A media object that I feel defines gender and sexuality is the concept of musicals, talking about both the people who watch them and the definitions of gender and sexuality that these musicals portray. For the purpose of this blog, I'll talk about the musical, High School Musical.
Analyzing the people who watch or participate in musicals is an interesting experience. Do you remember back in high school, or maybe even late middle school, when High School Musical made its debut? And yes, I'm talking about the movie/musical with Zac Effron and Vanessa Hudgens. I remember completely refusing to watch it because personally I saw musicals, even in the form of a movie, as something that only girls would watch, or something that only girls were supposed to watch. Many guys back then, and even still today, feel like the act of watching or actually enjoying a musical is threatening to their masculinity. This stems from our society's idea as to what being male and female entails - that men should look and act in a certain way, or that women should look or act in a certain way. However, despite these ideas that are constantly crammed into our minds, High School Musical presents a different view, one that I honestly see as a much better representation of what being male or female is all about.
Just as well, musicals often involve large groups of people simultaneously breaking out into song and dance while wearing make-up and occasionally-ridiculous attire. This idea, especially because of the notion of a man having to wear make-up, seems counter-cultural. Personally, I don't see why society is rooted so deeply in convincing men and women that they are supposed to act or look a certain way, and that any other idea of being a man or a woman is simply not acceptable. It seems to me that everyone should be and is allowed to be whoever he or she wants to be without the overarching influence of society.
I really like the retro advertisement! I'm big on the retro art.
ReplyDeleteI never felt the same about musicals in general, but that's probably because I was involved in the production of quite a few during my high school career. I was never on stage, I was just the "sound guy." I do, however, see what you're saying with High School Musical. It was a big thing in my high school for the guys to always dis it.
I never saw High School Musical, I don't recall it being that popular in my school though so that's probably why. I did, however, love going to see my high school's own musical plays, but I never took part in them because I have no acting talents at whatsoever. But I definitely know what you are talking about with guys thinking it will threaten their masculinity, it happened in my school all the time.
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