On the importance of media representation and living critically

I fell in love with TV at age 14, when I first started watching Grey’s Anatomy. Grey’s is complicated, and that’s what I love about it. It’s a show where the cast is racially diverse, and race matters. Grey’s was the first show that I ever watched where two women became a couple, and the impact Grey’s had on my personal queer identity development cannot be understated. But more so than that, loving Grey’s Anatomy showed me the importance of media.

I am someone who is highly susceptible to internalizing messages from the media. Growing up in rural Indiana meant not experiencing representation accurately reflecting how I identified in my everyday life, and the idea of seeing something like the famed Cheerios commercial as a child feels laughable. A TV show or a commercial may feel small, but the impact can be immeasurable in so many ways.

I remember being in middle school and deciding to wear girls’ jeans for the first time. Until that moment, I wore all boys’ clothing, and my parents were completely fine with that. My parents’ progressivism, while a privilege, also revealed that the dissonance I felt came solely from external influences like media and my peers. I had never seen a masculine-of-center woman and legitimately did not think I could be a woman who wore boys’ clothes long-term. When I made the choice to return to a masculine gender expression while in college, I did so understanding that I was marking myself as different.

And I think that is a pretty big problem.

It should not feel impossible to get representation in media. It should not be dangerous to show up authentically. It should not be difficult for any of us to be our entire selves in this world. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and the stakes are high.

From beauty standards, to constructions of race, to gender norms, to healthy relationship standards, to notions of masculinity, to definitions of religion, media provides the scaffolding and imagery. I’m the first to admit that if I didn’t watch/read/listen to problematic things, I simply wouldn’t have any media in my life. But that is not a reason for me to remain silent. Closely examing this material, exposing the problems while applauding the successes, actively creates more room for myself and others who are marginalized. Only by talking about it can we push for better.

I think there is the assumption that by pushing, and critiquing, and demanding better, that critics hate everything. When it comes to engaging the world through critical theories like intersectionality and critical race theory, most things will be problematic, but that is because until recently, there has been little incentive for media to be better. One of the blessings of the internet is the freeing of space for so many more voices to share experiences, and provide critique of the bullshit that’s out there. I am convinced that the blogosphere took down Stonewall before the reviewers even had a chance.

If it’s fucked up, someone is going to say something, and now there are mechanisms for that voice to be heard. I consider that to be true progress.

Header image credit: Callagy Law