Symbolic annihilation is a term first used by George Gerbner in 1976[1] to describe the absence of representation, or underrepresentation, of some group of people in the media (often based on their race, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, etc.
(Gerbner & Gross, 1976, p. 182) Tuchman states in the Mass Media book for A-level students on page 109 that women are represented far less than males on TV.
[1] Since the 1970s, scholars of feminism have used the concept of annihilation to express the effects misrepresentation and/or absence of women and girls in mass media has had on their ability to find secure employment, advance in the workplace, and create unique identities.
The ultimate cost of this pattern, to feminist scholars, is the symbolic erasure (or annihilation) of positive and empowered female role models in popular media.
"[2] Dr. Marty Klein writes that for such women to conform to the stereotypical norms depicted in mass media, to be an acceptable female, many feel they "have to carefully modulate, and therefore undermine, their own sexuality".
[4] Some, like Ramin Setoodeh of the Daily Beast, note many media executives are forcing popular straight gay-for-pay to ensure and accomplish these profits.
Openly gay and lesbian actors like Neil Patrick Harris or Portia de Rossi often play straight roles to ensure heterosexual audience comfort, further annihilating depictions of LGBT reality from media.