Finding a Voice through Social Media

The LGBTQQIA Community has been notoriously silenced since before the dawn of time. People have been speaking FOR and AGAINST Queer folk in the media for as long as I can remember, yet Queer Folk are rarely ever allowed the space to speak on their own behalf, so our media ends up looking a lot like this...

http://sialand.tumblr.com/post/123739827539/i-dont-think-this-is-discrimination-at-all

http://sialand.tumblr.com/post/123739827539/i-dont-think-this-is-discrimination-at-all

http://sialand.tumblr.com/post/123739827539/i-dont-think-this-is-discrimination-at-all

THE SHADE OF IT ALL #YASRAVENYAS

Okay, so "since before the dawn of time" is not necessarily a correct allotment of time - but still. Queer folk have been shouting from behind closed doors for decades. We can all agree that anyone outside of the heteronormative societal script is pretty much left out of public rhetoric. However, social media has become a new platform for Queer folk to join the conversation, and perhaps, even dominate it.

http://giphy.com/gifs/me-broad-city-ilana-glazer-2UBT4V9bmoXJK

With the increase of social media sites and the interconnected world wide web, now so more than ever Queer voices are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Queer folk are more comfortable coming out, speaking up, and standing strong in the face of adversity online. 

http://giphy.com/gifs/cute-girl-jenna-anne-13wcN5Z82Rd9zW

http://giphy.com/gifs/love-excited-PAZ61cCSFSaly

Social media is a great tool, not just for disseminating information to a wide variety of people, but also as a way of providing better and more realistic representation of marginalized groups. Individuals and groups use social media to gather, physically and virtually, to promote and support LGBTQ+ issues and rights — and they have done so in countries that are both are tolerant and intolerant of LGBTQ+rights.

According to a study done by the Salzburg Academy of Media and Global Change, "In the United States, LGBT rights have expanded rapidly with the recent legalization of same-sex marriage. With the surge of support for LGBT rights,  there has been a surge in LGBT social media campaigns."

One of those campaigns is the It Gets Better Project.

http://giphy.com/gifs/i-made-another-it-gets-better-OldtlLuhkb2da

The It Gets Better Project was one of the first social media campaigns that successfully reached out to teens, of all intersectional identities.

The 2010 campaign started after Justin Aaberg and Billy Lucas, two American teenage boys, committed suicide after intense bullying for being gay. Dan Savage, a sexual health columnist and his partner Terry Miller used YouTube to post an eight-minute video describing Savage’s own struggles as a gay man and how he overcame harassment and unacceptance. He was joined by young and old gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allied supporters, speaking out about their own experiences and how their lives as adults “got better” — even with their hardships. Within months, dozens of other celebrities created their own videos calling for support of LGBT teens and the end of bullying.  Within three years the project has gathered more than 50,000 user-created videos in support of LGBT teens, including videos from President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

On the Campaign's webiste Savage states, "Growing up isn’t easy. Many young people face daily tormenting and bullying, leading them to feel like they have nowhere to turn. This is especially true for LGBT kids and teens, who often hide their sexuality for fear of bullying. Without other openly gay adults and mentors in their lives, they can't imagine what their future may hold. In many instances, gay and lesbian adolescents are taunted — even tortured — simply for being themselves.While many of these teens couldn’t see a positive future for themselves, we can. The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better."

It is through projects like this, and people who care, that we can foster a community of compassion and acceptance - both online and in reality. Creating more safe spaces that seek to raise people up rather than tear them down will lead to a more well-rounded and respectful environment for all of us to enjoy. So I urge you to use your social media to:

 SPEAK OUT- SPEAK CLEARLY- SPEAK SWEETLY

oh, and to crush the patriarchal oppression of marginalized communities 

http://giphy.com/gifs/brawl-queers-inciting-2cm84We1XafsY

- K

Advertising the Queer Body

We are exposed to copious amounts of advertising a day, so much so in fact that most of the advertising we are taking in is actually happening subconsciously. This statement is founded in Science and Math and other important life skills that my Liberal Arts degree has not prepared me for yet I will quote now. 

