That One Stereotype
“Bakla ba ‘yun? Paano ba siya gumalaw?” my high school friend asked as he talks about our Christian Living Education teacher. I could not help but squint my eyes at him for a moment, initially showing judgement. I, however, began to ask myself who or what exposed him to this kind of perception: sexual orientation being synonymous to gender expression; how the effeminate movements of a man can reflect his attraction to the same gender. After careful reflection and research, what avenue would largely impose such stigma to society than the mass media?
Developmental psychologists Jerel P. Calzo and Monique Ward state how regular consumption of media like the television and Internet leads its users to develop beliefs about certain ideas—among which is homosexuality—that coexist with what med...