When you see two girls kissing on TV or other media, do you think they are lesbians or just two sexually aroused straight women?
The media does not show that all people are considered equal; it makes it okay for two straight women to kiss and not be considered lesbian, but not okay for two straight men to kiss.
Most television shows will easily show lesbians kissing, but it would be “weird” or unusual if the media were to show two gay men kissing.
In the recent movie Spring Breakers, the film shows two straight women kissing, but no one considers them to be lesbians.
If in a movie, two straight men were kissing, many more people would question them on being considered gay. This shows that we still live in a homophobic society.
Author Diane Anderson-Minshall explains in her article I Kissed A Girl that, “Women who kiss on TV aren’t coded gay, they’re simply sexually adventurous.” The author explains how women kissing on TV is simply meant to excite male viewers, creating a desire for them to act that way with their female partner.
Anderson-Minshall also stated in her article that two females kissing or making out on TV is supposed to arouse the viewers with lesbian scenes.
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Many movies, such as Buffy and American Pie, had no trouble with hiding women kissing and being intimate with one another; yet movies and TV shows always find a way to keep male kissing or making out hidden.
People who create the woman-on-woman kissing scenes in shows use it to titillate, or tease, male viewers.
Anderson-Minshall explained in her article that many TV programs have faux-lesbian kissing in it.
Faux kissing uses two straight women who pretend to be lesbians. The author explains how faux kissing is used a lot on many reality TV shows, including MTV shows such as Jersey Shore. When TV shows display faux kissing, it makes it less of a big deal that two women are kissing, as viewers will be aroused by the scenes.
By using woman-on-woman kissing in the media to arouse the viewers and make males want their girlfriends or wives to act that way, I believe that it is not helping the fight for equal gay rights.
It is unfair for woman-on-woman kissing to occur on TV when no one questions their sexuality, because if two males kiss on TV, people will automatically question their sexuality.
It is not helping equal gay rights to become more accepted.
However, on recent TV shows and movies, the directors are beginning to show more gay male interaction and characters. As these shows and movies add more gay characters and kissing, it will help promote gay rights.
In the recent movie titled New Years Eve, there is an attractive man who everyone assumed had a beautiful wife at home—when he really had a man at his house.
This scene in the movie shows equal gay rights and that, just because he is a really attractive male, does not necessarily mean he is straight.
There is a scene in the movie American Pie where two men break into a sorority and think the two women are lesbians, so the males make the females kiss.
The women were both straight. Afterwards, the women make the two men kiss to see what it feels like to be called “lesbians” when they are straight.
In the TV show Modern Family, there is a gay couple who is shown. The show makes it known that they are gay, but it doesn’t show them kissing or being too intimate with each other.
I believe that, in a few more years, TV shows and movies will show more man-on-man kissing. Equal gay rights will not be more accepted if TV shows and movies don’t show more men-on-men kissing and interactions.
It is unfair for “faux kissing” to be so easily shown on media when there is no man-on-man kissing shown.
Victoria Bodenski can be contacted at victoria.bodenski@ksc.keene.edu