During the months of May to August, books are my religion. Devoid of brain-sucking schoolwork, I spend my entire summer with a good book in my hand, sometimes reading up to three in a day. Through these books, I not only live other people’s lives, but I also gain clarification into who I am. As a young queer woman, I can find my sexuality represented in only selective pieces of media; hence, this past summer, according to my color-coordinated spreadsheet series, I curated the list of books I read to be 60.4% queer in either their authors or characters. In my list of recommendations that I give to others, 93.8% of those books are queer (100% willing to send a copy to whoever wants it…). My own choice in the media I consume is to make it as inclusive of LGBTQ+ themes, identities, and stories as possible.
A screenshot of my recommendations spreadsheet!
This entire blog is inspired by a book I read this summer (part of that 60.4%) titled “The 2000s Made Me Gay” by Grace Perry. According to the publisher: “This collection of essays is a hilarious nostalgic trip through beloved 2000s media, interweaving cultural criticism and personal narrative to examine how a very straight decade forged a very queer woman.” In this book, Perry discusses how the media and culture around her, even without much queer representation, still impacted her as a queer woman.
Regardless of someone’s sexuality, the media they consume has an undisputed effect on them. However, for people in the LGBTQ+ community, seeing stories and identities they can relate to shown and celebrated in the pop culture they consume can be life-changing—and sometimes even lifesaving.
Beginning in my early teens, specifically twelve and thirteen, I distinctly remember finally seeing queer relationships in the shows I was watching. As I continued to grow up and eventually come to terms with my sexuality, that representation helped me feel less alone and more myself. However, the distinctly queer media I have consumed as a teenager is very different than what I grew up watching. So, with this blog, I hope to analyze how the media and pop culture I love and adore has impacted and shaped me either before knowing I was gay, accepting that I was gay, or being gay.
However, in this discussion about my own personal experience with queer media, I must point out that the topic of LGBTQ+ representation has been a popular discussion topic, particularly over the past decade as major production companies, such as Netflix, are increasing the number of LGBTQ+ characters included in their productions. The reality of this decision is not everyone supports queer stories, identities, and love being shown. In a quick search across popular discussion forums, such as Reddit and Quora, these were some of the ~incredible~ comments I found against queer stories being shared:
“There are already enough/too many gay movies and they have enough representation, so can they please stop producing them.”
“But Netflix!!! you have got to stop shoving this in our faces!!!!”
“The best thing you can do is to send these networks a message and to stop watching or turn it off when these characters are introduced if you are uncomfortable watching the content. Or call them up and complain. I am not against this stuff but I just want it properly labeled.”
(Thread: “Why does every show seem to require LGBT characters now”)
Hilarious…am I right? At the end of the day, each person who consumes media has a choice in what they will watch, but production companies also have a choice in what they produce. Being LGBTQ+ is not a choice, but inclusion is a choice. And inclusion can save lives.
Check out a link to “The 2000s Made Me Gay” by Grace Perry here.
Cover of “The 2000s Made Me Gay” by Grace Perry