Gay&Lesbian Stereotypes in Cinema

Stereotypes played a big part in cinema that portrayed gays and lesbians. There was the sissy character and the dyke. These portrayed gays a certain way. The men were given a feminine style, and lesbians were given a more masculine identity in films. This didn't always please the audience-that is to say the gay audience, because not all appreciated the comical spin on gays in society. However, gays were portrayed as being more isolated from the rest of the world, and lesbians were seen as a more dominant character such as the "lesbian vampire." This helped gays feel that there lives were being brought out to the world for once about how they sometimes do feel the need to live their lives in isolation or as a "monster." I really liked this reading because I never thought about gay characters this way, and how it affected everyone. Today people are much more open to it, and to see a gay character in a film is not uncommon, but back then there were stereotypes at first just to actually be able to add in gays because it wasn't acceptable.