Our first Socratic Seminar deals with the current trend in reality television-- searching out extreme or atypical lifestyles and offering them up for public viewing and commentary. The original article that I have selected, entitled, "The Profound Lack of Empathy in My Husband's Not Gay", specifically focuses on the fear that this program glosses over the root of emotional pain that men are dealing with; furthermore, it is said to promote the concept that ones sexual preferences are "programmable" (meaning, can be ignored or changed without affect on overall well-being).
I am going to provide you with two routes you can take with this topic. My advice would be to attempt to find one source to relate to each. Our goal will be to touch upon both focus questions during our seminar next week.
1) Focus on the current "trend" in reality television to uncover atypical lifestyles and the affects (if any) this can have on society.
A quote from our article states:
"Inevitably, this controversy will win the show more viewers. Because this is what TLC does: It finds people living atypical lives—usually ones in tension with "progressive" cultural norms—and turns them into spectacle. Watching the network's line-up, we're supposed to regard the show's subjects with equal parts amusement and outrage: Freaks with too many kids. Freaks who have never had sex. Freaks from the South. Freaks with multiple wives. This approach to programming succeeds, wildly, because it's a pure distillation of the appeal of reality television: self-righteous voyeurism."
The word "voyeurism" in this case means that audiences are attracted to these television shows for the spectacle and entertainment value, but are missing larger social injustices, emotional or physical abuse, or moral vacancy. Examples of this could be: 19 Kids and Counting, The Virgin Diaries, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, or Sister Wives.
FOCUS QUESTION: Are current trends in reality television actually exploiting individuals who are victims of social injustice, abuse, or moral indecency?
2) Focus on the current social issue surrounding LGBT individuals and the affects of choosing to ignore, attempting to "rehabilitate", or de-emphasizing the importance of sexuality in a person's identity.
A quote from our article states:
"The bigger tension is fundamental: "TLC is ... sending the message that being gay is something that can and ought to be changed, or that you should reject your sexual orientation by marrying someone of the opposite sex," the Change.org petition says. More straightforwardly: This show represents a worldview that says being and acting gay is a sin. It may or may not be a Christian worldview, but it's one held in a lot of Christian communities. By airing a television special about this worldview, objectors say, TLC is implicitly endorsing it—which is a form of bigotry."
FOCUS QUESTION: Does the television show My Husband's Not Gay promote a negative worldview of homosexuality and propagate the idea that sexuality is something that can/ought to be changed or rehabilitated? Is TLC endorsing a form of bigotry or not?
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