The Beauty of "Ugly Betty"

The television show Ugly Betty premiered in 2006 and focuses on Betty Suarez, a twenty-something Latina whom lives with her father Ignacio, her sister Hilda, and her nephew Justin in Queens.  Betty aspires to become a columnist for a major magazine but lacking ‘real world’ experience as a writer, she accepts a job at Mode fashion as an assistant to the editor-in-chief, Daniel Mead. Betty, dressed in her conservative clothing and donning her braces, does not fit into the high fashion world of Mode magazine and her co-workers remind her of this every day.

Episode #102, The Box and the Bunny, focuses on movie star Natalie Whitman coming to Mode for a photo shoot as she has been selected to be on the cover that month.  Natalie has just finished filming a movie which she gained thirty pounds for and has not yet lost all of the weight so the Mode editors and Natalie’s manager want to digitally retouch the photos.  During this process Natalie comments that she didn’t think she looked that bad to which Wilhelmina, one of the head editors of Mode, replies “Why not with the help of modern technology, give yourself the opportunity to look as stunning as possible?”.  Right from this initial meeting between Natalie and Wilhelmina the viewer can see the discourse of impossible perfection and impossible evil (Mayne, 162) beginning to take shape.  Later that evening Betty sees Natalie sitting in one of conference rooms with a laptop in front of her and she is digitally retouching her photo until the image of herself is so thin that it disappears from the screen.  This haunting image illustrates how minoritzing the discourse of beauty can be.

A subplot to this episode is that Daniel has not been receiving The Book, the mock-up of the magazine, at the close of each day.  He demands that Wilhelmina start turning The Book over to him since he is now the editor-in-chief and it is part of his job.  Wilhelmina, who aspires to become editor-in-chief herself, conspires with her assistant Mark to deliver The Book to Daniel, but to include the unretouched photos of Natalie in it, assuming that he will not notice and it will bring shame to the company, thus putting her in a better a light. This scheming further enforces that Wilhelmina is playing the impossibly evil and villainous role.  Once Daniel has acquired The Book from Mark he becomes distracted by the blonde secretary Amanda, who uses her sex appeal and promise of a good time to lure him away.  Daniel leaves The Book on his desk and Betty notices it later and takes it home for safe keeping.

When Justin realizes that Betty has The Book in her possession he snatches it away from her and begins to peruse it.  He immediately notices the untouched photos of Natalie and exclaims “Eww! Natalie Whitman is still fat!”  Betty looks over and says that she thinks it is wonderful that Mode decided to use the untouched photos.  Betty’s idea that Natalie’s untouched photos look fine presents the universalizing discourse of the representation of beauty being on a continuum. In this manner the viewer can also see how the representation of beauty is “reflect[ing] the culture from which [it] emerge[s], and [has] the ability to shape that culture in turn” (Mayne, 163).  Justin prefers the retouched photos of Natalie because he is fashionable and Betty prefers the untouched photos because does not keep up with the trends of the fashion world.

That night The Book is stolen and held for ransom by Betty’s neighbor, Gina Gambaro, who feels that Betty owes her money for a television that was broken during a previous argument.  In a moment of panic Betty tells Daniel over the phone that The Book is safe and she looking at it right then and that she is proud of him for using the unretouched photos of Natalie.  Daniel becomes angry because he did not approve for the unretouched photos to be published.  He sends a car for Betty and when she gets to the office she discloses what really happened and Daniel becomes irate screaming “You don’t lie to me ever!  We cannot afford to have those unretouched Natalie proofs out there in any way, shape, or form!  I cannot tell you how royally screwed she and this entire magazine could be!” Betty asks “Why? Because there’s pictures of what she actually looks like?” to which Daniel replies “exactly!” The viewer is again reminded that there is no place in the minoritizing fashion world for an actress who has not yet lost her filming weight.

