and explained between 2.1% and
7.0% of the variance for each (typically between 5% and 7%).
Ancillary analysis revealed that respondents who had seen the movie Philadelphiawere significantly more likely to hold positive attitudes towards gays and lesbians and
to behave in more accepting ways. These results could be a result of selection bias or
a residual impact of the movie. Previous research has demonstrated both positive andnegative relationships between media and attitudes toward homosexuals (All & Fried,
1996; Riggle, Ellis, & Crawford, 1996). Future research designed to pinpoint the
significant variables that account for these conflicting results will advance our
understanding of the role of the media in shaping important social attitudes.
The sampling technique used in this study was very unique and contributed some
positive as well as potentially negative methodological opportunities. Most studies
are conducted with a population of college students with an average age ofapproximately 21 years old. Few studies are conducted with populations of older
adults, especially in such a distinctive setting. The advantages of this sampling
procedure include involving a unique sample, reducing our reliance on a college
population, and expanding our future research efforts to include new samples thathave not been previously explored. The disadvantages include the fact that this was
still a convenience sample and that we can not generalize our results beyond the
respondents themselves.
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The results of this study support the notion that individual beliefs and values,
specifically their level of religious beliefs, are the determining factor in their rating ofthe media's portrayal of homosexuality. In this study more religions respondents were
more likely to hold negative attitudes towards portrayals of gays and lesbians in the
media, to believe that portrayals of homosexuality or sex in the media would lead to
negative consequences, to be rejecting of gay or lesbian teachers and pediatricians, tokeep known homosexuals out of their lives and homes, and to believe that
homosexuals are responsible for the AIDS epidemic. Results of previous research onthe relationship between media portrayals of homosexuality and personally held
attitudes are equivocal (All & Fried, 1996; Riggle, Ellis, & Crawford, 1996). There is
recent evidence that environmental factors (i.e.,. stress) correlate with homosexual
frequency within cultures (Barber, 1998). Could the extremely negative portrayals of
homosexuality in the past have helped suppress some homosexual behaviors in
addition to open communication about homosexuality? Likewise, could more positive
portrayals negate this suppression and support even greater increases in opennessabout homosexuality and self reported homosexual behavior? These and other
important questions need further research.