A new study of media usage and ad exposure by Media Dynamics, Inc. reveals that a typical person's daily media consumption has grown from 5.2 hours in 1945 to 9.8 hours (or 590 minutes a day). This increase in consumption, in addition to the Yankelovich study, supports the ideology that message and brand “exposure” can range from 3,000 to 20,000 every day for a normal media consumer. The higher numbers in this ratio not only include ads, but also include every time you pass by a label in a grocery store, all the ads in your mailbox whether you see them or not, the label on everything you wear, the condiments in your fringe, the cars on the highway, etc. 
Basically, advertising is everywhere and we cannot escape it. No one is safe. Big Brother is Watching. Soylent Green is People. 

http://giphy.com/gifs/damn-this-movie-soylent-green-cgvewuCvtnn7W

That was a #FLAWLESS 70's reference that no one ever seems to get because apparently no one is cares for Dystopian Cult Classics.  I digress. 

Advertising doesn’t just offer the right product to the right consumer at the right time. It gets them emotionally motivated to investigate and ultimately to buy the advertised product or service. That’s why engagement has become so important and why companies and corporations spends SO MUCH MONEY on advertisements. So integrating this new research with the accepted number of probably around 5,000 exposures per day, along with other proprietary research, this is how we can look at it:

• Average number of advertisement and brand exposures per day per person: 5,000+
• Average number of “ads only” exposures per day: 362
• Average number of “ads only” noted per day: 153
• Average number of “ads only” that we have some awareness of per day: 86
• Average number of “ads only” that made an impression (engagement): 12

KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW NOW, LET'S GET TO WHY THIS MATTERS:

http://giphy.com/gifs/broadcity-broad-city-ilana-glazer-hail-to-the-kween-l2R077quXSVyuV4bK

I've been watching a lot of Broad City lately, don't judge me. 

Public acceptance of the LGBTQA+ community, growing political support for Marriage Equality, and the prevalence of Queer and Trans characters on film and television are signalling a deep cultural shift at work in the United States since that fateful episode of Ellen. And brands are taking notice.

Advertising to the Queer Community was once left to the fringes. But as America’s straight public grows more accepting and older oppressive heteronormative views start to deteriorate, "Gay-Friendly" ads aren’t the statements they used to be – they’re becoming the new normal. Thank Goddess. 

Gap used a real gay couple for its “Be Bright” campaign. This billboard was displayed above a busy street in Hollywood, CA. Image via dailybillboard.blogspot.ca

http://sparksheet.com/the-new-normal-why-lgbt-advertising-is-going-mainstream/

Ray Ban’s 2011 “Never Hide” print ad campaign featured a series of bold acts. A gay couple holding hands in public is one of them.

Matthew Wagner, the Account Supervisor at Target 10, a New York City marketing firm that works with brands specifically so that they can reach gay consumers, told Bustle in an interview discussing Queer media and advertising. "Gay millennials tend to have the view that most companies are at minimum neutral toward and at best strongly embrace their identities."

Wagner went on to say that "The bar for LGBT marketing has been raised higher than ever ... campaigns need to be truly impactful through a combination of insights, messaging, tonality, and knowledge." 

Though I am pretty stoked to be seeing "Gay-Friendly" ads making their way into the mainstream, I will say that during the majority of my research for this blog post was showing images of mainly Cis-White Gay Men and very few variations of this archetype. 

My push back would be that though Queer advertisements seems to be permeating the American public more so now that an, it does in fact need to be QUEER ADVERTISING, meaning that ALL BODIES/ALL RELATIONSHIPS/ALL GENDERS/ALL FORMS OF YAS QUEEN  need to be presented as well. 

https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7WTvbdiKoIuGcncY/giphy.gif

- K

Cultural Appropriation and You : A Guide to Not Be A Jerk

Justin Bieber has never been a beacon of hope for the politically correct, but he has however become a great example for cultural appropriation. 

