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Media Analysis Feminism

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Media Analysis

My analysis of major themes and how the media participate in the construction of attitudes about gender and sexual orientation is predicated upon 16 articles drawn from three major news sources: Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Advocate. The articles were published in the months of January, February, and March. The selection of the articles was not random; I specifically chose articles whose titles and introductions were of particular interest. The three news sources, particularly the Times and The Advocate, published many articles related to LGBT issues—typically greater than a dozen for each weekly search—from which I selected only two per week. In sifting through the 16 articles, I identified three important themes that tie, by and large, the articles together: notions of inalienable rights (marriage), the normalization of homosexuality, and LGBT and frequently, by extension, women’s empowerment. I argue that the Times, by virtue of its wide distribution and generally positive portrayal of LGBT people, attempts to ‘normalize’ (nationally) sexual orientations other than heterosexual; that The Advocate, whose primary audience is LGBT people, attempts to promote LGBT empowerment (encourages LGBT people to stand up for themselves), contemplating a world in which LGBT people enjoy equal rights and equal protection; and that Newsweek, a national weekly magazine, highlights the political debate about rights, generally being more circumspect/judicious than the other two outlets in its approach to expressing support for the LGBT community (perhaps an expression of a little occasional discomfort with LGBT issues, which could reinforce discomfort in the public and male heterosexism). The news sources do not participate in the construction of attitudes exclusively in the ways I have suggested. For the sake of organization, though, I have chosen

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