Social Contracts: Media Articulation of the Rites

¶ … Social Contracts:

Media Articulation Of The Rites Of

HETEROSEXUAL vs. HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS

In the Land of the Free where the Bill of Rights is supreme, all marital unions between consenting adults should be accorded the same level of societal respect and legality under federal and state laws. It was just a few decades ago when the Gay Rights Movement was born in a raucous Greenwich Village bar, but homosexuals have become increasingly accepted in mainstream American society in the years since and a growing number of states are legalizing same-sex marriage in response to this trend. Unfortunately, the path to equal rights for all American citizens has been hampered by negative media coverage of homosexuals in the United States in recent years in ways that are frequently subtle but which are discernible through careful analysis. This type of analysis is important because prejudicial public information or notice of the sexual orientation of the marital union partners is capable of distracting from the core values pertaining to family issues and such skewed coverage inevitably perpetuates stereotypical perceptions of others. The Associated Press Style & Libel Manual has gone to great lengths to avoid this type of stereotypical portrayals in newspaper coverage and most major English-language dictionaries used in the United States have either eliminated gender specifications in their definitions of marriage or have supplemented them with secondary definitions to provide gender neutral language concerning same-sex marriages.

Basic American human and civil rights clearly demand equality of the marital institution in the United States today. The Declaration of Independence (1776, line X) sets the broad standard under which Americans define citizenship and membership in a freedom-loving nation. The U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, particularly the 1st and 14th Amendments, that guarantees all American citizens a wide range of civil rights and liberties. With respect to the 1st Amendment's implications, lawsuit seeking court orders to compel reluctant religious institution to perform same-sex marriages will likely fail under the provisions of the 1st Amendment Free Exercise Clause (Severino, 2007) which stipulates: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .." With respect to the 14th Amendment, the Library of Congress's entry for this amendment states: "The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868, and granted citizenship to 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States,' which included former slaves recently freed" (2011, para. 1). Beyond the foregoing stipulation, the 14th Amendment also prohibited states from denying any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law," or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" (quoted in 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 2011, para. 2). Prior to the passage of the 14th Amendment, the civil rights and liberties protections contained in the Bill of Rights were not applicable at the state level, making this amendment especially salient for the same-sex marriage debate today. In this regard, the Library of Congress concludes that, "By directly mentioning the role of the states, the 14th Amendment greatly expanded the protection of civil rights to all Americans and is cited in more litigation than any other amendment" (14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 2011, para. 2).

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of this fundamental need to recognize these constitutional rights as state after state has legalized same-sex marriages and this trend appears to be increasing. For instance, in 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to approve same-sex marriages (Brewer & Wilcox, 2005) and four other states (Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire as well as the District of Columbia) now legally recognize same-sex marriages (Williams, 2010). In response to these trends, there have been calls for a constitutional amendment that would define marriage according to the traditional definition as being between one man and one woman, and both sides of the controversy have drawn up battle lines as a result.

Assuming that current trends defeat any constitutional amendment initiative and result in the entire country legalizing same-sex marriages at some distant future point in time, it would be reasonable to ask, "Why did the process take so long?" And "What could have been done to facilitate the process?" Among the major constraints to the more rapid recognition of same-sex marriage in the United States are the significant economic consequences that are involved. The broad provisions of the 1st and 14th Amendment mean that there will be significant implications for the legalization of same-sex marriages at the state level. According to Severino, "The specific consequences that will likely flow from legalizing same-sex marriage include both government compulsion of religious institutions to provide financial or other support for same-sex married couples and government withdrawal of public benefits from those institutions that oppose same-sex marriage" (2007, p. 939).

This means that in any situation wherein religious institutions have afforded preferential treatment for traditionally married men and women, state law will likewise require them to treat the partners of same-sex marriages in an identical fashion or, in the alternative, discontinue offering such benefits completely (Severino, 2007). The alternative is precisely the response taken by Catholic Charities of Boston that discontinued its adoption program altogether rather than being forced to place children for adoption with same-sex marital partners (Gallagher, 2006). The net impact of these changes would be profound for many religious organizations. If state laws allow same-sex marriages:

1. Religious institutions that refuse to recognize same-sex marriages would risk losing their traditional tax-exempt status;

2. Religious institutions that refuse to recognize same-sex marriages would risk exclusion from competition for government-funded social service contracts.