Don't let that jawline fool you - that is the perfectly sculpted face of a man unaware of his privilege. 

http://giphy.com/gifs/justin-bieber-gifs-XRj4oDO0QxqKY

As of early last week, the Biebs is now sporting bleach blonde dreadlocks and people are NOT happy about it. 

 Justin Bieber: ‘It’s just my hair.’ Photograph: Instagram

Syreeta McFadden, a contributor for The Guardian, suggests that Beiber use the social media outcry for him to shave his dreads should be viewed as a teachable moment for the Hollywood elite. McFadden states, "Caught in the crosshairs of cultural appropriation, Beiber could use an education on the hairstyle that has roots in Hinduism, Rastafarianism and Black Resistance." Though I could have done without the obvious hair-related puns, McFadden makes a solid point. 

My advice for Justin (and you) are as followed:

If you’re looking for ways to appreciate other cultures, but you haven’t yet thought about how to avoid appropriating them, then it’s possible that you’re doing more harm than good.

Appreciating another culture looks like cultural exchange. You’d have consent to participate in someone else’s culture, and both sides would mutually benefit and gain understanding of each other. 

On the other hand, appropriating another culture includes taking from a marginalized group without permission, and usually without respect for or knowledge about their culture.

Appropriating someone's culture/community is something that needs to be taken more seriously by public figures. They set the standards for media consumers to interpret and follow - so unfortunately for this one I think it might be too late to say Sorry.

www.buzzfeed.com

The Biebs latest social media blunder and apparent action of cultural appropriation reminded me of a video created by actress and activist Amandla Stenberg called "Don't Cash Crop On My Cornrows." 

Stenberg is quoted in the video saying "Appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalizations or stereotypes where it originated, but is deemed as high fashion, cool, or funny when the privileged take it for themselves."
"What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we love black culture?"

Sorry not Sorry Justin. Maybe you should just stick to what you know - tweeny power ballads and taking selfies. But maybe selfies with your old hairstyles. 

http://giphy.com/gifs/justin-bieber-comedy-central-roast-ytwDCqOO117G6Vhd6g

Yeah, that's MUUUUUUUCH better...

- K

Sex and Gender : My FAVORITE Topics

As much as I hate the word FLUID, it does capture the essence of the Queer Identity Spectrum quite well. Everything about living outside the heteronormative binary, every identity, is Fluid. Changing. Open. Perfect. I digress.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have a hard time with this. 

Some say "I don't get why you can't just be 'normal'" or "Just pick one gender or person to be attracted to," or "You're being greedy and self-centered," or any other variation of oppressive language that makes someone feel unsafe/unheard/unwanted/and just plain UNCOMFORTABLE. 

Most of the time, any identity on the Queer/LGBTQ+ Spectrum has str8 people feeling like this....

http://giphy.com/gifs/open-wkXZfVNISrJDi

~BUT FEAR NOT~

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OH COME ON. This is a Queer Justice Blog, it only seems fair that you read this definitions as if Ru Paul told you too.

I think it is important to set up some definitions for those of you who may not be totally sure how the Queer Spectrum works

Gender Identity: Gender Identity: One’s internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, or another gender(s). Everyone has a gender identity, including you. For transgender people, their sex assigned at birth and their own internal sense of gender identity are not the same. Female, woman, and girl and male, man, and boy are also NOT necessarily linked to each other but are just six common gender identities.

Gender Expression/Presentation: The physical manifestation of one’s gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, voice, body shape, etc. Most transgender people seek to make their gender expression (how they look) match their gender identity (who they are), rather than their sex assigned at birth.

Sex Assigned at Birth: The assignment and classification of people as male, female, intersex, or another sex based on a combination of anatomy, hormones, chromosomes. It is important we don’t simply use “sex” because of the vagueness of the definition of sex and its place in transphobia. Chromosomes are frequently used to determine sex from prenatal karyotyping (although not as often as genitalia). Chromosomes do not determine genitalia.