Daniel explains to Natalie and her manager that The Book with the unretouched photos is missing.  While Natalie is calm, her manager is freaking out, and when Natalie tells him to calm down he responds “Do you know how these pictures could hurt your career?  Nobody was to hire a fatty! What’s this going to publicize, the fact that you can’t lose any weight?”  Natalie looks dejected as the viewer is reminded that she cannot obtain the impossible perfection which the standard of beauty calls for without being digitally altered.  Betty later sees her in the elevator and tells her “for what it’s worth I really did think that those unretouched photos were beautiful.  And the truth is I’d kill to look like you”.  The episode ends with Natalie on Fashion TV the next day making an announcement that Mode will run unretouched photos of herself in hopes of “putting a spotlight on the hypocrisy of this business which seems intent on making any normal human being feel like an outcast”.  This move by Natalie once again enforces that beauty can run on a universalizing discourse where bodies of all shapes and sizes would be accepted if it is allowed to do so.  By not allowing the retouched photos to be run Natalie has shattered the norm that one must be impossibly thin to be beautiful.

Works Cited
“The Box and the Buny.”  Ugly Betty. 5 Oct. 2006. Netflix. Web. 6 Apr. 2012.

Mayne, Judith. “Women, Representation, and Culture.” Reading Women’s Lives. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 161-65. Print.

                   The Parkers

               The Parkers was an African-American sitcom about a single mother named Nikki; played by Mo’Nique,  who  decided to go back to college; community school, along with her very pretty, but not entirely smart daughter Kim; played by Countess Vaughn. Throughout the episode the pleasantly plump Nikki chased fiendishly after a handsome professor named Stanley Oglevee; played by Dorian Wilson. I watched the series finale episode named “At Last” and it ended in the most obvious way. Nikki Parker had grown tired of the constant chasing and rejection by Oglevee, so towards the end of the series she had learned to open her heart to a man that wanted her the same way she wanted him. The guy proposed and she planned her wedding as normal, while reality set on Oglevee that he would never find a female who would love him the way Nikki did. Just as she was literally about to say “I do” at the altar, Oglevee storms in and proclaims his love for Nikki. She puts up a slight rejection, but in the end Nikki give in and she marries Oglevee on the spot.

            I believe the parkers fit both categories of the Universalizing and Minoritizing discourses. In discussing Minoritizing, I feel that throughout the airing of The Parkers that the generic norm of a man dating a socially acceptable; modelesque, woman was over used to get their point across. They would also focus on Oglevee to courting a very attractive woman; in my opinion is centering a norm, and then have the episode based around Nikki messing up his plans or ruining his date so that he can notice her; incorporating an outside normative, which is a woman trying to court a man.  In subtle ways, the episode also embodied the approved way of “women should always go that extra mile to please their man”, because Nikki went above and beyond to seek the gratification, love, and respect from Oglevee.  The thing that caught my eye was that in the finale, Professor Oglevee only found the strength to say his true feelings for her after she had moved on and had gotten dressed up to a socially acceptable level; in which society would think she was beautiful.

            In discussing Universalizing discourses, Nikki Parker is a very attractive plus size woman and she took into her own hands to pursue a man she has strong feelings for. She is a very confident and mature black woman who is trying to make a change in her life by returning back to school and not having any shame in saying she messed up when she was younger. This a constant theme of African-American shows nowadays, but I believe that The Parkers were one of the few shows that help launched it. Yes, overall a lot of the things she did in reality would seem a bit drastic all for a man who shows no interest, but the show also gave secret strength to woman who have similar problems and need a less drastic way about showing their interest in a guy without finding it repulsive or out of line. It let women; especially African-American women, know that there is no need to wait for a man to make the first move, if you want him, you chase him till one of you get tired of running.

            In reference to Mayne , “Generations of female film viewers discovered that movies had provided them with lessons in how to become an acceptable woman, complete with lessons in how to catch a man”(pg. 163). I believe that The Parkers was a small training session for women to not have to depend on any man to be the cause to their action. The show was filled with a lot of Mayne’s idea that concentrated with the thought that some cinemas provided tangible fantasies of women being able do and be anything they want. In a sense, the show also represented the function of both reinforcing oppressive standards of feminine behavior and to imagine possibilities not typically available to every woman (Mayne, Pg. 163). It provided comedic relief out of what women should not do in public to a man, but it also gave women a possibility in something that they could do just in a different way.

