Sexuality

Branston and Stafford - soaps rely on archetypal characters and stereotypes - ensure ready accessibility because stories have universal appeal about families and communities.

 

Homosexual Males:

•Gay men are portrayed as overly effeminate.

•There can be the belief that all gay men desire to be women or are feminine

•Gay characters are condemned to a life alone without children

•Mothers regret being too close to their sons, thinking that is what "made" them gay

•The idea is that its just a phase.

•Drifting from one sexual liaison to another, they end up old and alone;

•Gay men are only concerned with sex

•Gay men are flamboyant , feminine characters, have camp mannerisms

•Represented as often feared, pitied or being the subject of laughter

•Gay men do professions like fashions, material design and hair styling

•Gay men are often depicted as suffering family rejection

•Speak with a lisp

Homosexual Females:

•Gay women are portrayed as overly masculine

•Often represented to be aggressive and mouthy

•There is always the ‘masculine’ and the ‘feminine’ partner in any gay female relationship

•Drifting from one sexual liaison to another, they end up old and alone

•Gay women do jobs such as sports/P.E. teachers and military and are butch lesbians commonly represented as pursuing heterosexual women.

•Gay women are often depicted as suffering family rejection

Heterosexual (straight) characters are represented as the “norm” and homosexual (gay) characters are often represented as being different, strange, or separate from mainstream society.