Home > News & Public Affairs > Interchange – Straightening Gayness: Mainstream Representation Under the Male Gaze
Callie and Arizona's first kiss as wives on Grey's Anatomy.

Interchange – Straightening Gayness: Mainstream Representation Under the Male Gaze

Play

For this first Tuesday of LGBT Pride Month we bring you, “Straightening Gayness: Mainstream Representation Under the Male Gaze” about television’s role in winning same-sex marriage.

We open with Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell In Love.” All of the music was chosen by our Guest, Cory Albertson, author of A Perfect Union? Published by Routledge.

Due to the nature of our format here, we had to leave a lot on the cutting room floor, but we think you’d like to hear it all so you’ll find a link to the full conversation below for your edification and pleasure! (See below.)

In what follows we’ll hear clips from and discuss representations of Lesbian, Gay and Queer characters on the shows Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family (not so modern), and The Good Wife. And a real treat, we’ll hear how Miss Piggy queers The Muppet Show.

We begin with Cory Albertson on the genesis of his new book and his focus on television’s role in winning same-sex marriage; a seeming unquestionable good that Cory complicates for us.

From the publisher:
On June 26, 2015, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy declared same-sex marriage “is so ordered” across the United States. The day will no doubt be remembered as a landmark shift in how U.S. society views and validates marriage and romantic relationships. But the shift would not have happened without an arguably more important, but already forgotten, shift four years earlier that saw unprecedented movement in public attitudes alongside record amounts of television representation of LGBQ relationships. Situated at this intersection of legislative, attitudinal and representational change, A Perfect Union? presents analyses of popular programs such as Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, The Good Wife, Glee, Desperate Housewives and House in order to tackle crucial ethical questions regarding the impact of heterosexual knowledges on the rendering of same-sex relationships as relatable and “respectable” – portraits of heteronormativity that reproduce the masculine/feminine binary, monogamous coupledom and the raising of children.

EXTENDED CONVERSATION (79m)
This is the full conversation with Cory Albertson about his book A Perfect Union?: Television and the Winning of Same-Sex Marriage, published by Routledge. If I were to choose a title for it I think it would be “Carriers of Heteronormativity.” Our talk is lightly edited, but only to sweep out the dust, all of the content of the conversation is here. We hope you enjoy it–we felt it was too good not to share in full. We’ll deepen our discussion of entertainment culture by applying Alain Badiou’s concept of “The Event” and Michel Foucault’s assertion that visibility is always a trap.

GUEST
Cory Albertson is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research spans media cultures, gender and sexuality studies and social justice movements. he’s currently a lecturer in sociology at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

MUSIC
“Fooled Around and Fell In Love” by Elvin Bishop
“Raining Glitter” by Kylie Minogue
“The Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups
“White Wedding” by Billie Idol
“Marriage is for Old Folks” by Nina Simone

CREDITS
Producer & Host: Doug Storm
Edited by Rob Schoon
Executive Producer: Wes Martin

Check Also

WFHB Local News – March 27th, 2024

This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, March 27th. Later in the program, candidates …