            In my opinion, The Parkers was and still is a great show. With a lot more knowledge about the way the world works, I believe this show had such a huge following because women in 1999 were still seeking a voice of respect and still trying to be acknowledged as equal human beings. Though, laws were passed way before this show aired, women still had to fight the stereotypical image of how a woman should act, think and look like. This show was also a stand taken for full figured women. It provided women with similar figures to see themselves as beautiful and allowed men to break out of the “thin is always in” mind frame.

Episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwDjMJSy0G0

Judith. "Women, Representation and Culture." Reading Women's Lives: 161-65. 

            Print.

South Park: Are You a Stupid, Spoiled Whore?

                South Park is known for its crude humor, language, and (usually) grotesque images.  South Park is also known for taking the media and society itself and turning it upside down in a crudely satirical manner. Their episodes poke fun at a wide variety of topics which include: popular shows or figures in the media, religion, holidays, and norms in society. In a specific episode called “Stupid Spoiled Whore”, the main focus is around role models for young girls and the impact she has on them. This episode displays both universalizing and minoritizing discourses subtly and bluntly.

                In “Stupid Spoiled Whore”, the young girls discover their idol Paris Hilton is coming to the town of South Park and opening a store for girls called, you guessed it, Stupid Spoiled Whore.  While many of the girls are excited about this, one particular girl is not. Wendy, known for her intelligence, is shocked and horrified at the impact trashy girls like Paris Hilton have over her fourth grade class and over society in general. Wendy searches for one of the town’s favorite people who ends up challenging Paris Hilton to a “whore off”.

                As stated from the lecture, one of the key factors in minoritizing is the belief that the norm is in the center of a societal circle and anything outside of it is considered deviant, freaky and out of the norm.  In the South Park episode, Wendy is seen as a freak in her school among the girls because she is not dressing or acting like a bitchy whore. She is seen as dull and boring because she would rather go to an art museum than play the “Stupid Spoiled Whore” sex tape game with her friends.Wendy is also rejected from going to a sex party that one of her friends is hosted because she is not spoiled and does not dress like a whore.

                On the other hand, a universalizing discourse is being aware of the norm present, but argues against it, saying it is only a construct of something else.  In this case, Wendy would be the universalizing figure. She realizes that the norm of being a whore like Paris Hilton is present, but she doesn’t believe it is an actual or concrete norm.This also floats around the other factor of the universalizing discourse: meanings of gender, race and sexuality are constantly changing over time and there is no distinct meaning that remains implanted in the norm forever.  In the example of the South Park episode, Paris Hilton was challenged to a “whore off” by Mr. Slave, a man who claims Paris Hilton’s partying and whorish behaviors are tame and bubbly compared to his partying.  In the end, Mr. Slave ends up defeating Paris Hilton in one shot ( and I’d rather not say how; just the mere thought sends shudders down my spine).When the girls realized that Paris Hilton was gone, they kind of shrugged her off and realized she isn’t the greatest role model for girls.

               

                Attwood’s concept of empowered eroticism seems to play a role here. Essentially Atwood’s definition of empowered eroticism is emphasizing girls stripping and starring in porn as an act of empowerment ( 287-288). When Wendy and her dad went to the Stupid Spoiled Whore store to chastise mothers for dressing their kids like whores, the mothers defensively argued that if men are able to act like whores, so should women. The mothers listed off a bunch of things that men deemed “weird” for a woman to do and they decided to equalize the whore concept for both sexes. In a way, this shows women doing things such as dressing slutty will empower them and make them feel equal with the guys.

                Boyle’s idea of the pornification of culture also seems to tie in to the episode. Boyle’s idea of pornification of culture deals with sexual objects and porn symbols becoming more mainstream and available for young women and girls ( 295). This is very noticeable in the Stupid Spoiled Whore store; little girls are able to buy thongs, lingerie, and other skanky accessories such as the perfume “Skanque”. They are also able to gain access to “playsets” that allow girls to make their own sex tape that comes with accessories a typical whore would use.

                South Park may be a show for amusement, but I believe there can be some lessons learned under the guffaws at bathroom jokes, F-bombs, and sexual intonations.  Maybe some will look deeper into these episodes and think, “ is society really like this?”

