But there are some basic methodological problems with the study of serial murderers. Ball (1989) notes the relative lack of in-depth personal interviews and surveys with those convicted of serial murder: thus he argues that in terms of the basic understanding in existing psychiatric literature, "the fact that the serial murderers themselves tended to refuse cooperation on personal grounds or advice of attorney has made for a necessarily sketchy and somewhat repetitious reliance on those sources that could be mined" (Ball 594)
Basilio (1996) notes this in relation to media represenations of Aileen Wuornos in the late 1990s, where her sexuality was definitely part of the public analysis of the crimes, claiming that commentators had underestimated the relevance overall of "the criminalization of lesbian and gay sexuality in the United States and its effects on sentencing of defendants identified as homosexual." (Basilio 56)
They note that the "disorganized" killer is frequently marked by "social inadequacy and inability to maintain interpersonal relationships" which "increases the likelihood of sexual ignorance as well as the potential for sexual perversions or dysfunctions as part of the homicidal acts." (Canter 294)
After being apprehended, they may be forced to confront the disturbing reality that they have killed human beings, not animals or objects. (Fox and Levin 423) A variation on this observation is offered elsewhere in the literature on serial murder by Heide (1991) who includes homosexuals in the category of frequent victims targeted by serial murders without specific consideration of how homosexuality might impact the serial murderers themselves: "Victims may have symbolic value and are perceived to be prestigeless and in most instances are unable to defend themselves or alert others to their plight, or are perceived as powerless given their situation in time, place or status within their immediate surroundings (such as vagrants, prostitutes, migrant workers, homosexuals, missing children, and single and often elderly women
Thus Husain (1995) claims that "scoptophilia plays a predominant part among the psychopath's attempts at control" where "the execution of dominance-submission patterns, within which the object is necessarily apprehended as a prey" is being accomplished by the serial killer. (Husain 138)
Television shows such as the L Word and Will & Grace provide context for both quantitative and qualitative research, while cultivation and social learning theories attempt to explain the attitudes of viewers. The conclusion of this paper is that the increase of homosexuality portrayed in American media has influenced a significant portion of American society to at least a level of indifference with regards to homosexual behavior as a norm (Bonds-Raacke, 2007), while heteronormativity still sets the standard in terms of relationships and child-rearing (Lev, 2010), for a portion of American society
¶ … Rise of Homosexuality in Media and Its Social Effects Gay and Lesbian Studies This paper will look at the rise of homosexual portrayals in televised media, and whether or not the increase has helped inspire a greater social awareness and acceptance of homosexuality in America; one factor being that the stigma once associated with homosexuality has significantly lessened (Calzo, 2009)
Considering that there is more to the social fabric of America than what is seen on television, it can be said that what is seen will not necessarily be imitated. However, studies show that females are likely to model sexual behavior according to what they view (Farrar, 2006), which can lead to risky sexual activity
¶ … Rise of Homosexuality in Media and Its Social Effects Gay and Lesbian Studies This paper will look at the rise of homosexual portrayals in televised media, and whether or not the increase has helped inspire a greater social awareness and acceptance of homosexuality in America; one factor being that the stigma once associated with homosexuality has significantly lessened (Calzo, 2009). However, this paper will also look at how some research is biased towards heteronormativity (Lev, 2010) spurring media representations and viewer attitudes to maintain the sense that homosexuality is an aberrant behavior (Fisher, 2007)
Divergent attitudes towards homosexuals are also being mainstreamed through viewing of homosexual representations on television (Calzo, 2009). Subtle changes to a cast of characters, such as on All My Children, is more effective at boosting tolerance of homosexuality than a sudden "outing," such as on Ellen (Harrington, 2003; Netzley, 2010b), and heteronormativity is a bias that continues in research (Lev, 2010)
" Kraus is led to ask the question: "Are the creators [of the L Word] allowing capitalism to create a lesbian identity that is more pleasing to heteropatriarchy?" Simply put, is a sexed-up lesbian show good for lesbians, or good for producers who know they can make money by selling advertising on a show that will attract the kind of men who made Wild Things a box office hit? Kraus contends that lesbian identity should receive more focus in the media. The L Word puts lesbians as a group in the spotlight, but represents them poorly: "Although we value the steps the L Word has taken to make lesbian lives the primary focus of a narrative, as scholars we are concerned with the interpersonal disconnectedness of the characters" (Lee, 2010)
¶ … Rise of Homosexuality in Media and Its Social Effects Gay and Lesbian Studies This paper will look at the rise of homosexual portrayals in televised media, and whether or not the increase has helped inspire a greater social awareness and acceptance of homosexuality in America; one factor being that the stigma once associated with homosexuality has significantly lessened (Calzo, 2009). However, this paper will also look at how some research is biased towards heteronormativity (Lev, 2010) spurring media representations and viewer attitudes to maintain the sense that homosexuality is an aberrant behavior (Fisher, 2007)
This survey, therefore, represents two conflicting points of media's influence upon societal attitudes towards homosexuality. Two recent episodes reported by journalists nationwide that exemplify the dichotomous nature of this study are: the Pentagon survey of 400,000 active and reserve military on attitudes regarding the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" policy, in which 70% of responders said they would have no problem with the repeal (O'Keefe, 2010); and the contrast to this poll, which is the protest by Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas to the homosexuality of fallen Marine Matthew Snyder outside his funeral
Jules, feeling unappreciated by Nic, has a brief affair with Paul, but returns to Nic by the end of the film. The film's title refers to the revolutionary-era song by the Who, and the film's subject matter is implicitly revolutionary in so far as it suggests that two mothers are just as good as one mother and one father (Toumarkine, 2010)
However, this paper will also look at how some research is biased towards heteronormativity (Lev, 2010) spurring media representations and viewer attitudes to maintain the sense that homosexuality is an aberrant behavior (Fisher, 2007). Included in these discussions will be the question of whether media portrayals are representative of homosexual culture or rather only homosexual stereotypes that serve to protract the heteronormativity bias -- and in some cases even encourage risky sexual behavior (Werner-Wilson, 2004)
A natural law theory might imply that homosexuality is not natural because it does not occur in other animal species. However, biologists have discredited the natural law theory since researchers discovered that "homosexual behavior was widespread among various nonhuman species and in a large number of human societies," (Herek 2009)
Invoking natural law has been commonly used in the argument against homosexuality, and is "the most common intellectual defense for differential treatment of gays and lesbians," (Pickett 2006). The natural law theory suggests that homosexuality is "unnatural and immoral," and is closely aligned with a Christian perspective (Kouki 1997)
Greek historians, philosophers, artists, and authors expressed a relatively liberal view on homosexuality. "Probably the most frequent assumption of sexual orientation is that persons can respond erotically to beauty in either sex," (Pickett 2006)
Scott Fitzgerald), he never really abandoned his American identity - and yet, he was criticized by liberal white critics - such as Irving Howe - who expected that every successful black author should follow the literary protestation style of Richard Wright, without doubt the dominant black writer in postwar America. "The program which the young Baldwin set for himself - a program of aesthetic autonomy and faithfulness to private experience, as against ideological noise and blunt stereotype - was almost impossible for the Negro Writer to realize" (Howe, 1979)
And so it's clear that James, beyond his awe-inspiring talent for essay and story-telling was, if not universally loved and respected by the African-American community, at the very least a trailblazer within the black artists' community - and as such was a fair target for more militant blacks. Clearly, the tone of James' work was the antithesis of Richard Wright's tone, which had a distinct flavor of misogyny; and even more dramatically, James was "synthesizing race and gay consciousness during some of the most politically volatile decades of the twentieth century" (Shin, 1998)