Representation and power

One of the things I did in my introductory lecture on representation yesterday was to discuss a range of images of homosexuals across four decades of TV and film.

Today's interweb (specifically Sociological Images, an excellent resource) provides a brilliant example. Some bigoted Christian group wants to stop a lesbian couple adopting a relative's child. They sent a circular out to their members with a photograph of said couple.

Except that it wasn't. They used the photo on the right (stereotypical militant aggressive 1980s working-class lesbians)  - an image which seems to suggest that their members are more frightened of the proletariat than they are of lesbians per se - rather than the smiley chic bourgeois actual couple in question. It's a fascinating example of how representations reinforces and reproduces power.

Now anyone who chooses a mullet clearly shouldn't be permitted children - but this group clearly recognise the power of representation to construct reality.