I thought twice about posting this here, but decided that I'd quite like some "straight opinions". From local Brighton magazine GScene this week:
The only part of that article I don't agree with (I actually find it laughable) is the very last part about 6% of gameshow contestants - If we want to make up 6% of gameshow contestants, so be it, but who really cares?
The rest of it is slightly disturbing. I was hoping we'd reached a point of general acceptance, and indeed things are significantly better than they used to be, but the way forward is surely to educate people towards removing the stigma, which clearly isn't happening.
The part about soaps is very true - of the two majors ones, Eastenders and Corrie, there are only 3 gay characters - Sonia & Naomi (which, in my opinion, is based around a very ropey and negative storyline anyway, shown to be breaking up a marriage), and Sean in Corrie, who makes me cringe because he's everyone's stereotype of a gay man and everything that I'm not.
It could be argued that this report only targets the BBC, and we do get better representation on CH4 and 5, but it has still made me cross, the attitude from the company that the majority of my license fee goes to.
Your thoughts?
Gays Invisible on BBC?
Gay people are almost invisible on the BBC's flagship channels in spite of contributing £190 million a year to the BBC in TV license fees, according to new research commissioned by Stonewall.
A major monitoring exercise of 168 hours of primetime BBC1 and BBC2 found lesbian and gay lives realistically portrayed for just six minutes, or 0.06 per cent of airtime. A further 32 minutes of programming featured derogatory or offensive references to gay people. These came from a range of programmes including the Weakest Link, hosted by Anne Robinson, and The Lenny Henry Show.
Tuned Out, carried out by Stonewall and researchers from the University of Leeds, found:
- Even when they feature on BBC1 and BBC2, gay lives are five times more likely to be portrayed negatively than positively
- Lesbians hardly feature in BBC programming at all
- More than 50 per cent of all references to gay people on the BBC were as jokes
- Gay people living in stable relationships with partners and families are invisible on the BBC - most of the images used are clichés and stereotypes
- Lesbian and gay issues are rarely tackled or even mentioned in factual programmes
- Gay sexuality is frequently used as an insult, with almost no evidence of the BBC challenging homophobia when it arises
The report suggests eight key recommendations to the BBC. These include provision of urgently-needed balanced and unsensational coverage in its news and current affairs programmes, developing authentic gay characters throughout drama and soap outputs and including six per cent of gay contestants in game shows, reflecting the wider British population.
The only part of that article I don't agree with (I actually find it laughable) is the very last part about 6% of gameshow contestants - If we want to make up 6% of gameshow contestants, so be it, but who really cares?
The rest of it is slightly disturbing. I was hoping we'd reached a point of general acceptance, and indeed things are significantly better than they used to be, but the way forward is surely to educate people towards removing the stigma, which clearly isn't happening.
The part about soaps is very true - of the two majors ones, Eastenders and Corrie, there are only 3 gay characters - Sonia & Naomi (which, in my opinion, is based around a very ropey and negative storyline anyway, shown to be breaking up a marriage), and Sean in Corrie, who makes me cringe because he's everyone's stereotype of a gay man and everything that I'm not.
It could be argued that this report only targets the BBC, and we do get better representation on CH4 and 5, but it has still made me cross, the attitude from the company that the majority of my license fee goes to.
Your thoughts?