3. Religious institutions that refuse to recognize same-sex marriages would risk exclusion from government facilities and other public venues.

4. Religious institutions that refuse to recognize same-sex marriages would risk exclusion from the state function of licensing marriages.

5. Other criticisms of same-sex marriage from the clergy include the potential for the loss of religious practices and observances during the consecration of marriages that have been the traditional mainstays of these organizations (Severino, 2007, p. 940).

While a sufficient body of precedential case law has not been developed that addresses the likely outcomes of legal challenges to religious institutions that have challenged same-sex marriage laws at the state level with respect to the foregoing, there is a growing body of case law concerning unsuccessful challenges to state-level definitions of marriage that prohibit same-sex unions (Severino, 2007).

Taken together, the economic, religious and social costs that are associated with legalizing same-sex marriages are substantial, but these are costs that must be paid in order to achieve the equality mandates set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Not surprisingly, efforts to promote or discourage same-sex marriage at the state-level have been characterized by heated debate and emotionally charged rhetoric, with the legal definition of marriage typically being at the crux of the controversy. For instance, according to Poirier (2008), "A classic response to the claim of a right of same-sex couples to marry has always been definitional: a 'marriage' between two men or two women is simply not what 'marriage' means" (p. 343). This assertion is refuted by Black's Law Dictionary (1999), though, that defines marriage as "a legal union of one man and one woman as husband and wife. Marriage is a legal status condition or relation of one man and one woman united in law for life or until divorced for the discharge to each other and the community of the duties legally incumbent on those who association is founded on the distinction of sex" (emphasis added) (p. 972).

Proponents of this traditional legal definition of marriage, then, argue that same-sex marriages fail to satisfy the legal requirements for marriage from the outset and there has been a groundswell of efforts to ensure this remains the law of the land. For example, on February 24, 2004, then-President George W. Bush called for a Constitutional amendment that would actually define marriage as being between as "man and a woman" (Landau, 2009). This call was followed by the California Supreme Court's decisions in three separate cases in August 2005 that resulted in the state being the first to grant full parenthood to same-sex partners (Landau, 2009). The news was far different in other parts of the country, though and Landau emphasizes that, "By the end of 2005, 27 states had voted to amend their constitutions to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman, while steps to pass laws to ban gays and lesbians from adopting children were underway around the country" (2009, p. 81).

One of the main influences of public perception of gay marriage, of course, is how the institution is portrayed in the popular media. Clearly, to the extent that same-sex marriages are portrayed in positive frames will likely be the extent to which mainstream views about this issue will positively change and vice versa. This point is made by Holz-Ivory, Gibson and Ivory (2008) who report that, "Marginalized groups are underrepresented or symbolically annihilated from the rest of society, and the mass media provide the chief common ground among the different groups that make up a heterogeneous national and international community" (p. 174). Moreover, shifts in the popular perception of same-sex marriages will likely be reflected in the content of mainstream media coverage. For instance, Holz-Ivory et al. add that, "When these groups finally do attain visibility, their representation will reflect the biases and interests of those elites who define the public agenda" (2008, p. 174). Just as the gay and lesbian community has used high-profile events such as parades to heighten community awareness, there is a growing recognition among proponents of same-sex marriage that the mainstream media is a key strategic device to gaining support from the "straight" American public. For instance, according to Landau, "Countless communication scholars argue that visibility in mass media is an important goal of the gay and lesbian movement because some recognizable representational form of homosexuality is necessary for political power and equality of gays and lesbians and fundamental to developing their identities" (2009, p. 81). Even in the Age of Information where consumers have access to an enormous array of information sources, the mainstream media still plays a formative role in shaping American popular opinion, making the balanced and fair portrayal of homosexuals a particularly important enterprise. As Landau concludes, "Portrayals of gays and lesbians in mainstream news discourse are significant since news stories and photojournalism play a role in constructing (gay) politics in contemporary American civic life" (2009, p. 81). Since the perception of media messages is a highly subjective experience, it is important to identify what terminology and characterizations are typically used in the media to portray same-sex marriage in general and same-sex marriage compared to traditional marriage in particular and these issues are discussed further below.

