Thursday, March 02, 2006
BBC accused of homophobia
BBC accused over 'negative gay attitudes' | icWales
Stonewall have just released the results of a study into the portrayal of poufs and dykes on British TV. It concluded that lesbians and gay men were 'almost invisible' on the BBC, and those references to lesbians and gay men which featured on the chanel were almost always negative.
Jeremy Clarkson and Anne Robinson were cited as examples. Clarkson, the report said, frequently described cars as 'gay' when he wanted to disparage them. Robinson used gay innuendo to belittle contestants on The Weakest Link, saying of one celebrity chef 'Is [he] more puff than pastry?' before asking him 'before you go, and bear in mind that this is a family show, what's the strangest thing you've ever put in your mouth?'
The report said 'The BBC rarely challenges homophobia and consistently allows its presenters to perpetuate negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and gay sexuality.'
Of the 160 hours which the researchers monitored, only 38 minutes featured any reference to queer people, and 32 of those minutes were derogatory or offensive. Lesbians barely featured at all. The report also commented on the tendency to only include gay characters in dramas if they were angst ridden or entirely defined by their sexuality. Once their coming out or sex-orientated storylines were over, they were usually written out.
All of which is completely believable, although you might be forgiven for not noticing. Compared with the portrayal of yesteryear (and I'm not talking that long ago) we have a much more prominent and positive image on the tv, particularly on some channels. And, frankly, we're used to being insulted and dismissed so the light-hearted insults from the likes of Robinson and Clarkson are easy to ignore. But that doesn't mean we should ignore them.
Nobody should be immune from being insulted, but when a publicly-funded broadcaster is offensive 85% of the time it mentions us at all, we're allowed to be a bit pissed off.
posted by MR @ 2:03 PM 
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You make some really good points here. I noticed 'Life on Mars' - a series I loved - had several statements throughout the series relating to homophobia. While the lead character is clearly presented as not being anti-gay, in the final episode he accuses his boss of homophobia and he replies 'you say that like it's a bad thing'.
Odd when you think just how many queer boys and girls work in television, and in the BBC. 'Doctor Who' is chock-full of queer involvement, and several witty pro-gay statements could be heard in the show last year. x
Odd when you think just how many queer boys and girls work in television, and in the BBC. 'Doctor Who' is chock-full of queer involvement, and several witty pro-gay statements could be heard in the show last year. x
Indeed, Spicy! Considering that Russell T Davies, Doctor Who supremo and the man behind Queer as Folk is as bent as they come, and is also considered to be in the top five (or maybe ten) influential people in broadcasting today, and - like you say - the media is generally considered to be chock-a-block with pooves (if not dykes as well), it is amazing that we generally have such a low profile on TV. Is it just that we still have a fearful, victim mentality that prevents us from speaking out? Or do queer meedja-types *still* fear for their jobs? Or are we just not bothered about the way we're depicted on TV? Perhaps decades of internalising homophobia has left us unable to see when we're being gotten at. Or, indeed, when we're simply being ignored....
Mxx
Mxx
# posted by 
: 1:49 PM
: 1:49 PM
Oh, and on a side-note.... Manchester's main independent radio station, GMR, is planning to axe the long-running 'GayTalk' radio show, after 10 years, claiming that they'd prefer to 'integrate' gay issues into their mainstream programming.
Yeah, right. Am I the only one who thinks this sounds suspiciously like 'forget about them altogether'? If GMR are anything like the BBC, then expect to hear almost *no* queer content after April when GayTalk disappears from the airwaves.
There's a campaign to keep GayTalk - which, I sadly suspect, will achieve little: http://www.gaytalkcampaign.co.uk/ is the website.
I've no problem with my queerness being considered 'mainstream' as long as that doesn't mean it gets quietly forgotten about - or only mentioned as the butt of cheap jokes or as a headline when a lesbian or gay man is found stabbed or charged with paedophilia And what are the chances of that??
Mxx
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Yeah, right. Am I the only one who thinks this sounds suspiciously like 'forget about them altogether'? If GMR are anything like the BBC, then expect to hear almost *no* queer content after April when GayTalk disappears from the airwaves.
There's a campaign to keep GayTalk - which, I sadly suspect, will achieve little: http://www.gaytalkcampaign.co.uk/ is the website.
I've no problem with my queerness being considered 'mainstream' as long as that doesn't mean it gets quietly forgotten about - or only mentioned as the butt of cheap jokes or as a headline when a lesbian or gay man is found stabbed or charged with paedophilia And what are the chances of that??
Mxx
# posted by : 1:59 PM
: 1:59 PM Links to this post:
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