1. What are the stereotypes of gay men and lesbian women set in society?
Stereotypes of gay man set in society:
Lesbian Stereotypes set in society:
First of all, many people mentioned that they don’t know any ads with gay people or at least, no ads came to their minds immediately. Just two people could remember having seen a commercial for example the “Deutsche Bahn”-ad and advertisements for condoms and car brands without mentioning specific companies. Furthermore, we noticed that lots of the people interviewed don’t watch TV-commercials frequently and could therfore only tell us about well-known series (like’Two and a half men’) or famous personalities from television and media such as Hella von Sinnen, Bruce Darnell and Anne Will.
In conclusion, we discovered that especially in Germany gay people are not that often included in ads and therefore they aren’t considered as target group in publicity in the same way as heterosexuals. This leads us to the following conclusion: It’s still not seen as common to have homosexual people in the streets, in television and in commercials compared to heterosexual people.
3a. Looking at selected posters: Do these ads go with the stereotypes set in society?
Generally, most of the people we asked suggested that the ad with the man and the camera goes with the common stereotype of a gay man. They mentioned the bright coulour of his shirt (purple), the necklace (Venus symbol), the body-language and the “eye-brow-thing” (trimmed eyebrows).
These are all characteristics of the stereotype “gay man” which were mostly mentioned before by the interviewees.
In contrast, the ad with the two men and the pushchair was mostly not seen as an example for a stereotypical ad because in their opinion, the men didn’t fit in the characteristics they mentioned earlier. The general point of view was that they can only be identified as gays because of their behaviour as a couple and the pushchair. One person we asked mentioned that this ad does not fit in the stereotypes of gay men because a stereotypical couple would be a woman and a man together.
The opinion about the beer ad with the two women concerning present stereotypes was very contradictional. On the one hand, some people didn’t recognize them as lesbians and thought they could also just be friends (f.ex. one interview partner told us that in former times and still today it was/is common that two women behave very intimately as friends). On the other hand, other people told us that in this ad there are represented characteristics of the stereotypical lesbian mentioned earlier like short hair, men’s clothing and the picture of a “typical lesbian couple” consisting of one masculine and one feminine woman.
3b. Do these ads would appeal to most of the people?
A common view concerning the question if these ads would appeal to people or not, was, that it depends on the country and its society of the advertisment. For example, some people mentioned that our society 20 years ago had another attitude towards gays and their implication in everyday life. But since society has changed and is still changing to become more open-minded, in their opinion, these ads would appeal to most people.
Furthermore, one person believed that, apart from the general acceptance of these ads, it is a good idea to implicate gays in ads and to show homosexual couples.
3c. What are the consequences of using gay stereotypes in ads?
The negative consequences by using gay stereotypes in ads were obvious to most people. They outlined, that by using stereotypes in media, you will (un)intentionally reproduce and maintain them. It could be offending to gay people who don’t fit in this picture and you create a branch where you judge people just by their physical appearance.
However, our interview partners mentioned also positive effects: probably, the society would be more open-minded by being surrounded by ads including gay people. A few people mentioned that, by representing them more in ads, maybe more people would dress like them and would dare to live their lives which "don’t go with the social norm".
A further positive aspect of including gays in ads could be that it would become normal to see a homosexual couple behaving like a homosexual one.
Moreover, one guy referred to the necessity of using stereotypes because of their function to simplify complex structures in daily life – to cope with the world.
4. Do these ads go with the ideas of gay/lesbians of the interviewees?
The common view of the interviewees was that the stereotypes used in the ads we showed, didn’t go with their idea of gays and lesbians.
One reason was that the ads we showed to the interviewees pictured a too exaggerated image of gay people. These pictures didn’t match with their ideas of homosexuals they created based on connections they have.
Another reason was that the homosexuals they know don’t fit in any stereotype because stereotypes are only constructed by society and they describe only a little surface of some people. As all individuals are so different from each other, you can’t paint them with a broad brush.
5. Are these gay stereotypes still used in their peer group/ daily life?
What all the statements of interviewees had in common was that they don’t use gay stereotypes in their daily life; it’s therefore not a big issue to them. One guy presumed that this attitude is a particularity of Leipzig because he believes that people living in Leipzig are more alternative and open-minded concerning these issues.
Although it isn’t an issue to talk about anymore in their peer-groups, they emphasized that it must be a focus of discussion in politics, media and society. The reason for this was that everybody should have the possibility to live and express him-/herself freely and without being judged, which is unfortunately not completely reached yet.
