Academic literature on the topic 'Queer eye for the straight guy (television program)'

Consumers have become attracted to "exotic" or culturally related trends. By extracting and consuming styles and characteristics associated with marginalized cultures, society eliminates diversity through homogenization. Recently popular television programs such as <em>Queer Eye for the Straight Guy</em>, which depicts the make-over of a straight male by five gay hosts, displays characteristics associated with the gay community allowing for the absorption of stereotypes. Following this, the configuration of the "metrosexual" by marketers has allowed straight males to adopt the positive queer styles. Discussion groups were convened to view an episode of <em>Queer Eye</em> to discuss the program and the portrayal of gay images. Focus groups indicate that the program is a positive sign of acceptance although it reinforces mainstream stereotypes. Both <em>Queer Eye</em> and the metrosexual are a result of the break down heterosexual gender norms and production and redistribution of stereotypes which generate profit in a consumer society. Instead of dispelling stereotypes, programs like <em>Queer Eye </em>re-inscribe and validate these images. While the presence of gay characters in the media shows a movement towards greater acceptance of homosexuality, the commodification of gay stereotypes demonstrates the hegemonic nature of mass culture and the justification of exploitation through tolerance.

This thesis foregrounds a question unanswered in queer theory�s account of the ongoing reproduction of heteronormativity. In Gender Trouble, Judith Butler asks "From where does the performative draw its force, and what happens to the performative whose task it is to undo" that discursively legitimated enacting? (Bodies That Matter 224-5). While queer theory offers a compelling account of how the normative fictions of identity privilege heterosexuality, the first part of Butler�s question remains relatively under-theorised. This thesis addresses this gap and argues that to understand the source of performative authority, we must address the intimate relationship between gay identity and commodity culture. Thus, I investigate the connections between the marketing industry, an historically politicised gay press, and a lesbian and gay politics imagined through the paradigm of identity, and argue that they combine in a citational feedback loop to performatively produce gay identity as the "ideal consumer." I then undertake case studies of two media texts, the website Gay.com and the television series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, in order to demonstrate how the white, male, middle-class gay aesthete functions hegemonically as gayness in culture. My analysis then turns to the second part of Butler�s question -"what happens to the performative whose task it is to undo?"- and examines the consequences of the absence of an analysis of commodity culture for the notion of queer. To that end, I suggest that alongside their repetitions of gay normativity, both Gay.com and Queer Eye perform queer possibility. However, the case studies I undertake, along with the critical reception of Queer Eye and the internet technologies behind Gay.com, suggests that these media texts fall short of the promise of queerness. This apparent failure to disturb heteronormative reproduction is connected in these critiques to each text�s commercial imperatives. This thesis argues that such critiques tend to rely on determinations of the authenticity of queer performance, and emphasise veracity over queer theory�s potential to exploit the critical potential of deliberate indeterminacy. I argue, instead, that a key part of queer theory�s contingency is its capacity to respond to the changing performative contexts of the normative repetitions it seeks to undo. To put this more simply: If consumer desire defines contemporary gayness, then it is with consumer desire that queer theory must contend. It is precisely the indeterminacy of queer that enables such shifts in its strategies of subversion. Recognition of how queer�s indeterminacy enables those subversive moves returns us to the importance to queer theory of a sustained consideration of the constitutive capacities of commodity culture. What I suggest in this thesis is that if we do no ask "From where does the performance draw its force?" then we cannot answer "And what happens to the performative whose task it is to undo?" the normative framework of identity.

This project utilizes a case study approach to explore the various ways in which the portrayals of gay people have changed on American television. Three contemporary programs - Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and The L Word - are examined as examples of how far American television has progressed in terms of treating gay people with respect. Whether those shows move beyond merely presenting gay characters and into a level of actively challenging mainstream views on gay people is also examined. Findings suggest different factors affect the ability of the individual programs to test said views - including the genres to which each belongs, and their presence on network television (Will & Grace), basic cable (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) or premium cable (The L Word). While all three programs show some tendencies toward queerness, they also take steps toward negotiating with mainstream culture, indicating that complete queerness may be an unattainable goal on American television.

碩士
國立臺南藝術大學
音像管理研究所
98
The TV show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” was the text for this present study to discuss the contemporary sexual proposition. The present study focused on the changing of watch direction. Different from the mainstream sexual perspective to treat queer culture, this show opened a way in which queer became the observer to the straight guy. Through the media as TV program, the queer subject got more attention and people had more opportunities to reconsider the sexual issues. The transition between “watching” and “being watched” was associated with the transition of power. This research therefore examined the power practice in the history. Furthermore, this show in a capitalistic society surely concerned with “Placement marketing”. As a result, in this study, the analyses of Queer in the culture of consumption were done. In addition, how the culture of consumption influenced Queer was also discussed. The Program objective “You–only better” referred to the concepts, which were “Individuation” of C.G. Jung and “Le souci de soi” of Michel Foucault. This research finally discussed the practice and the limitations of these two concepts in our modern society.

This chapter considers the representation of the straight girl and the queer guy within varying documentary media forms, considering the notions of social agency and performativity. Foregrounding both documentary theory and performance studies, the documentary biographical film drama Carrington (Christopher Hampton 1995, UK), offers a historical precedent in the representation of the straight girl and queer guy, all the while foregrounding notions of devotion and intensity. The context of the social actor is further examined in more recent documentary case studies such as Fag Hags: Women Who Love Gay Men (Justine Pimlott 2005, Canada), My Husband Is Gay (Benetta Adamson 2005, UK) and My Husband Is Not Gay (TLC 2015, US), framing the intense relationships between straight girls and queer guys – in many instances relating legal marriages and questioning issues of fidelity. Also the performative potential of reality television is explored in Would Like to Meet (BBC 2001, UK), Boy Meets Boy (Bravo 2003, US) and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo 2003–7, US), through examining the confines and opportunity of television formats.