 Works Cited:

1.  Race, Gender & Sexuality in Pop Culture power points Feb. 28th and April 3rd

2. Attwood, Feona. No Money Shot? Commerce, Pornography, and New Sex Taste Cultures. Gender, Race, and Class in Media 3rd edition

3. Boyle, Karen. "That's So Fun: Selling Pornography for Men to Women in The Girls Next Door." Gender,Race and Class in Media 3rd Edition

Kim Helped Me Lose 20 Pounds in 4 Weeks

     In today’s society girls are taught to think that being thin is the definition of beautiful. Or if you are not thin you are expected to have a slim waist with large breasts and butt. Photoshop has played a large role in peoples’ definition of beautiful by altering models to look almost unrealistic. In today’s society almost every woman magazine has a get thin quick scam posted on the cover and since everyone is looking to fit the “perfect body” we purchase these magazines in hope that they will work.  In my blog today I will be analyzing one of Life and Style articles about Khloe Kardashian and her famous slim down from 2009.

      The Kardashian’s are a popular reality star family and as most of you know Khloe Kardashian has been labeled “the fat one”.  Constantly being compared to her sisters Kourtney and Kim, Khloe has always had body image issues and in 2009 decided to use a diet supplement called quick trim to slim down. Her weight loss got tons of attention by the media and she has appeared on three separate Life and Style magazine covers that have discussed her weight loss. Khloe also became the face of quick trim products.  From this article and other magazine covers you can easily see how the ethical gaze comes into play.

       Ethical gaze is the relations of looking that determines a body’s social value or moral worth by its appearance.  How this magazine article relates to the ethical gaze is that Khloe has always been seen as less valuable then her sisters because she is heavier than them. In one magazine title she is quoted to be saying “I don’t want to be the fat, funny one anymore.”  Once Khloe lost weight things started to turn around for her and see was seen as more valuable. For example she married basketball star Lamar Odom and they received their own television series out of their relationship. Also for Kourtney and Khloe take Miami Khloe was seen in sexier bathing suits on the opening to the show rather than covered up like how she normally is when shooting a commercial or magazine ad with her sisters. How this article promotes the way of looking at bodies in regards to sexuality is that it shows all of Khloe’s success after losing the weight as if she wasn’t already a successful business lady before when she was heavier. The article is pretty much saying being sexy made Khloe successful.

       The media explicitly shows the idea of how a woman’s body should be through this article. The reason why I believe that this article explicitly states how the female body should be is because Khloe is often quoted saying things like “she’s tired of being the fat one” or “don’t call me fat”. This is clearly showing that she was unhappy with her body and wanted to achieve what society considers being “the perfect body”.  The magazine covers for Life and Style that Khloe was featured on have her in bikinis and have her positioned in figure flattering poses that show off her curves which expresses her femininity and stops showing her as the masculine, outspoken sister. The article and magazine covers show her softer side.  Also for the article that I am reading it is a two page article with pictures of Khloe on both sides in a bathing suit.  Before her weight loss Khloe was always seen covered or if she was in a skirt or dress it was always longer than her sister’s.  If you were to read the article you would pick up on the hints from the interview with Khloe that being heavier than her 5’3 sisters is unacceptable and she is now happier since she lost 30 pounds which is telling people that if you are thinner and fight societies mold you will be a happier person. In Sut Jhally’s Advertising and Popular Culture article she states how advertising talks to us as individuals and addresses us about how we can become happy. This article is clearly stating that losing weight will make you a happier person.

       Although Khloe Kardashian is not classified as skinny after her weight loss she now fits in society’s acceptable category of having a large chest and butt with a slim waist. How someone would perceive/ receive reality when reading this article in Life and Style is that changing your body is perfectly fine and achievable. It also makes it look like Khloe will keep the weight off for forever, which in fact she did not. Once she became in a relationship with Lamar Odom and stopped endorsing quick trim Khloe put back on weight. The article shows that everyone can become thinner if they really want to be, I think that is wrong because not everyone is meant to be thin. Things like genetics and issues with your thyroid are just a couple of setbacks that could stop someone from achieving a perfect body. The article constantly states how unhappy Khloe was when she was 30lbs heavier and how happy she is now that she lost the weight, all this is telling the reader is that they should be unhappy with themselves.

