2000 Word Written Assignment

How gay men are represented in media through out time and how it applies to
stereotypical gender roles.

This essay analyses the representations of gay men in media and how the change in
society can be seen within Queer Cinema. Furthermore it will examine masculinity and
femininity in gay relationships with a focus on Luca Guadagnino `s Call me by your name
(2017). Key sources will be the documentary The Celluloid Closet (1995), which
showcases how motion pictures, especially Hollywood films, had portrayed gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender characters and Judith Butler`s book Gender Trouble: Feminism
and the Subversion of Identity (1990) in which she argues that gender is a kind of
improvised performance.

Paragraph 1: Early representation of gay men in film

- Homosexuality something to laugh at, to pity or to fear

- Hollywood taught straight people what to think about gay people. And gay people what
to think about themselves - no gay life shown in film - something is very wrong with you

- homosexuality as a mental disorder - “Not until 1987 did homosexuality completely fall
out of the DSM.“ (Burton M.D., 2015)

ART

- Christian Leyendecker - women were never quite as good-looking as his men

- Hiding Homosexuality on the Cover of America’s Magazines in 1930

- “Leyendecker created more than 400 magazine covers during the Golden Age of
American Illustration, painting a picture of the new 20th century male and influencing
millions of Americans, few of whom knew he was gay.“

Fig 1 - https://www.messynessychic.com/
2019/02/05/hiding-homosexuality-on-the-cover-
of-americas-magazines-a-century-ago/)
FILM

- Hayse Code - Sensorship = Did not erase gay subtext - just made it harder to find

- To write movies between the lines. Audience learned to read between the lines.

Ben Hur (1956) - a very subtle love story between villain Messala (Stephen Boyd) and
Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston). Only Boyd knew about this gay subtext and based his
performance in this little secret.

Fig 2 - https://medium.com/cinesuffragette/the-gay-the-
bad-and-the-ugly-lgbts-in-1950s-cinema-3656dcce2da3

“The movie and its actors succeeded in covertly showing this romantic and sexual bond
between the two characters in a way that would not be fully understood by mainstream
audiences or the Production Code Administration, therefore making it possible for an
award-winning biblically themed film in the 1950s to feature characters that have been in
a homosexual relationship with each other.“ (Mislak, 2015)

“These early representations were often subtle or implicit because various production
codes operating in the United States and United Kingdom forbade explicit depictions or
naming of homosexuality. During the 1940s, homosexuality was associated with disease
and sexual deviance. This ensured that these early depictions were unflattering.
Gradually, as time progressed and homosexuality became a less taboo topic,
representations of homosexual criminality became less coded and more explicit.“

(Dalton, 2016)

Paragraph 2: The sissy

“Although the Hays Code made it almost impossible for homosexuality to be shown on
film, filmmakers were able to hint at it by creating the “sissy,” portraying homosexuals as
both villains and victims, and writing between the lines.“ (Mislak, 2015)

“Homosexuality was always seen as an attack on masculinity and nothing was more
threatening to the male ideal then the gay “sissy.” (Mislak, 2015)

- homosexuality as comedic
- clique/ joke

- A sissy made everyone feel more manly - Seems he didn’t have a sexuality

“When a man dresses like a women everybody laughs. When a woman dresses like a
man no body laughs.“
Paragraph 3: Gender roles - Masculinity & Femininity

Femininity - qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women.

Masculinity - qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of men.

- Traits traditionally viewed as masculine in Western society include strength, courage,

independence, violence, and assertiveness.

“We are all half men and half women. We come from those two cells.“ - Actor Tony Curtis
- The Celluloid Closet (1995)

Judith Butler - American philosopher and gender theorist

“As a result, gender is not to culture as sex is to nature; gender is also the discursive/
cultural means by which “sexed nature” or “a natural sex” is produced and established as
“prediscursive,” prior to culture, a politically neutral surface on which culture acts” (Butler,
1988)

- gender is produced by culture

“When we say gender is performed, we usually mean that we've taken on a role or we're
acting in some way and that our acting or our role playing is crucial to the gender that we
are and the gender that we present to the world.“ (Butler, 1988)

“performed” sexuality

- outer performativity of sexuality (“homosexuality” and “heterosexuality,” constructs are

not innate but were “created” in time and space— only about 150 years ago),

- inner (same-sex) erotic desire (which, though labeled differently over the years, has also
existed since time immemorial).

- outer sexuality - heterosexual (masculinity) VS inner desire - homosexual (femininity)

- outer sexuality - homosexual (femininity) VS inner desire - heterosexual (masculinity)

Paragraph 4: Gay Relationships

model for heterosexuality in the homosexual community (who is the man / woman)

- gives penetration or stimulation Top (dominant) / bottom who receives (submissive)

sexual role stereotypes (tops are masculine, bottoms are feminine)

- Twink - femininity

Twink (gay slang), a term for a young or young-looking gay or bisexual man.

