Keith Whitley & Earl Thomas Conley - Brotherly Love
Brotherly Love by Gigi Gorgeous
Both of the YouTube links above are representations of the notion, "brotherly love." The first link is the stereotypical brotherly love video, while the second link defies the gender role of a brother. In the first video, the two brothers are participating in activities such as bike riding and playing baseball, which are activities usually associated with the role of a young boy. On the other hand, in the second video, the two brothers, Cory and Gigi, do not participate in the same activities. This is because Gigi is a biological male but plays the gender role of a female. While Cory enjoys watching television shows such as Man vs. Food and the San Diego Chargers games, Gigi enjoys watching the show America's Next Top Model. Moreover, Gigi is dressed in the way a woman would dress. He is wearing a black blouse with bracelets on his wrist, while Cory is wearing a plaid button down shirt with no jewelry. Gigi also wears makeup and paints his nails. In the first video, both brothers are dressed in the same way; they are wearing baseball caps, jeans, plaid sweaters, and suits with bowties. In the second video, the gender role of a female is represented through a biological male. Although the first video has two males that identify as males and the second video has two males that identify differently, both videos show the love that they have for each other.
The target audience for the second video is for teenagers and young adults who identify differently than stereotypical societal genders, such as the LGBTQIA community. People who are feeling vulnerable about their identities and looking for acceptance, especially in the family dynamic, would be responsive to this video. Straight males may possibly not find this video entertaining and may even feel uncomfortable. I believe this media channel is effective in reaching that audience because YouTube is very popular among the young adult population. The target audience for the first video is for middle-aged country music fans. Middle-aged individuals may not be as active on YouTube as younger generations.
I agree that the target audience for both of these videos are young males teenagers and young adults. I think that it is good that children are exploring their gender identity at a younger age, and becoming more comfortable with expressing who they are. It is hard for a child to understand their wants and feelings at a young age by themselves, so by expressing it publicly children are allowing the opinions of those adults around them to be expressed. Depending on the environment that the child is living in or coming from can elicit positive or negative responses. This can impact the gender roles of the child in the future immensely and should be proceeded with great caution.
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