LGBTQQIA and Advertising

For those of you who have been reading my blog for some time, you may remember that about this time last year I posted three projects from my college students that were positive representations of sexuality in the media (Avant Garde Bodies, condom/bubble gum print ads, and True Beauty).  I have four more student projects to show you this year, and I am very excited about them!

My community college students spend their semester looking at and analyzing media representations of sex and sexuality.  The majority of the ones they turn up are pretty negative.  As an attempt to counter-act this societal tendency towards sexualization, gender stereotypes, and more, I ask the students to create their own media image in the form of an advertisement, a music video, a billboard spread, a blog or website, or whatever other medium they are personally drawn to.  These four students were thoughtful and creative in their approach to sexuality in the media, and I appreciate their time and dedication in creating these images.

Today’s project is by a student who prefers to stay anonymous, so I’ll just call her L.  She focused on representations of LGBTQQIA individuals in the media.  One of the things she noticed, which really bugged her, was that these representations were segregated into special categories – they were only pictured representing themselves rather than the standard or generic family.  So, for her project, L created generic advertising campaigns that used gay families where strait families might typically be pictured.  Two of her images are below:

I deeply appreciate L’s vision of a world where the families as they are shown here are considered “normal” enough to be included in standard-issue advertising.