- Hunk - masculinity

a large, strong, sexually attractive man.

1970s Tom of Finland - homoerotic drawings transformed the image of gay men

- hyper-masculine men, including bikers, sailors, soldiers, and cowboys

- two dominant (top) men

- versatile engages in both activities

Fig. 3 - https://www.mattachinepodcast.com/
home/2017/10/18/tom-of-finland

Paragraph 5: Gay Relationships in film

Brokeback Mountain (2005) directed by Ang Lee

Cowboy is the iconic symbol of the American West

A cowboy is a man of substance, strength and courage

- in 2003, the Supreme Court made same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state
and territory

gay cowboys - masculinity

On The Geneaology of Ethics, Michel Foucault, explains that difference between

friendship and a sexual relationship is that “Friendship is Reciprocal, and sexual
relationships are not reciprocal: in sexual relations, you can penetrate or you are
penetrated.” (Foucault, 1984)

“Lee shows us the penetration immediately, there is no playfulness or shared intimacy in

it, it is instantaneous and to the point in showing us who is penetrating and who is getting
penetrated.“ (Rabbit White, 2019)

- Lee asked the two actors to be a bit violent while shooting, to create “the most Western-
heroic kiss.”

“Jack’s cowboy wardrobe is notably flashier than Ennis’s threadbare one.“ (Rabbit White,
2019)

Only sex scene:

Jack - dominant - confident (top)

Ennis - submissive - vulnerability (bottom)

 Fig. 4 - https://www.attitude.co.uk/article/heath-ledger-had-
the-perfect-response-to-people-who-called-brokeback-
mountain-disgusting-1/16906/?
fbclid=IwAR0BrN7EmT53eKs5GYYFOuhGwD1wpIaVK2ZRnrk
GZBHTV0BgczEt0n1TYlU

“… the unique spectacle of this hypermasculine pair engaging in a kind of romantic

melodrama that's often coded as inherently feminine.“ (Dominguez, 2017)

Call me by your name

2017 coming-of-age romantic drama film by Luca Guadagnino

based on André Aciman's 2007 novel

Set in northern Italy in 1983, Call Me by Your Name chronicles a romantic relationship
between 17-year-old Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) and his professor father's 24-
year-old graduate-student assistant Oliver (Armie Hammer)

Elio’s adoration of Oliver's masculine beauty

“Elio and Oliver’s relationship is free of the regular trappings of hetero-masculine

aggression and stoicism. Both men even poke fun at having to perform the male gender:
halfway into the film, there’s a pivotal moment where Elio mocks Oliver’s “man” voice by
making caveman-like sounds at him, at which point something loosens inside Oliver and
he begins to speak more freely.“ (Harrington, 2018)

Oliver - Hunk

represents the ideal norms of society on the surface

“Oliver is so comfortable with himself, so glamorously tall, fit, and self-confident, that he’s
nicknamed the “movie star” by Elio’s family.“ (Dominguez, 2017)

Elio - Twink

struggles with his emerging sexuality

“Elio’s contrasting alienation is portrayed as a kind of precocious, diary-writing

introversion, though also an endearingly neurotic self-consciousnes.“(Dominguez, 2017)

“Their age difference is also a factor in their gender difference; Oliver’s adult, hairy-
chested butchness versus Elio’s hairless twinkishness.“ (Dominguez, 2017)

First kiss scene:

“As Elio and Oliver relax on the warm summer grass, Elio decides to grab Oliver’s crotch
through his swim trunks. Oliver appears unmanned. Oliver allows himself to be dominated
by Elio.“ (Kulik, 2018)

First sex scene:

"… when Elio and Oliver finally have sex in Oliver’s room, the camera pans from the bed
to a tree outside the window. (Guadagnino explained that he preferred not to include
explicit sex to make the film feel more universal.) But it is part of these films’ tradition that
the innocence of nature acts as a kind of backdrop or metaphor to naturalize men’s love
outside societal strictures.“ (Dominguez, 2017)

James Ivory’s original sex scene - never shot

Elio - bottom

Oliver - top

Fig. - https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/59j8az/
read-the-tender-sex-scene-cut-from-call-me-by-
your-name

Peach scene - Elio uses the fruit to masturbate

Peach is a metaphor for anus but and vagina

but it’s also a literal bridge between Oliver and Elio - connects them

Film: Oliver does not eat the used peach

“The book's title, Call Me by Your Name, is something Oliver implores Elio to do after the
two have had sex, and comes from a desire to blur boundaries between the self and
other.“ (Disabato, 2018)

There’s something particularly gay male about this constant mirroring: Elio wants to be
Oliver, and in many ways sees him as a better version of himself.

