Originally published in FlowTV (14.03): 6 July 2011. It can be said with reasonable justification that because we are so programmed to be phobic of our own enduring stereotypes, we have become a generation of self-hating homos. Look on any gay dating website and you will see ad nauseum: “I am interested in masculine men” — “masc-only” — “no fems” — “I’m gay – I don’t want to date girls be masc.” These sorts of statements are typically followed by something like, “I am str8 acting …” Once I read a profile that went so far as to say that the poster was straight, right before listing that he’s a bottom, likes twinks and … well … a few other things I’m too shy to mention in a post my mom will probably read. I believe this distaste for male flamboyance is what is happening when gay men tell me they hate Glee’s flamboyantly gay character, Kurt Hummel, who can best be summed up by his...

Originally published in the peer-reviewed publication, gnovis: The Georgetown University Journal of Communication, Culture & Technology (XI.II) Spring 2011. Abstract:  This paper explores how the sensibility of postfeminism, as understood through the work of media scholar Rosalind Gill, functions within the diegesis of ABC’s Emmy-winning sitcom Roseanne, and how the show attempts to resist discourses commonly associated with the postfeminist landscape of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.  This article pays particular attention to postfeminists’ articulation of female empowerment through sexuality and consumer spending, and Roseanne’s resistance to both.  And through an exclusive interview with Roseanne Barr herself, this piece also identifies how behind-the-scenes drama contributed to the positioning of the protagonist’s daughter, Darlene, as a site of political...