      The article in Life and Style discussing Khloe Kardashian’s weight loss is a great example of how not having a specific body type lessens your value as a person. The article explicitly shows the audience how being heavier is linked to unhappiness and shows all the benefits from losing weight. For example finding love as Khloe did with Lamar. Article also does not show a good representation of reality because it fails to tell you all the hours and supplements Khloe took in order to lose her extra weight, which was quickly put back on once going off her diet.


Works Cited

Jhally, Sut. "Image-Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture." Gender, Race, and Class in Media. SAGE Publications, 2011. 200-201.

"Life and Style." 15 July 2009 .

True Life: I Have a Hot Mom

Reality television has been around for quite some time now. The show True Life on MTV is known for taking on young people and letting them tell their stories concerning various subjects. The episode of True Life: I Have a Hot Mom is about two teenage girls, Tori and Victory, whose mother’s care more about their physical appearance than anything else. Their priorities only run skin deep. This episode is a prime example of the fact that it is not only young girls that get sucked into the media’s idea of the ideal image, but older woman are being affected as well.

The first young girl that appears on the show is Tori. She’s 15 and her mother is particularly infatuated with being the center of attention. The way she earns this attention is through her looks and her extremely large breast implants give her this attention. Her mother also has tan skin, long bleach blonde hair and has clearly gone through some Botox. “The commodity-image system thus provides a particular vision of the world-a particular mode of self-validation that is integrally connected with what one has rather than what one is” (Jhally p. 201). Lacey is able to be achieve her idea of happiness because of the things she has been able to buy such as her breast implants. There are always advertisements on how to enhance one’s body to make themselves more content with whom they are. At one point during the show, there is a scene where Tori is out with her mother and she is walking around in a tiny bikini and men are whistling at her and asking her how big her boobs are. She even goes as far as to take a picture with one man. Tori’s mom, Lacey is contributing to the gendered gaze. Many young women are brought up thinking that if you don’t have big breasts then you won’t get male attention. This is a racialized hierarchy of thinking. Her focus is on pleasing men with her looks. She wears provocative clothing and even tries getting the attention of her daughters much younger male friends. During the episode, Tori even say’s at one point, “You’re more interested in putting on a show.” The media puts so much emphasis on pleasing the gendered gaze. From ads to commercials to movies, women are always displayed as sexual objects. Lacey is a perfect example of this and she is reflecting these values on her daughter. She cares solely about her looks. During a conversation about death, Lacey says, “At least I’ll die looking good.” Lacey is extremely concerned with her representations in society. In the article, Women, Representation and Culture, “Representation, then, is both a form of socialization and a form of utopia, representation can contribute to enforcing patriarchal stereotypes, but it can also envisage other possibilities, other ways of being” (Mayne p.163).

The second girl, Victoria that appears on the show is 19. Her mother, Gina insists on getting dolled up every day while her daughter is more of a tom-boy. During one point in the episode, Gina is going out with her girlfriends and they are all dolled up with their hair and make-up done. When Victoria tells her mother and her friends that she doesn’t like to dress up, they call her a nerd. This is typical of society today. It’s as if her mother and her friends are portraying the “Queen B” at school and Victoria is a nerd simply because she isn’t feminized. Victoria claims, “I’m not like my mom, my appearance isn’t the most important thing in my life.” Victoria’s mom continuously puts pressure on her to put more effort into her looks and wants her to join beauty pageants. At another point, Victoria is making cookies and her mom tells her that she is looking pudgy and shouldn’t eat them. This is an example of how even reality shows focus on ideas surrounding thinness. The ironic thing is that Victoria is actually very thin and so for her mother to call her pudgy just seems naïve. Gina also contributes to the gendered gaze in this episode. While telling Victoria that she should put on some make-up and dress better, she says “It’s like you’re trying to repel boys.” This statement clearly implies that the only reason Victoria should put more effort into her appearance is so that she will get male attention. Both of the mothers also reflect upon the idea of the internalized gaze. In both stories, we hear that the mothers had just recently gone through a divorce. In particular, Victoria says that her mother always cared about her looks but she cared even more after the divorce occurred. A coping mechanism for these women may have been to deal with their issues with men by trying to please them even more because of their internal issues with what has happened.

