Latina Lesbians Speak Out About Gender, Sexuality and Interpretation of Popular Culture
Very little research exists exploring the media reception by individuals with multiple intersectional identities. This particular study adds new insights by exploring the reception of Latina Lesbian women to mainstream media via qualitative methodology consisting of ethnographic focus groups. The main research question explored is how do Latina Lesbians interpret mainstream media? Participants included five self-identified Latina Lesbians whom all reside in a Midwestern university town. The participants ranged from age 20-27 consisting of three women who were graduate students and two undergraduate students. Two focus groups were held; at the first focus group the women watched Brokedown Palace a Hollywood film. At the second focus group the women watched an episode portraying a Latina Lesbian in The L Word, which is the first all lesbian character television show. The women discussed their interpretations in terms of of gender and sexuality issues. Prominent themes included: "The bigger picture", "exoticness", "political awareness", and "emotional connection". While the women appreciated Latina and lesbian representation, their identification and sympathy were mapped according to situation rather than simple ethnicity and sexuality. In other words, while watching mainstream culture texts, rather than identifying with the Latina lesbian [though they certainly appreciated her presence], they identified with the character going through the experience of oppression, exclusion, and/or closeting.
School:
New Mexico State University
Department:
Psychology and Spanish
Research Advisor:
Angharad Valdivia
Department of Research Advisor:
Institute of Communication Research
Year of Publication:
2007