pretty okay but not the best zine

[[because]]... it just does!

representation matters because it's important for kids, teens, and even adults to see accurate and relatable [[portrayals]] of themselves in the media when there is positive representation in society, LGBTQ+ people feel less alone they feel like they [[belong]]

people they can look up to as role models, whether they be [[celebrities]] or the [[characters]] they play; fictional people or real ones young LGBTQ+ kids can find representation anywhere they look hard enough, from any form of media like [[comics]], [[TV]], and [[online spaces]]

some examples of LGBTQ+ celebrities: Stephanie Beatriz, [[the Ellens]], Wentworth Miller, Neil Patrick Harris, Freddie Mercury, Laverne Cox

characters like Rosa Diaz and Captain Holt from //Brooklyn Nine-Nine//, Alex Danvers from //Supergirl// and Sara Lance from //Legends of Tomorrow//, Elena Alvarez from //One Day at a Time//, Mickey Milkovich and Ian Gallagher from //Shameless//... the list goes on! people can find representation of themselves through [[queer readings]] of characters in films or tv shows and books

(Page and DeGeneres)

social norms put a lot on people to [[behave a certain way]], and the LGBTQ+ community is expected to live up to those norms

"we live in a moment rife with contradictions" - hilton-morrow and battles, //sexual identities and the media// meaning members of the LGBTQ+ community are expected to [[act a certain way]], but are judged when they do

[[harmful stereotypes]] about LGBTQ+ people affect the way the community functions often, LGBTQ+ media has one or more elements of [[camp]] in it

in //stereotyping//, richard dyer explains that stereotypes are placed on the homosexual community and that LGBTQ+ often reinforce those stereotypes by the way they act or speak however, the accuracy of the stereotypes isn't the problem! it's not a bad thing to be stereotypical the problem lies in the stereotypes arising from the basis of a [[hegemonic society]] but either way, stereotypes can be [[defied and broken]]

the term was coined by [[kimberle crenshaw]] in 1989 and should be applied to every piece of LGBTQ+ media the public consumes if the media you're creating isn't [[intersectional]], what are you doing? in //love, simon//, one of the main characters is black, gay, and jewish, and he is never viewed in a negative light because of those things it's just fact, but the fact that he is included in the story in such an important role is significant that's just a small example of what intersectionality means

intersectionality is "the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage" (pulled from google) in simpler terms, it's just inclusion inclusion of [[everyone]], regardless of any factors

"the mass media have become our common ground with countless other groups that make up the national and international community. the mass media thus bring together audiences that would previously have lived in seperate worlds." - gross, //up from invisibility// ch. 1: the mediated society the media connects us all it [[crosses borders]], which is just what intersectionality does

when you read something or [[watch something]] and you assume something in it is queer, that's a queer reading it can be implicitly stated in the material, or you can decide for yourself queer readings are a big part of fandom culture, inspiring fans and "shippers" to write their own stories about characters that they perceive to be queer

in "out of the closet and into the art house," benshoff and griffin discuss hollywood [[movies]] and how they impacted the LGBTQ+ community "people marketing these films were happy to have them be [[perceived as queer]] but not be labeled as exclusively gay or lesbian" people can find their own representation, even sometimes where it doesn't really exist

not the kind of camp where you stay in cabins and swim in lakes with your friends and not conversion camps either (those should all be burned to the ground) camp is an [[aesthetic]]

"camp is both political and critical" - moe meyer, //reclaiming the discourse of camp// it's a cultural aspect of [[queer]] life and society it matters because it's an integral part of the LGBTQ+ community it's part of representation in the media and it all goes back to the same [[question]]

[[stereotyping]] is rampant in the LGBTQ+ community

but it isn't always so [[easy]]

[[the social construction of gender, sex, and sexuality]] sometimes makes it difficult for people to feel like they can fit in anywhere

fight the system, fuck the society, do whatever you want, BE whoever you want, any way you want to

if there are two female characters in a film that interact with each other in a positive way, some people might want assume they are lesbians based on [[the way they're portrayed]] in the film they might not be, but if you want them to be, go right ahead and say they are who's gonna tell you if you're right or wrong?

i just saw the movie [[love, simon]] and some of my friends have said that the two lead female characters, abby and leah, should have been in a relationship leah was jealous that abby was flirting with their friend nick because leah was in love with nick but it could be perceived that she was in love with abby, and that's why she was jealous

based on the book //Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda// by becky albertalli, just one book among many that includes positive gay representation the fact that it's now a movie means that it will reach a wider audience, and more kids will be able to see themselves portrayed in a positive light this is why [[representation]] matters!

//love, simon// and the book it's based off of include a little bit of [[intersectionality]] through one of the main characters

gay, lesbian, bi, pan, trans, queer, ace, intersex, poly black, white, asian, indian disabled, disadvantaged every walk of life and every color of the rainbow, everyone from every marginalized community, every minority intersectionality is also about being an [[active]] participant in trying to change the way things are viewed

or maybe not so straight . . . LGBTQ+ representation matters! [[why?]]

[[why does representation matter?]]

and this is part of the question: [[why does representation matter?]] people of all body types, all skin colors, and all orientations need to see themselves represented

[[why does representation matter?]]

