Television conveys powerful messages about sexual identities, and
popular shows such as Will & Grace, Ellen, Glee, Modern Family,
and The Fosters are often credited with building support for gay
rights, including marriage equality. At the same time, however,
many dismiss TV’s portrayal of LGBT characters and issues as
“gay for pay”—that is, apolitical and exploitative
programming created simply for profit. In The New Gay for Pay,
Julia Himberg moves beyond both of these positions to investigate
the complex and multifaceted ways that television production
participates in constructing sexuality, sexual identities and
communities, and sexual politics. Himberg examines the production
stories behind explicitly LGBT narratives and characters, studying
how industry workers themselves negotiate processes of TV
development, production, marketing, and distribution. She
interviews workers whose views are rarely heard, including market
researchers, public relations experts, media advocacy workers,
political campaigners designing strategies for TV messaging, and
corporate social responsibility department officers, as well as
network executives and producers. Thoroughly analyzing their
comments in the light of four key issues—visibility, advocacy,
diversity, and equality—Himberg reveals how the practices and
belief systems of industry workers generate the conceptions of LGBT
sexuality and political change that are portrayed on television.
This original approach complicates and broadens our notions about
who makes media; how those practitioners operate within media
conglomerates; and, perhaps most important, how they contribute to
commonsense ideas about sexuality.
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