Contesting Mainstream Media Representations of Queer Characters as Subversive: A Contrast Between Liberal and Post-Structural Feminism

With the recent flood of queer characters in mainstream media relative to a decade ago, some audience members have sighed in relief, as if such phenomena can be taken as some kind of indication that we are truly at the peak of our liberation. This transfer of locations for one’s identities from the private sphere to the public sphere, with the result of accumulating public visibility for said identities, is often referred to as public sphere representation. This concept first originated from the early stages of liberal feminism and has since been adopted by various other disciplines in the promotion of marginalized identities. In this paper, I will contest public sphere representations of queer characters in mainstream media as subversive. First, I will discuss how power is conceptualized according to liberal feminism and how, according to such a framework, mainstream media representations of queer characters are often read as subversive. Next, I will apply Michel Foucault’s analysis on power as transformative, and power as pleasure, to argue against the liberal framework with the conclusion that audience members should think twice before affirming these representations as necessarily subversive.

Publisher: Academia.edu
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