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Coming Out and Fitting In: Same-Sex Marriage and the Politics of Difference
Citation
Richardson-Self, LV, Coming Out and Fitting In: Same-Sex Marriage and the Politics of Difference, M/C Journal; A Journal of Media and Culture, 15, (6) pp. 1-8. ISSN 1441-2616 (2012) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Official URL: http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjo...
Abstract
This article argues in favour of same-sex marriage, but only under certain conditions. Same-sex marriage ought to be introduced in the Australian context in order to remedy the formal inequalities between lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens and their heterosexual/cisgendered counterparts. One common method of justifying the introduction of formal same-sex relationship recognition has been via the promotion of LGBT "normalcy." This article explores such a trend by analysing popular media and advertising, since media representations and coverage have been shown to affect the way the general public "learns, understands, and thinks about an issue" (Li and Lui 73). This article finds that the promotion of normalcy can, in fact, perpetuate hetero-norms, and only offer LGBT people an imaginary social equality. Such normalisation, it is suggested, is detrimental to a wider goal of gaining respect for LGBT people regardless, not in spite of, their identity and relationships. Yet, this article maintains that such imaginary equality can be avoided, so long as a plurality of possibilities for one’s intimate and familial life are actively legitimated and promoted.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Research Division: | Philosophy and Religious Studies |
Research Group: | Philosophy |
Research Field: | Social Philosophy |
Objective Division: | Cultural Understanding |
Objective Group: | Religion and Ethics |
Objective Field: | Social Ethics |
UTAS Author: | Richardson-Self, LV (Dr Louise Richardson-Self) |
ID Code: | 102252 |
Year Published: | 2012 |
Deposited By: | Humanities |
Deposited On: | 2015-08-06 |
Last Modified: | 2017-10-12 |
Downloads: | 286 View Download Statistics |
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