Queering Masculinity On Tv: The Transformative Potential Of Genre, Embodiment, And Homosociality

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b3199997

Using textual and extratextual analysis of recent TV programs Our Flag Means Death (2022), What We Do in the Shadows (2019-present), and Heartstopper (2022), this thesis explores the interconnections between theories of hegemonic masculinity, homosociality, and gender performativity in the context of modern television. Theories of hegemonic masculinity are not sufficient to account for the wide variety of masculinities on TV because of the differential way that local, regional, and global contexts interact to influence how viewers think about gender and its embodiment. Mixing normative genres, tropes, and mediums on television creates space for queer embodiments of masculinity and femininity. Flexibility in gender presentation is impacted by homosocial environments and whether in-group gender membership is determined by official institutions or unofficial groupings. To address gender diversity in representation, the concept of belonging to homosocial groups should be altered to reflect a shared desire for the same gender configuration instead of resorting to the gender binary. While manifestations of masculinity have evolved in recent TV programs, changes to gender presentation often occur on the symbolic level, obscuring the unchanged status quo of gender hegemony. However, certain narrative styles such as mockumentaries and the inclusion of characters with diverse embodiments of gender have the potential to effectively queer TV and influence viewers’ common-sense understandings of gender to be more inclusive of queerness.