The Role of Popular Culture for Queer Teen Identities’ Formation in Netflix’s Sex Education
Queer teenagers are avid readers of popular culture; as numerous audience studies prove, television plays a significant role in identity-formation for LGBTIQ+ youth, providing them with the information about sexuality, gender roles or non-normative relationships usually unavailable in their educatio...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cogitatio
2021-09-01
|
| Series: | Media and Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/4115 |
| _version_ | 1828752371441729536 |
|---|---|
| author | Lucía-Gloria Vázquez-Rodríguez Francisco-José García-Ramos Francisco A. Zurian |
| author_facet | Lucía-Gloria Vázquez-Rodríguez Francisco-José García-Ramos Francisco A. Zurian |
| author_sort | Lucía-Gloria Vázquez-Rodríguez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Queer teenagers are avid readers of popular culture; as numerous audience studies prove, television plays a significant role in identity-formation for LGBTIQ+ youth, providing them with the information about sexuality, gender roles or non-normative relationships usually unavailable in their educational and home environments. In this article we analyze how some of the protagonists of Netflix’s TV show Sex Education (2019-present) utilize popular culture as a tool to explore their desires, forbidden fantasies, and gender expressions, becoming instrumental in the formation of their queer identities in a way that metatextually reflects the role LGBTIQ+ shows play for their audiences. Such is the case of Adam, a bisexual teenager that masturbates to the image of a fictional actor featured in a 1980s action film poster; Lily, whose sexual fantasies of role playing with alien creatures are strongly influenced by spatial sci-fi; and Ola, whose onyric universe is influenced by David Bowie’s genderbending aesthetics. However, the most representative example of how popular culture influences the formation of queer identities is Eric, whose non-conforming gender expression follows the example set by the trans characters in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T21:08:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d1bdc33ba5d4224b233cd745d28cbde |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T21:08:04Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Media and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d1bdc33ba5d4224b233cd745d28cbde2022-12-22T01:33:34ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392021-09-019319820810.17645/mac.v9i3.41152133The Role of Popular Culture for Queer Teen Identities’ Formation in Netflix’s Sex EducationLucía-Gloria Vázquez-Rodríguez0Francisco-José García-Ramos1Francisco A. Zurian2Department of Applied Communication Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, SpainDepartment of Applied Communication Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, SpainDepartment of Applied Communication Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, SpainQueer teenagers are avid readers of popular culture; as numerous audience studies prove, television plays a significant role in identity-formation for LGBTIQ+ youth, providing them with the information about sexuality, gender roles or non-normative relationships usually unavailable in their educational and home environments. In this article we analyze how some of the protagonists of Netflix’s TV show Sex Education (2019-present) utilize popular culture as a tool to explore their desires, forbidden fantasies, and gender expressions, becoming instrumental in the formation of their queer identities in a way that metatextually reflects the role LGBTIQ+ shows play for their audiences. Such is the case of Adam, a bisexual teenager that masturbates to the image of a fictional actor featured in a 1980s action film poster; Lily, whose sexual fantasies of role playing with alien creatures are strongly influenced by spatial sci-fi; and Ola, whose onyric universe is influenced by David Bowie’s genderbending aesthetics. However, the most representative example of how popular culture influences the formation of queer identities is Eric, whose non-conforming gender expression follows the example set by the trans characters in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/4115gender identityidentity formationlgbtiq+ mediapopular culturequeersex educationteens |
| spellingShingle | Lucía-Gloria Vázquez-Rodríguez Francisco-José García-Ramos Francisco A. Zurian The Role of Popular Culture for Queer Teen Identities’ Formation in Netflix’s Sex Education Media and Communication gender identity identity formation lgbtiq+ media popular culture queer sex education teens |
| title | The Role of Popular Culture for Queer Teen Identities’ Formation in Netflix’s Sex Education |
| title_full | The Role of Popular Culture for Queer Teen Identities’ Formation in Netflix’s Sex Education |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Popular Culture for Queer Teen Identities’ Formation in Netflix’s Sex Education |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Popular Culture for Queer Teen Identities’ Formation in Netflix’s Sex Education |
| title_short | The Role of Popular Culture for Queer Teen Identities’ Formation in Netflix’s Sex Education |
| title_sort | role of popular culture for queer teen identities formation in netflix s sex education |
| topic | gender identity identity formation lgbtiq+ media popular culture queer sex education teens |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/4115 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT luciagloriavazquezrodriguez theroleofpopularcultureforqueerteenidentitiesformationinnetflixssexeducation AT franciscojosegarciaramos theroleofpopularcultureforqueerteenidentitiesformationinnetflixssexeducation AT franciscoazurian theroleofpopularcultureforqueerteenidentitiesformationinnetflixssexeducation AT luciagloriavazquezrodriguez roleofpopularcultureforqueerteenidentitiesformationinnetflixssexeducation AT franciscojosegarciaramos roleofpopularcultureforqueerteenidentitiesformationinnetflixssexeducation AT franciscoazurian roleofpopularcultureforqueerteenidentitiesformationinnetflixssexeducation |