"what we should be attacking in stereotypes," dyer says, "is the attempt of the heterosexual society to define us for ourselves." stereotypes allow the Straights TM to put us in boxes and define us how they see fit but //no one// except ourselves should be able to say who we are

attempting to unlearn the harmful behaviors and actions that have been ingrained in you since birth, from society and everything around you a way to do this is through [[activism]]

there is a whole list of movies with LGBTQ+ representation in them, old and new, from then and now some of them are happy, some of them are sad, some of them are somewhere in between and some of them show the [[darker side]] of the LGBTQ+ community the [[mainstream]] films are the most popular, but there is an entire hidden market of [[independent]] LGBTQ+ media that most people don't even know exists

one of the most important issues the LGBTQ+ community has ever dealt with has been the [[AIDS crisis]] AIDS has taken millions of lives, and in the 1980's, it was one of the biggest issues in the country it sparked a national movement of [[activism]] among the LGBTQ+ community though not as prevalent an issue today, AIDS still exists and it is often not portrayed in the media

in //up from invisibility//, chapter 7, larry gross discusses the relationship between gay media and the AIDS epidemic "with the advent of AIDS it became more difficult to maintain the practice of denial about homosexuality, as more and more prominent men became ill and died" only when the disease claimed the lives of notable people in the media did people call attention to it [[movies]] like //chocolate babies//, which we were assigned for class, offer a very real and harrowing insight into what life as a person with AIDS was like leading to the [[question]] ...

activism is a [[political]] movement that involves fighting for equal rights through actions and words, fighting to make a change in the world and in marginalized communities movements like the pride parade, the women's march, and black lives matter protests are all forms of activism and in some way, they can all be considered [[queer]] activism

mainstream films (like [[love, simon]] ) are the hollywood movies that play on the big screens and reach a wider audience and it applies to all media, not just films it has advantages that indie media doesn't, and that's not always a good thing mainstream media might get some things wrong, and the representation of the LGBTQ+ community might not always be accurate one of the most notable examples of a mainstream LGBTQ+ film is [[brokeback mountain]] but positive LGBTQ+ representation can also be found in a mainstream culture

in chapter 12 of //queer images// by benshoff and griffin, the authors give examples of independent queer cinema like //but i'm a cheerleader//, //the incredibly true story of two girls in love//, and others indie films work on a smaller budget, and that means production quality is usually lower, and the scope of the audience is smaller but it's really the quality of the content that matters films we watched in class like //the watermelon woman//, //chocolate babies//, and //by hook or by crook// are some lesser known independent queer films that had to work with a smaller budget but their messages are important to learn, and that kind of content deserves to be seen, hence the [[question]] we are trying to answer (and again, it applies to all media, not just films)

an oscar-nominated film about gay cowboys (who are the backbone of this country, according to my mom) that is one of the biggest mainstream LGBTQ+ films out there in //love and money//, lisa henderson talks about brokeback mountain and how it portrays the homosexual relationship between its two main characters she compares it to //by hook or by crook//, an [[independent]] LGBTQ+ film henderson points out the stark difference in the endings of the two films: brokeback mountain permeates the idea that "we love us when we're suffering," and by hook or by crook shows the audience that "we love us at our most alive and our most solidary" [[mainstream]] LGBTQ+ films tend to portray gayness as tragic; something bad always happens

politics can get messy, but they are important, especially for queer people and the LGBTQ+ community queer people have always been fighting for their right to exist, since the stonewall riots and even before since the LGBTQ+ community often isn't given a voice or a platform, we use art and the media to get our messages across, utilizing things like [[camp]] to make the audience see we can't be ignored marches, protests, demonstrations: any method of [[activism]] that will be seen or heard, loudly and boldly and we won't stop until we are given completely equal rights

"queer" began as a derogatory term before it was reclaimed and reappropriated now, "queer represents the resistance to the normative codes of gender and sexual expression, but also to the restrictive potential of gay and lesbian sexuality" - aaron, //new queer cinema: an introduction// queer is an identity it's an attitude it's an [[aesthetic]]

comics have been around for decades, though queer characters on the pages might not have always been there but now, there are openly queer characters and superheroes to be found in colorful pages, like batwoman, wiccan, karolina dean, and the ray some of them are even represented on [[TV]] in the many comic-based shows that have been created the problem is, [[mainstream]] representation is still lacking, where independent comics with LGBTQ+ rep number much higher

the list of TV shows with LGBTQ+ representation is long, though it might not seem like it some of that representation is good, and some falls a little on the negative side some leaves a lot to be desired but we are moving towards an age where LGBTQ+ representation is becoming more normalized and shown in positive ways shows with openly queer characters show LGBTQ+ kids that they [[belong]]

the Internet is a wide and (mostly) wonderful place where [[queer readings]] of media are commonly found and discussed full of spaces for the LGBTQ+ community to feel welcomed and comfortable, and to find the representation they deserve fandom culture is one of the biggest ways to find LGBTQ+ representation online we already know about //star trek// and have discussed it at length, but that's just one example of fictional media that has a huge LGBTQ+ fanbase along with [[xena: warrior princess]] online spaces allow LGBTQ+ fans to express themselves freely and make themselves a home where they can feel safe and like they [[belong]]

"the technological affordances of online fan communities enabled LGBTQ groups to communicate their desire for alternative narratives directly to producers in an era in which new technologies allowed for 'queer hacks' of mainstream entertainment content" - elena maris, //hacking xena// //xena// and //star trek// were two of the earliest "fandoms" with a large LGBTQ+ following that arose on the Internet though not explicitly stated in the narratives if they were queer, xena and gabrielle and kirk and spock are all [[characters]] that people found LGBTQ+ representation in

i can be creative (when i want to be) (and when i have the time, energy, and motivation) (this is not one of those times) (hence why this is a pretty okay but not the best zine) but! it ticks all the boxes, and i think it gets the job done (probably, i don't know) and i think you'll find that "pretty okay but not the best" sums up LGBTQ+ representation in the media just about right so [[let's get one thing straight]]