The Mass Media Influence on Homosexuality in the Caribbean

1059 Words5 Pages
My esteemed opponents you have ascertained that the media has not socialize people of the Caribbean to socially accept homosexuality because the family is still the main agent of socialization, I regret to inform you that your claim is wrong. According to an article published in the Caribbean and I quote,’ Jamaica was once considered as the most homophobic country in the world’ end of quote. Homophobia was a staunchly defended norm by traditional Caribbean families which was deeply rooted in the religious and cultural beliefs of the region. However, today attitudes are changing toward homosexual people; individuals are now becoming tolerant of this lifestyle. A recent survey conducted in Trinidad and Tobago by the Caribbean Development Research Service Inc. suggested that 56% of the population is either tolerant or accepting of the L.G.B.T life style. To what do we give credit for this paradigm? It is not legislation since as stated by the opposition homosexuality is illegal in the Caribbean. The mass and social media has to be credited for this change because it by means of that medium is where we were first informed about homosexuality and their rights are human beings. As stated correctly by you my opponents, the family is the main agent of socialization, so my question to you is, ‘why has individuals become more tolerant of the L.G.B.T. lifestyle if the family previously bombarded this type of behavior as unacceptable and socialized their children to accept that this behavior is wrong?” The mass and social media has been instrumental in removing the derogatory terms used in the Caribbean to described homosexuals, and replacing them with socially acceptable terms the term an alternative lifestyle and Gays were not taught by the family even though it is common to our Caribbean dialect. Due to the fact that much has changed over the decades, such
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