Fernando Solis

          Gossip Girl is a show that was broadcasted on the CW Network and ran from 2007 to 2012. It was created by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz. The production company for the show are 17th Street Productions, Alloy Entertainment, and CBS Paramount network. The character that I chose to analyze is Eric van der Woodsen (played by Connor Paolo) because he displays various stages of sexuality throughout the show. Eric is a caucasian high school student in Manhattan. At the beginning of the series, we are not aware of Eric’s sexuality because he never came public about his sexuality.
          At the beginning of the series, Eric is a patient at the Ostroff Center, due to his attempted suicide of slitting his wrists. Throughout the show we learn that his suicide attempt was because Eric felt isolated from his family and believed that his mother only cared about making money. At this time, Eric was still not open about his sexuality because he was afraid about what people and his family were going to think.
          In general, Eric’s character has an interesting personality. Looking at Eric from a glance, one would assume that he is straight because he is what some people say “straight-acting”. In “Reported Effects of Masculine Ideals on Gay Men” Thompson and Pleek propose that there is no singular type of masculinity, but rather many masculinities exist within the U.S. varying between cultural and ethnic groups. Throughout the show, Eric’s masculinity never seems to play a huge role. In other words, he does not let his sexuality define who he is as a person. Eric’s does not fit the stereotypical gay male. He is not really concerned with his physical appearance and only dresses nice because he comes from a wealthy family and therefore can afford to buy nice things. Because of his lack of attentiveness to his physical appearance, Eric can be considered more masculine than feminine although he is not exactly well built and muscular.
          During the six seasons of Gossip Girl, Eric was only in two official relationship. Prior to his first boyfriend, Eric's first encounter with another male was with Asher Hornsby. The relationship between Asher and Eric was kept on the down low because neither one of them was out publically. Asher actually had a girlfriend while he was involved with Eric. He used it as a way to cover up his real sexuality. When comparing Eric and Asher, Asher's masculinity overpowers Eric’s because being gay is something that Asher was ashamed and even denied making out with Eric and both of them were outed at a high school party. Eric’s first relationship was with Jonathan Whitney. Both their friends and family were very supportive of their relationship and even encouraged them to get back together when they first broke up. The relationship between Jonathan and Eric is not really focused on too much as well as any sort of public display of affection between the two. Because the show failed to emphasis their relationship more, it lacks some representation of the LGBT community. Eric is the only main character who is gay. The show also lacks diversity since majority of the characters are white. In “Mobile Masculinities: An investigation of Networked Masculinities in Gay Dating Apps” the authors agree that “there has been an increase in the representation of gay males in the mainstream media” but majority of the portrayals are still done by young, white, smooth bodied, good looking males. All the gay characters showcased throughout the show fall within this description.
          In conclusion, Eric’s character in Gossip Girl is not fully the stereotypical gay that most media portrays. Although there are some similarities between the “average gay male” and Eric’s character such as being white, good looking, and educated other aspects of the flamboyant gay are absent in Eric’s character. His masculinity isn’t something that Eric is concerned with since he does not really care what people think of him, therefore he does not go out of his way to put up a masculine front to hide his sexuality.
 
References
Sánchez, Francisco J., Stefanie T. Greenberg, William Ming Liu, and Eric Vilain. Reported Effects of Masculine Ideals on Gay Men (n.d.): n. pag. Psychology of Men & Masculinity. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 2009. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
 
Rodriguez, N. S., Huemmer, J., & Blumell, L. E. (2016). Mobile Masculinities: An Investigation of Networked Masculinities in Gay Dating Apps. Masculinities and Social Change,5(3),241-267. doi: 10.17583/MCS.2016.2047
                                                                       
"Eric Van Der Woodsen." Gossip Girl Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2017. <http://gossipgirl.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_van_der_Woodsen>.
                                   
 

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