I wrote this article last year for the Sexuality edition of On Dit. Please let me know what you think by posting a comment.
Cheers,
Lisa.
Sexuality. For some reason, this term is seen as a loaded one and a hot topic which the media tends to splash across their publications and make outlandish statements about. I thought I would look at how different issues about celebrities and their sexuality have been reported in the media lately. What implications has this coverage had for creating stereotypes about gender and sexuality? I bring up this topic because of a news story you probably didn’t hear about in the mainstream media.
Daryen Hayes (yes the one from Savage Garden who sang that chicha-cherry-cola song in the 90s) got married last year in a civil ceremony in London where he now resides. Recently, he returned to Australia for a promotional tour and although he is married and this marriage is recognised by British law, his partner had to travel to Australia on a tourist visa. Why on earth did this happen? You ask. Well Hayes came out as gay a few years ago and is married to Richard Cullen. Gay marriage is not accepted in Australia or by the Prime Minister and therefore, Hayes’ marriage is not viewed as legal in Australia.
This understandably outraged the performer who claimed that not recognising his marriage was a concept that went against basic human rights. You’d think there would be a lot of news coverage about an event like this one, right? Wrong. In the one news story I could find about the incident, the headline was: “Darren Hayes angry over treatment of ‘husband’ Richard Cullen”. This headline is clearly mocking gay marriage by putting the term husband in inverted commas; a procedure which suggests that it isn’t a valid concept. This story is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the way sexuality is reported in the media and it has to be asked, why is there still a constant focus on one’s sexual orientation in the press when we are meant to be living in a time of sexual liberation that was born out of the 1970s?
A friend once told me an interesting statistic. Apparently only 5-10% of people say they are exclusively straight and the other 80-95% considers themselves to be bisexual or bi-curios. This actually astounded me. I was under the impression that straight people were in the majority; this is what the media had always told me! Why is this idea not being focused on by the media? It would sure make a lot of people feel more ‘normal’ instead of being viewed as weird or promiscuous by those ‘straight’ people around them. Instead, we are living in a society where you constantly have to hide or defend your sexuality if you are in the public spotlight.
Think back to the end of last year when the book Jonestown was published about media commentator Allan Jones. When the author of the book Chris Masters commented about Jones being gay, an offer for the book to be published by the ABC was withdrawn and Masters was condemned for insulting Jones’ credibility. What? A former Liberal speech writer and right wing commentator likes men? We can’t have that! So instead of focusing on the rest of the book, which discussed what a powerful influence Jones has on the media, the press spent its time analysing Jones’ sexuality and analysed his behaviour for ‘gay’ elements.
The press coverage surrounding former Australian Idol star Anthony Callea’s coming out was largely supportive and his stint on It Takes Two proved that he was still popular with his fans. Although he put on a stoic front, the media still found a way of making him seem regretful at his affirmation of his sexuality. One article in the press had the headline “Callea admits he was scared at being outed”. This language is obviously not going to make people considering coming out feel like they are going to be accepted by doing so. On the contrary, the term ‘outed’ is different to being ‘out of the closet’. It suggests a bad thing. The term reminds me of something similar to being on the outer of a social group. Instead of focusing on the positive aspects that had come about due to Callea’s openness about his sexuality, the media looked at the negative elements of Callea’s admission.
Australia is a country that is meant to practice social tolerance and show acceptance of all forms of beliefs and choices. Instead of doing so, the mainstream media reports on gay marriage as being wrong and not ‘normal’ like straight marriage. As well as this, media commentators like Alan Jones are now seen as being less credible by the general population and announcing you’re gay is viewed as being a big, scary decision which could affect your professional career. Why should ones sexuality be scrutinised? A very good friend of mine once told me: “I am gay yes, but that doesn’t define who I am. It’s only one part of me, just like flour is only one part to a recipe”. The media should portray people of all genders, sexual preference and religious beliefs in their stories. Instead we are getting a limited view of the world’s population and everyone will begin to feel as if they need to change in order to become ‘normal’ when there is no such thing.