The texts characterization of “reality” impact the way that audiences perceive how they should look in society, women in particular. There was a downside and an upside to this episode though. For instance, although both mothers were obsessed with how they looked, their daughters were able to look past this and see that their appearance wasn’t everything. This makes me feel like there is hope after all. On the downside, it still shows that women are still being greatly influenced by the media, no matter their age and that appearances are vital in society.

                                                                 Works Cited

Jhally, Sut. "Image Based Culture." Gender, Race And Class in Media (2011): 199-205. 

          Print.

Mayne, Judith. "Women, Representation and Culture." Reading Women's Lives: 161-65.  

            Print.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

            The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a comedy show in which demonstrates an uncommon family on television. This show demonstrates multiple concepts that can be either universalizing or minoritizing discourses. The show represents the two discourses through representations of class, race, and gender.

The show as a whole elicits universalizing discourses throughout the seasons by having a wealthy African American family. Their white mansion represents their wealth, along with their own house cleaner, or butler, named Geoffrey. Geoffrey fits outside of the norm when it comes to his role throughout the television show, including season 6, episode 1 show called “Burnin down the house”. The norm for a house cleaner in shows is typically a woman and of lower status. Geoffrey, on the contrary, is a black male who is from England. His position in this particular episode praises his ability to satisfy the needs for the family through his cooking. In this show, Geoffrey is the ticket for Phillip Banks in being eligible to be accepted as being a Supreme Court judge. Phillip Banks position is also another universalizing discourse represented in the television show. Being a judge is not something that would not normally be expected of an African American male. However, the television show also demonstrates minoritizing discourses through hidden methods.

In “Burnin down the house”, Phillip tells Will in the beginning of the episode that an important figure (Supreme Court judge) will be coming over for dinner in order to determine whether Phillip can be a judge and that he must be extra nice (which Will rephrases as “kissing the judge’s butt”). Thus, the audience does not see whom the Supreme Court judge until his arrival for dinner. When the judge does arrive, Kellner’s discussion of power in her writing is presented. Kellner points out that Ideologies make inequalities and subordination appear natural and just and thus, induce consent to relations of domination. A tall, white, older man walks into the house as the Supreme Court judge that Phillip Banks has to “kiss butt to”. Once cannot be surprised that the Supreme Court judge who walked in was not an African American or Latina woman. Unless one understands how images are portrayed in the media and how minoritizing discourses are imbedded, one would think that the white male as the judge is normal or plain coincidence. This is not the only scenario in which this show demonstrates a topic in which minoritizing discourse are displayed.

According to Mayne, “a common representation of women involves the Madonna versus the whore”. The minoritizing discourse represented in “Burnin down the house” is shown in a very subtle way. Normally, the whore would indicate of someone with lower socioeconomic status, while the Madonna is of upper class. Thus, the whore is not intelligent and pure, compared to the Madonna. In this show, however, the two representing characters are of equal socioeconomic status because they are sisters of the same wealthy father. The oldest daughter however, Hilary, who dresses a bit more provocative because she is “allowed to”, being the older daughter, is a young woman who is dependent and completely ditzy throughout the episode. Hilary is not able to take care of herself and relies on her father for the majority of her choices. She represent the “whore” in the family, whereas the teenager in the family, Ashley, is seen as pure and having the capability to succeed in life. Ashley and Hilary are two opposites throughout the show and particularly in this episode when it shows Hilary as incapable of being able to take care of herself and Ashley seen as pure because she is not allowed to wear tight, short clothing.

Both Mayne and Kellner’s theories on the depiction of certain ideologies in the media are apparent in “Burnin down the house”. The universalizing discourse presented in this show demonstrates that the ideal immigrant woman is not always the house cleaner, or that an African American male has the capability to be educated and be able to support his family. Although there are universalizing discourses presented in this show, one should analyze the minoritizing discourses as well. The necessity for the wealthy African American father to praise a white male in order to move up is what Kellner has explained that normally happens in media. Therefore, as it happens regularly, one does not notice this when watching the show because it is seen as “normal”. In addition, the opposite subtle demonstration of the Madonna versus whore is represented by using the two wealthy daughters. Being dependent and unintelligent versus being pure and smart is a way that Mayne explains is regularly demonstrated in the media.

