The Representation Of Homosexuality

I find a representation of lesbian sexuality in a short movie. The movie is about the non-normative love affair between Tara, a married woman, and Ariel, a family teacher of Tara’s children. I selected this representation because it is non-normative and it tells the story of two women. It also has many scenes about the women’s sexuality, such as kissing, touching, and having sex. In the movie, Tara is represented as a bisexual woman who gets married with a man but falls in love with a young woman. She is an elegant woman. Ariel is represented to be a sexy lesbian and she has a strong personality and is brave enough to express her love. Tara is a middle class white woman in her thirties. Tara looks like a Hispanic woman in her twenties and she …show more content…
As we discuss in the previous units, heteronormativity assumes that heterosexuality between people of the opposite sexes is the only acceptable form of relationships. However, in the movie, there are many scenes about the two women’s sexuality. They are lovers and they have sex secretly. Race and the socioeconomic status are important elements in the representation. Whiteness is critical and dominant in the representation of homonormativity. In the media, white normativity is common and it means that whiteness is natural, normal and right and the privilege of white, middle-class homosexuals seems to be entrenched (Kennedy, 2014). In the movie, Tara, her husband, and their children are all white and whiteness is pervasive and normal. Whiteness helps the media to shape viewers’ ideas and makes it easier for viewers to accept the non-normative sexuality …show more content…
Her sexual orientation is not fixed. Tara uses “the bisexuality to traverse the boundaries of monogamy” (Wilkins, 2004, p. 344). She maintains the central heterosexual marriage while also engaging in a homosexual relationship outside the marriage. However, the representation does not reinforce or reproduce homosexuality. As Diamond (2005) argues, the depictions of heteroflexibility often portray same-sex sexuality as a “add on” to conventional heterosexuality, which can confirm the essentiality of heterosexuality (p. 105). Although Tara loves Ariel, she does not pursue the same-sex love at the cost of her family and children. Tara does not want to disclose her relationship with Ariel. At the end of the move, Ariel leaves alone and Tara does not search for her. In the society, although many people are bisexual, they choose to act as a heterosexual. The movie conveys the message that the heterosexual marriage is likely to be more important than the same-sex relationship, especially for married people. The phenomenon reveals that the heteronormativity is still dominant and many people still do not have the courage to challenge it for some social, political or individual