(academic journal)
Gomillion and Giuliano used both surveyed and interviewed approaches to best understand and
collect data of the influence of media on the formation of queer identity. The survey process of 126
people occurred at a Texas Pride Festival, so they accounted for the possible rushing of the survey,
however, it proved majorly successful in detailing how crucial role models and positive representation
was for high self-esteem as a queer person. To further the findings, longer, personal interviews were
conducted of 15 queer individuals living in Texas. This source fully highlighted the influence of media
on an everyday person in the 21st century, positive and negative. While mostly focusing on the positive
effects, Gumillion and Giuliano state “the media can also exert a harmful influence on children and
adolescents by providing negative role models and by exposing children to traumatic content. In general,
Matthews concluded that media experiences contribute to individuals’ development of their sense of self
and that these experiences remain salient into young adulthood and possibly beyond.” Scholars
Gomillion and Giuliano declare “Contextual factors, including the effects of the media, should be
considered when studying GLB identity (Parks 1999)”; Cementing my question of the connection
between media and identity and self-esteem, these findings bring more validity to my potential argument
in my thesis and warrant my interviews of students for part of my project.
This source very much corresponds to my other sources as the themes of media’s impact are vital
to this work, but specifically this article includes references to other studies and mentions two new studies
to provide a more scholarly look at this topic. For my project, this source brings credit to my assumptions
going into my thesis as well as helps support when I claim the media’s role in the formation of queer
identity is vital as a well-established one.
This source thankfully provides assurance to the claims I am making. For example, “As the prominence
of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) figures in the media has risen, it seems likely that the media’s impact
on the lives of GLB individuals has also grown.” I can easily jump off from that and tie in the recent
phenomenon of queer baiting. Studies have been done consulting queer youth and adults on how positive
and negative depiction of queer people on television and movies have affected them, however, research
on how the practice of queerbaiting has affected queer youth is lacking. In correspondence with Evan’s
thesis, I wonder is queerbaiting only a problem in fan circles that can respond as a community to the
problem they are aware of or if it impacts queer audiences as a whole, or even the heterosexual audience.
Often in queer fandom circles, heteronormativity is cited for mainstream audiences shrugging off
queerbaiting, but does this worsen the problem or harm queer youth’s sense of self?
A conclusion of this article parallels one of my guiding questions, because of how crucial media
is to one’s identity, how harmful is queerbaiting? Gomillion and Giuliano write “Because having role
models with similar characteristics predicts high self-esteem, it seems reasonable to expect that GLB
individuals who have access to GLB role models may have higher self esteem than GLB individuals
who lack access to such role models.” This claim once again leaves me wondering how queer youth in
particular feel in response to witnessing hints at queer characters and never having the character’s queer
identity confirmed/ validated as well as how the self-esteem of queer youth is impacted by vieweing
“almost straight” characters that are marketable to the masses and queer fans. Is this teasing form of
representation positive representation, if it counts at all? Is it more harmful?
collect data of the influence of media on the formation of queer identity. The survey process of 126
people occurred at a Texas Pride Festival, so they accounted for the possible rushing of the survey,
however, it proved majorly successful in detailing how crucial role models and positive representation
was for high self-esteem as a queer person. To further the findings, longer, personal interviews were
conducted of 15 queer individuals living in Texas. This source fully highlighted the influence of media
on an everyday person in the 21st century, positive and negative. While mostly focusing on the positive
effects, Gumillion and Giuliano state “the media can also exert a harmful influence on children and
adolescents by providing negative role models and by exposing children to traumatic content. In general,
Matthews concluded that media experiences contribute to individuals’ development of their sense of self
and that these experiences remain salient into young adulthood and possibly beyond.” Scholars
Gomillion and Giuliano declare “Contextual factors, including the effects of the media, should be
considered when studying GLB identity (Parks 1999)”; Cementing my question of the connection
between media and identity and self-esteem, these findings bring more validity to my potential argument
in my thesis and warrant my interviews of students for part of my project.
This source very much corresponds to my other sources as the themes of media’s impact are vital
to this work, but specifically this article includes references to other studies and mentions two new studies
to provide a more scholarly look at this topic. For my project, this source brings credit to my assumptions
going into my thesis as well as helps support when I claim the media’s role in the formation of queer
identity is vital as a well-established one.
This source thankfully provides assurance to the claims I am making. For example, “As the prominence
of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) figures in the media has risen, it seems likely that the media’s impact
on the lives of GLB individuals has also grown.” I can easily jump off from that and tie in the recent
phenomenon of queer baiting. Studies have been done consulting queer youth and adults on how positive
and negative depiction of queer people on television and movies have affected them, however, research
on how the practice of queerbaiting has affected queer youth is lacking. In correspondence with Evan’s
thesis, I wonder is queerbaiting only a problem in fan circles that can respond as a community to the
problem they are aware of or if it impacts queer audiences as a whole, or even the heterosexual audience.
Often in queer fandom circles, heteronormativity is cited for mainstream audiences shrugging off
queerbaiting, but does this worsen the problem or harm queer youth’s sense of self?
A conclusion of this article parallels one of my guiding questions, because of how crucial media
is to one’s identity, how harmful is queerbaiting? Gomillion and Giuliano write “Because having role
models with similar characteristics predicts high self-esteem, it seems reasonable to expect that GLB
individuals who have access to GLB role models may have higher self esteem than GLB individuals
who lack access to such role models.” This claim once again leaves me wondering how queer youth in
particular feel in response to witnessing hints at queer characters and never having the character’s queer
identity confirmed/ validated as well as how the self-esteem of queer youth is impacted by vieweing
“almost straight” characters that are marketable to the masses and queer fans. Is this teasing form of
representation positive representation, if it counts at all? Is it more harmful?
Gomillion, Sarah C., and Traci A. Giuliano. “The Influence of Media Role Models on Gay,
Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity.” Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 58, no. 3, 2011, pp. 330–354., doi:10.1080/00918369.2011.546729.