Gaysploitation
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Gaysploitation refers to three separate phenomena present in contemporary culture.
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[edit] Self-exploitation
One meaning of gaysploitaton refers to when someone exploits their own alternative sexuality for personal gain, such as a declining celebrity coming out of the closet to renew interest in their career, or someone in a workplace setting using their sexuality as a political tool to procure upwards momentum and advancement.
A prominent example of mainstream use of gaysploitation in this sense can be attributed to singer Madonna, whose bisexuality featured heavily into her early-1990s marketing and artistic output.
[edit] Media exploitation
Gaysploitation can also refer to media constructs that emphasize gay stereotypes in order to attract or entertain an audience. Shows such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Will and Grace are seen by some within the gay community as something akin to "gay minstrel shows", where behaviour that many GLBT people will ever engage in is being presented as standard and commonplace.
Others contend that, by presenting gay characters as friendly, interesting, inoffensive and harmless, these shows and others like them are actually greatly advancing acceptance of gay people within mainstream society.
[edit] References
- An article from The Advocate which makes mention of the "minstrel" stereotype, and a letter to the editor of the same publication on cancellation of Will & Grace.
- An Entertainment Weekly column on the topic of media portrayal of gay characters.
[edit] Political exploitation
Another possible meaning refers to when the GLBT community is scapegoated or held responsible for problems within society. Some prominent American conservative theologians, for example, would suggest that mainstream acceptance of the "homosexual lifestyle" can be directly cited as the cause for much of the perceived "moral decay" in contemporary America. The GLBT community and their supporters may term such allegations as "gaysploitation", due their basis of exploiting fears and misunderstandings of the gay community in order to attract attention or power.
[edit] References
- An article, which has been alleged by some to be gaysploitation, as published by Real Women of Canada.
- A website set up to humourously debunk this form of gaysploitation.