Sexually Attracted To: Sexual Orientation. It is important to note that sexual and romantic/emotional attraction can be from a variety of factors including but not limited to gender identity, gender expression/presentation, and sex assigned at birth.

Romantically/Emotionally Attracted To: Romantic/emotional orientation. It is important to note that sexual and romantic/emotional attraction can be from a variety of factors including but not limited to gender identity, gender expression/presentation, and sex assigned at birth.


Here's a great visual that may help make these identifiers more salient 

http://www.transstudent.org/gender

That was a VERY BRIEF introduction over an incredibly large community of people who just want to be who they are, present however they chose and love whomever they feel comfortable loving. If you want more information, check out some other LGBTQ+ friendly sites on the internet. I suggest Tumblr, because that's where I learned everything I know about being Queer when I was in High School - and trust me, it's got everything you'd ever need. Trust me. 

http://giphy.com/gifs/rad-triangle-someindiefolk-nhZ9yABUxTih2

        #TumblrSavesLives

Now that that is out of the way, let's see how the identifiers show up in mainstream media

Take for instance the popular show Empire. When the show went on a mid-season hiatus last fall, Jamal had just hooked up with his music idol, Skye, who is a cis- woman. Now normally. this wouldn't be a relationship that is super noteworthy (other than the fact that the two actors on the show are BEAUTIFUL and did I mention that Skye is played by Alicia Keys!?) but this was a big deal because the previous seasons of Empire have been building tension between Jamal and his father about his identity as a gay man. But Jamal is a man, who identifies as gay, who slept with a woman. HOW COULD THAT BE?! 

http://giphy.com/gifs/empire-jussie-smollett-jamal-lyon-dLr5G3x8nSCoo

http://giphy.com/gifs/empire-fox-empirefox-foxtv-xTka04AagwpPngfaJa

Now the series is back, and everyone is up in arms about the music prodigy’s sexual fluidity. On the show, protestors complain the middle Lyon is “flip-flopping” on his sexuality. In an iconic Queer scene on last week's episode "Death Will Have His Day," Jamal had some choice words for his mother Cookie, and audiences at home struggling to understand the fluidity of sexuality. 

You can watch the clip here.

And you can read the transcript of the scene right here:

Jamal: Jamieson found out about Skye, and he's pulling back his support.

Cookie: Yeah, see, that's another one I don't get, Jamal. You messing around with girls? Pick a damn team.

Jamal: I'm picking nothing. Do what I want to do, and ain't nobody's business who I get down with.

Cookie: So what does this mean, huh? You one of them wishy-washy, confused bisexuals now?

Jamal: (Laughs) Whatever. No. Sexuality is fluid.

Cookie: Shut up.

Jamal: Mom, it is, I'm sorry. It is. You know what I'm saying? You-you have straight and-and gay and bi and a lot a bit of everything. I don't know.

Cookie: Yeah, it sound like y'all just want to be freaky-deaky. A little freaky-deaky.

Jamal: (Laughs) You ain't never slept with no woman?

Cookie: Boy, nobody having that conversation with you.

Jamal: Oh, really? Look, all I'm saying is that sometimes things happen, you know? You feel a certain way and you... You act on it or you don't. Just because I have sex with, uh, two women in my entire life doesn't mean, you know, I'm straight or bi or anything. I'm still a gay brother looking for a man.

Cookie: (Laughs) Yeah, me, too. All night long.

Jamal:  Okay, all right, see, you got to take it too far. I'm out. I like...

Cookie: Shut up, boy. How you think your big-head ass got here?

Jamal: Immaculate conception.

Cookie: Look, Jamal, listen to me. You cannot piss people like Jamieson off if you want to win an Asa Award, okay? Awards are like politics, baby. Think of this like a campaign. You're running for office, all right? So I need you to get your head back in the game and get your gay back and get that Asa Award! You need to become legendary.

This was a very important scene for audiences around the world to see because it makes Queer identities much more accessible and normal to media consumers and takes away the "taboo" nature about talking about gender/sex/sexual orientation. Way to go, Empire! Can't wait to see who dies next what happens next! 

-K