Stereotypes of gay man set in society:
- Clothing:
- Take care of their clothes/outfit
- Different fashion style than heteros
- Little bit over-dressed
- Leather clothing
- Dressed colourful (pink clothes, bright colours)
- Tight clothing
- Put great value on fashion
- Behaviour:
- Walk like a woman (foppish way to walk)
- Girlish behavior
- Over-the-top
- Little bit affective
- Hand gesturing (exaggerated)
- Different, noticeable body language and movements
- Extroverted
- High-pitched voice
- Special way to talk
- Friendly
- Sensible
- Appearance:
- Make-up
- Tattoos
- Piercings
- Smell better
- Take care of their body and hygiene
Lesbian Stereotypes set in society:
- Clothing:
- Masculine clothing
- Military clothing
- T-shirt
- Behaviour:
- Acting like a man
- In relationships: one woman plays the manly part (masculine appearance) and the other plays the feminine part (very feminine appearance)
- Appearance:
- Piercings
- Tattoos
- Short hair (most mentioned!!!)
- Manly
- Very muscular
- Butch
- Example: Hella von Sinnen
First of all, many people mentioned that they don’t know any ads with gay people or at least, no ads came to their minds immediately. Just two people could remember having seen a commercial for example the “Deutsche Bahn”-ad and advertisements for condoms and car brands without mentioning specific companies. Furthermore, we noticed that lots of the people interviewed don’t watch TV-commercials frequently and could therfore only tell us about well-known series (like’Two and a half men’) or famous personalities from television and media such as Hella von Sinnen, Bruce Darnell and Anne Will.
In conclusion, we discovered that especially in Germany gay people are not that often included in ads and therefore they aren’t considered as target group in publicity in the same way as heterosexuals. This leads us to the following conclusion: It’s still not seen as common to have homosexual people in the streets, in television and in commercials compared to heterosexual people.
3a. Looking at selected posters: Do these ads go with the stereotypes set in society?
Generally, most of the people we asked suggested that the ad with the man and the camera goes with the common stereotype of a gay man. They mentioned the bright coulour of his shirt (purple), the necklace (Venus symbol), the body-language and the “eye-brow-thing” (trimmed eyebrows).
These are all characteristics of the stereotype “gay man” which were mostly mentioned before by the interviewees.
In contrast, the ad with the two men and the pushchair was mostly not seen as an example for a stereotypical ad because in their opinion, the men didn’t fit in the characteristics they mentioned earlier. The general point of view was that they can only be identified as gays because of their behaviour as a couple and the pushchair. One person we asked mentioned that this ad does not fit in the stereotypes of gay men because a stereotypical couple would be a woman and a man together.
The opinion about the beer ad with the two women concerning present stereotypes was very contradictional. On the one hand, some people didn’t recognize them as lesbians and thought they could also just be friends (f.ex. one interview partner told us that in former times and still today it was/is common that two women behave very intimately as friends). On the other hand, other people told us that in this ad there are represented characteristics of the stereotypical lesbian mentioned earlier like short hair, men’s clothing and the picture of a “typical lesbian couple” consisting of one masculine and one feminine woman.
3b. Do these ads would appeal to most of the people?
A common view concerning the question if these ads would appeal to people or not, was, that it depends on the country and its society of the advertisment. For example, some people mentioned that our society 20 years ago had another attitude towards gays and their implication in everyday life. But since society has changed and is still changing to become more open-minded, in their opinion, these ads would appeal to most people.
Furthermore, one person believed that, apart from the general acceptance of these ads, it is a good idea to implicate gays in ads and to show homosexual couples.
3c. What are the consequences of using gay stereotypes in ads?
The negative consequences by using gay stereotypes in ads were obvious to most people. They outlined, that by using stereotypes in media, you will (un)intentionally reproduce and maintain them. It could be offending to gay people who don’t fit in this picture and you create a branch where you judge people just by their physical appearance.
However, our interview partners mentioned also positive effects: probably, the society would be more open-minded by being surrounded by ads including gay people. A few people mentioned that, by representing them more in ads, maybe more people would dress like them and would dare to live their lives which "don’t go with the social norm".
A further positive aspect of including gays in ads could be that it would become normal to see a homosexual couple behaving like a homosexual one.
Moreover, one guy referred to the necessity of using stereotypes because of their function to simplify complex structures in daily life – to cope with the world.
4. Do these ads go with the ideas of gay/lesbians of the interviewees?
The common view of the interviewees was that the stereotypes used in the ads we showed, didn’t go with their idea of gays and lesbians.
One reason was that the ads we showed to the interviewees pictured a too exaggerated image of gay people. These pictures didn’t match with their ideas of homosexuals they created based on connections they have.
Another reason was that the homosexuals they know don’t fit in any stereotype because stereotypes are only constructed by society and they describe only a little surface of some people. As all individuals are so different from each other, you can’t paint them with a broad brush.
5. Are these gay stereotypes still used in their peer group/ daily life?
What all the statements of interviewees had in common was that they don’t use gay stereotypes in their daily life; it’s therefore not a big issue to them. One guy presumed that this attitude is a particularity of Leipzig because he believes that people living in Leipzig are more alternative and open-minded concerning these issues.
Although it isn’t an issue to talk about anymore in their peer-groups, they emphasized that it must be a focus of discussion in politics, media and society. The reason for this was that everybody should have the possibility to live and express him-/herself freely and without being judged, which is unfortunately not completely reached yet.