Media Portrayal

Contrasting methods of portrayal of Homosexual and Heterosexual Marriage:

While public opinion is shaped by a wide range of individual-specific factors, one of the more powerful influences, particularly in recent years, has been the mainstream media (Nitz, Ihlen, Egge & Sobolik, 2009). The different and frequently contrasting methods that are used by various media sources to portray homosexuals and heterosexual marriages therefore represent a valuable indicator of middle-of-the-road as well as the more extremes that exist concerning same-sex marriages. Researchers have used a number of different analytical methods for this purpose. A content analysis by Landau (2009) concerning the content of mainstream U.S. news stories and photographs of same-sex marriages in the United States during the period from 2004 to 2005 identified repeated "homophobic, (hetero)sexist, and heteronormative constructions" in media content during this period (p. 80). A more recent study by Li and Liu (2010) also used content analysis to examine the balance and fairness of the coverage of same-sex marriage coverage by five American newspapers to determine the extent, if any, of reporter bias. Based on their content analysis of more than 200 same-sex stories in these five newspapers, Li and Liu (2010) determined that in sharp contrast to the findings of the Landau (2009) study, generally, same-sex marriage coverage was balanced and fair.

Interestingly, the popular perceptions of same-sex marriages tend to reflect the same gender-based relationships that characterize traditional marriages, with one partner playing the role of the masculine "husband" and the other the more submissive "wife" irrespective of their sex (Holz-Ivory et al., 2008). These researchers, though, emphasize that many same-sex marriages do not fit this stereotype: "Stereotypes tend to depict same-sex couples as having both a masculine and feminine partner who performs traditional gender roles. But, in reality, this is not often the case, as links between sexual orientation and masculinity and femininity are extremely variable" (Holz-Ivory et al., 2008, p. 174).

Therefore, even to the extent to which the mainstream media depicts traditional man-woman marriage as being gendered in this fashion will likely be the extent to which perceptions about same-sex marriages that are predicated on these gender roles in traditional marriages will also be inaccurate with respect to same-sex marriages. Unfortunately, stereotypes are difficult to erase from the social consciousness, and tend to be self-reinforcing in ways that defy logic. For example, when heterosexual couples witness homosexual couples behaving in gendered roles as "husband" and "wife," such stereotypes will not only be reinforced, they will be absolutely confirmed in the minds of the observers. Even when presented with episode after episode of contrary behavior by other gay couples, these behaviors will be ignored or discounted as being anomalous and the same process is in operation with respect to how same-sex marriages are portrayed in the media. The results of the content analysis of television programming conducted by Holz-Ivory and her associates (2008) identified gendering for both heterosexual and homosexual couples, an outcome the authors suggest can perpetuate negative gender-based stereotypes and flawed modeling of gender-typed behaviors.

Television programming is not entirely to blame for these types of gendered portrayals, with popular romance literature reflecting the same types of ingrained gender-based characterizations being used to frame romantic encounters in every permutation of human relations. For instance, Gill and Herdieckerhoff (2006) used a thematic analysis approach to examine gendered roles in Harlequin-type romance literature (so-called "chick lit") and report that, "Notions of heterosexual romance against the backdrop of significant cultural and demographic changes, including divorce [have increased] on a unprecedented scale [as well as] an increase in the number of single person households, and a diversification of family forms (including stepfamilies, lesbian and gay families, and the notion of 'friends as the new family')" (p. 490). An interesting finding to emerge from the Gill and Herdieckerhoff (2006) study was that in a "post-feminist world," modern women are expected to become sexually proficient with numerous partners irrespective of sex as reflected in numerous feminist goals. Their research indicated that this was not what many women wanted in reality, but the expectation was perpetuated in the romance literature nevertheless (Gill & Herdieckerhoff, 2006).