Book - “Elio prefers to fuck rather than be fucked. During their next sexual encounter that
isn’t mitigated by a peach, Elio tops and Oliver bottoms, and Elio doesn’t feel any
postcoital regret.“ (Disabato, 2018)

Elio - had sex with a girl

Oliver - getting married to a woman

fluidity as a sign of bisexual acceptance

“This truly highlights the stereotypes society has presented for male masculinity. Elio
cannot admit to himself the feelings he had for Oliver.“ (Kulik, 2018)

“The concept of universality is deeply political, because it helps determine what a culture
pays attention to — and what remains invisible.“ (Guadagnino, 2017)

Straight Actors playing gay characters:

Director Luca Guadagnino - “I think people are so beautiful and complex as creatures that
as much as I am fascinated with gender theory — I’ve studied Judith Butler for so long —
I prefer much more never to investigate or label my performers in any way. I only cast the
actors and actresses I fall in love with — truly having an emotion for them, an anticipation
and enthusiasm when seeing them — and I believe that my emotional confidence in them
blends into chemistry.” (Guadagnino, 2017)

“The film is an evocative look at a world set apart from these casualties of masculinity. It’s
a hopeful reminder of what we’re working towards, of things to come.“ (Harrington, 2018)

Paragraph 6: Conclusion

Through out time, gay characters in film have been presented as something to laugh at, to
pity or to fear. The stereotypical image of the “sissy“ character showcased gay man as
weak and feminine but was used then, and even now, as a comedic effect in film.
Nowadays, gay men are still associated with those stereotypical images and struggle with
the gender concept of masculinity and femininity. Judith Butler suggests that gender is
produced by culture and we “perform” sexuality.

The film Call me by your name (2017) is able to escape the model of heterosexual
relationships in gay relationships and represents the characters Elio and Oliver shifting
between masculine and feminine, dominant and submissive, active and passive.
Even though society became more aware of homosexuality, there is still a long way to go
in order to present authentic gay characters and gay relationships in modern cinema.

“[T]hey all participate, to varying degrees, in a version of what might be called…‘masc-

centrism’: a perspective in which same-sex desire is largely separated from any kind of
gender nonconformity, while centralizing conventional masculinity.” (Dominguez, 2017)

“With the elegantly wrought prestige cinema unwilling to deliver realistic depictions of
gender nonconformity that are pervasive in queer culture both today and historically, and
with reality television unable to break out of toxic queer-phobic tropes, it’s only the novel
that can deliver queer acceptance and realistic complication when it comes to gender
and sexuality.“ (Disabato, 2018)

„For years filmmakers have struggled to tell gay stories at all. And now they can — they
can tell real gay stories. It would be a step backwards to reject what they’re offering.

So we should all be ready for our close up, because the camera and the people on the
other side of it will eventually see humanity, not stereotypes.“ (Crosby, 2017)

SOURCES

Burton M.D., N. (2015). When Homosexuality Stopped Being a Mental Disorder. [online]
Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-
seek/201509/when-homosexuality-stopped-being-mental-disorder [Accessed 9 Mar.
2019].

Butler, J. (1988). Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology

and Feminist Theory. Theatre Journal, 40(4), p.519.

Crosby, R. (2017). How the Portrayal of Gay Characters On Screen is Challenging

Audiences. [online] HISKIND Magazine. Available at: https://hiskind.com/how-the-
changing-portrayal-of-gay-characters-on-screen-is-challenging-audiences/ [Accessed 10
Mar. 2019].

Dalton, D. (2016). The Criminalization of Homosexuality in Popular Cinema.

Disabato, C. (2018). The Book Was Gayer. [online] Medium. Available at: https://
medium.com/s/reading-alone-at-bars/the-book-was-gayer-b64b60a815d5 [Accessed 10
Mar. 2019].

Dominguez, P. (2017). [online] Buzzfeednews.com. Available at: https://

www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pdominguez/which-queer-movies-get-to-be-
universal#.slKejvAOv [Accessed 10 Mar. 2019].

Foucault, M. (1984). On the Genealogy of Ethics.

Harrington, J. (2018). Queer Desire and Performative Masculinity in ‘Call Me By Your

Name’. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@JustineHarrington/call-me-
by-your-name-is-the-metoo-antidote-i-didn-t-know-i-needed-65c3a4cb0e3f [Accessed
10 Mar. 2019].

Kulik, E. (2018). Masculinity: “Call Me By Your Name”. [online] Medium. Available at:
https://medium.com/@erynk2/redefining-masculinity-armie-hammer-in-call-me-by-your-
name-903bd82b7f60 [Accessed 10 Mar. 2019].

Mislak, M. (2015). From Sissies to Secrecy: The Evolution of the Hays Code Queer.
[online] Filmic. Available at: https://filmicmag.com/2015/08/01/from-sissies-to-secrecy-
the-evolution-of-the-hays-code-queer/ [Accessed 9 Mar. 2019].

Rabbit White, R. (2019). Sex Scenes: Revisiting the Sex, Violence, Tenderness and Beans
of ‘Brokeback Mountain’. [online] Vice. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/
8xyajz/sex-scenes-brokeback-mountain [Accessed 10 Mar. 2019].

The Celluloid Closet. (1995). [DVD].