Family Guy's Representation of Gay Men

Laura Obernesser- "Family Gay"

Introduction

     I watched "Family Gay", Episode eight: Season 7 of Family Guy. The episode was about Peter Griffin being injected with "the gay gene" and becoming gay. I would like to explore the use of minoritizing, and universalizing discourses in the episode. 

Summary of "Family Gay"

           "Family Gay" (Episode 8 of season 7) was about Peter Griffin being asked to purchase a can of beans for Lois, but he comes back with a retarded horse instead. He decided to breed horses, and thought that the best place to get potential clients that would realize how great he is would be at a horse race. Instead of having success at the horse race, the horse went crazy and caused 100,000 dollars worth of damage, so Peter Griffin volunteered to be a guinea pig for experiments for the benefit of science that said that they would "pay handsomely." When Peter went to get his "procedure" done, the scientist told him that he was going to inject him with "the gay gene", which would prove that being gay is genetic and has nothing to do with lifestyle or environment. He got injected with it and immediately started to act flamboyant, and exhibit stereotypical feminine-coded characteristics. When Peter realized suddenly that he was gay, he started to watch lifetime, and left Lois for a man named Scott. When the gene wore off, he went back to Lois and went back to his normal, destructive self.

Minoritizing discourse

"Family Gay" used a minoritizing discourse a lot more than universalizing discourse when it came to representing LGBT issues in the episode. Heterosexuality was represented as being the normative way to be, while being gay was represented as deviant. When Peter was gay, he was treated with shock, and Lois said "people will treat you differently, and you will be treated badly." By saying this, Lois was implying that Peter being gay would make him deviant, or freakish. The fact that Peter was shown as having an extreme transformation from straight to gay represented the minoritizing discourse, as it gave the impression that gay people are very different from heterosexual people. When Peter was on a date with his new boyfriend, Scott, instead of them saying "I'm so in love with you," or "you make me want to be a better man", they said "I am so gay for you", and "you just make me want to be a gayer man." The use of these statements emphasizes how different gay and heterosexual people are supposed to be. Another issue with the episode that needs to be addressed is the use of stereotypes. When Peter Griffin was "turned gay", he came back from the lab with a lisp, flipped his hand when he talked, had the stereotypical "gay" voice, had both ears pierced, wore pink, and spiked his hair. He sat with his legs crossed, and sang what he wanted to say instead of talking. He drank wine rather than beer, baked muffins, picked out lingerie for Lois (wouldn't have sex with her), and cuddled while watching lifetime with his new boyfriend. The fact that he was gay made him unwilling to have sex with Lois, but in reality, anyone can have sex with anyone. He didn't say "I don't want to have sex with you", but he said "I can't  have sex with a woman. I'm gay." These statements emphasize the gender binary, which creates very polarized gender categories (not a continuum). 

Universalizing discourse

          "Family Gay" didn't use much universalizing discourse, but there was one scene that did. Stewie said "they should just keep it in the bedroom, I don't go around waving my heterosexuality in their face." This statement, no matter how crazy, doesn't marginalize gay identity, as it pointed out a similarity between heterosexual and gay. The reason Stewie said this is because Peter said "I'm gay" in just about every scene. Although this scene didn't necessarily marginalize gay identity, it didn't help anything, either. 

"Can Romantic Comedy Be Gay? Hollywood Romance, Citizenship, and Same-Sex Marriage Panic" by Moddlemog

    Moddlemog points out that the only time same-sex desire is shown in the media is almost always for comical reasons. In this episode of family guy, the making out scenes between Peter Griffin and Scott were there in order to evoke laughter. The scene where the couple had an "elevensome" with other men was also done to be funny. There is an extreme shortage in representations of gay couples that aren't placed there for the purpose of humor. All of the scenes where Peter was depicted as gay, he was not only shown stereo-typically (as a way to moc the gay community). The scenes that showed any kind of sexual connection between a gay character and a character who shares their physiological sex, something would happen for the purpose of humor in order to pair the laughter with the same-sex activity or desire.

References:

1. Moddelmog, D. (2009). Can romantic comedy be gay? hollywood romance, citizenship, and same sex marriage panic. Heldref Publications Journals,36(4)