Operation Family Rescue: Pedagogical Television Reassertion of the 'Traditional' Family

• In Event: Homophobia and its Representations: Families, Identity and Identification

Abstract

Television representation of queer identities is crucial to advocacy. However, it is equally imperative to examine against which that identity is defined. Therefore, examining reactionary reassertions of “traditional” family values is crucial to understanding the popular conception of family, a category placed in opposition to same-sex parents. Through a reification of traditional gender shows like Nanny 911 work within larger television contexts to discursively eliminate queer couples from the family imaginary.

Author

• Jessica Rudy, Indiana University