The Upstairs Lounge

The UpStairs Lounge arson attack occurred on the last Sunday in June, 1973, at a gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, and resulted in the deaths of 32 people due to direct immolation or inhalation of fumes. It was started with Ronsonol lighter fluid on the steps near the entrance. The most likely suspect was a man who had been thrown out of the bar earlier that day; he was never sentenced.

Rev. William “Bill” Larson tried to escape and his body was found hanging out of a window. Police and firemen refused to cover his body claiming to leave it there as an example.

Coverage of the fire by news outlets minimized the fact that LGBT patrons had constituted the majority of the victims, while editorials and talk radio jockeys made light of the event. A radio host used the joke "what will they bury the ashes of the queers in? fruit jars" on air several times. Major Henry Morris, Chief of Detectives, made the comment "you know thieves hang out there and used false papers to gain entry or hide their true identities." A city cab driver appeared on television and said "I hope the fire burned their dresses off."  

The mainstream media was largely uninterested  in showing compassion for gay arson victims. Initial news coverage omitted mention that the fire had anything to do with gays, despite the fact that a gay church in a gay bar had been torched. What stories did appear used dehumanizing language to paint the scene, with stories in the States-Item, New Orleans' afternoon paper, describing "bodies stacked up like pancakes," and that "in one corner, workers stood knee deep in bodies...the heat had been so intense, many were cooked together." Other reports spoke of "mass charred flesh" and victims who were "literally cooked."

 

This was one of the news reports that aired the same day as the fire. The fire disappeared from headlines after the second day. And within a week any news of the fire was unheard of. The city had pushed it under the carpet as if it had never happened. To this day, the Upstairs Lounge is not something openly talked about in New Orleans. Initially, it was unspoken of because they were ashamed of the fact that there were homosexuals in existence among them. Now, it is unspoken of because it is something they have grown ashamed of and how it reflects upon their city.

Beauty & the Stigma of Difference

The media portrayal of women has become something that we, as viewer's, should not be proud of. Nine times out of ten, women are shown abnormally thin and have exaggeratingly fit bodies that in reality do not exist. In printed media, with the help of high tech broadcast programming, the bodies of these women are computer generated, touched up, body parts are switched around and cut and pasted according to what the advertisers think is best looking in their eyes. When the women and younger girls at home see these unreal images in the media, they struggle to attain these artificial standards and put their lives into jeopardy emotionally, physically, and psychologically. The repercussions of these unattainable standards are eating disorders, low self esteem, and depression.

The other end of this is the overwhelmingly negative image of overweight people. The media often portrays them in ill-fitting clothes or eating fast food, to illustrate the story of obesity. For one study, researchers looked at 429 news stories about obesity, along with their accompanying photos, published on five major news websites. Of the photos depicting overweight or obese people, the study found, 72% portrayed them “in a negative, stigmatizing manner.” Although news stories focus largely on reducing the obesity epidemic, the images that go with them have the opposite effect. Research shows that people who read a news story about obesity that is paired with a stigmatizing photograph subsequently express higher levels of weight bias than do those who read the same news story about obesity paired with a nonstigmatizing photograph.

The media so strongly influences not only how we view the world, but how we view ourselves. We give advertisers so much power over us and tell us what were doing wrong with our bodies. We're either too fat or too thin. There never seems to be a happy medium. The media puts so much emphasis on how our bodies look and they have created one norm for all different types of women to squeeze into. And if you don't fit, there are social consequences. We, as women, critique other women so harshly knowing how hard we each struggle. The media should encourage women to be happy and proud with their bodies and stop trying to conform to pop culture's beauty standards.

 

http://psupopculture.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/the-unrealistic-women-in-the-media/

LGBT in the Media

Media portrayal of the LGBT community varies from very positive and supportive to very negative and demoralizing. The gay community is constantly battling with the negative image and trying to overcome stereotypes in television, films and other media. Because many lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender people look just like everyone else the media tends to add images to make the community as visible as a difference in skin color. In many movies and television shows gays are depicted as prima donna, promiscuous, and bold. Despite the stereotypical portrayal of gays, the media has show support to the community with shows like The L Word, The Real L Word, Queer Eye, and Will and Grace. Recently many celebrities have felt more comfortable coming out of the closet which has, in turn, caused the media to create more gay friendly shows.  With the popularity of gay television shows, celebrities, and music artists, Western culture has had to open its eyes to the gay community and be aware of the social issues. With more shows promoting the acceptance of gays, people are able to view a more correct depiction of the LGBT community. The gay community has been targeted by marketers who view LGBT people as an untapped source of discretionary spending, as many couples have two income streams and no children. As a result, companies are advertising more and more to the gay community, and LGBT activists use advertisement slogans to promote gay community views. Subaru marketed its "Forester" and "Outback" models with the slogan "It's not a choice. It's the way we're built" which was later used in eight United States cities on streets or in gay rights events.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daryl-c-hannah/lgbt-people-of-color-media_b_1466391.html