From Ashamed to Proud

How gays in the media have encouraged gay acceptance

in Ann Arbor.

Communication Studies 478

Katrina Deutsch, Janine DiVita, Lauren Kotler, Jolanta Sadowska

Poster Wanted to make poster look like

magazine cover. Originally, wanted to take an already made cover with gay celebrity and overlay it with our own text. We chose Ellen DeGeneres from Time magazine (see left).

After meeting with both Rossie and Mark Sandell, learned that poster did not manipulate text to best of ability.

So, poster was redesigned….

Poster continued…. Found two men on Gaytimes magazine

cover, silhouetted men in Photoshop, used purple because of the color’s symbolism within gay community.

Made word “proud” rainbow to show pride (used gay pride symbols throughout poster). Made “proud” in all capital letters to stand out, relating to our theme of media’s effect on increased pride and acceptance in gay community.

Made original version of magazine cover to stick with media theme.

Think this is one of best formats to get message across - symbolism within text, use of color, use of imagery.

Website Original design did not incorporate media enough, too bland, did

not use frames, more links, more separate pages. Outside sources used are on our reference page were an

inspiration for work. So, we redesigned….

http://www.umich.edu/~kkd/proud.html

Website continued…. Chose background to be media images (such as CD covers,

magazines, etc.). Have band of rainbow to keep consistent with rainbow in all pieces

of project. Include quotations from either gay celebrities or about gay

community from non-gay celebrities. Display each part of our project as separate page on site. No one was familiar w/program, it was more a matter of making

it look normal than making it look wonderful - most difficult part.

A Work In Progress (Assemblage)

The production of The Laramie Project in Ann Arbor was a loose inspiration for idea for assemblage.

Decided from beginning would have fence and other symbols of hate crimes (Matthew Shephard, wood, glass, knife).

Also have negative stereotypes (condom = promiscuous, AIDS ribbon = gay disease, doorknob = in the closet/afraid to come out).

Assemblage continued…. Spraypainted rainbow over objects to

represent gay community. Over spraypainted pieces a new rainbow

including newspaper headlines about gay community woven throughout fence, showing that the media has helped gay acceptance

However, the acts and stereotypes are still present, hence title “A Work in Progress”

Think this is one of best formats to get message across - mostly visual, no text, people can interpret but still realize overall themes.

Evidence in Ann Arbor(Photographs)

Represent gays in Ann Arbor community (holding hands, Coming Out Day, Aut bar).

Represent acceptance and support of gay community in Ann Arbor (Common Language bookstore, Office of LGBT Affairs, rainbow ribbons and flags, bumper stickers)

Represent people watching/reading gay media (reading newspaper, watching Will and Grace, buying books) to demonstrate acceptance.

Photographs continued…. Manipulation of photographs: In

all photographs, everything is black and white EXCEPT either the gay media or representation of gay community in Ann Arbor, which is still in color.

The contrast of color adds life, stands out more, shows fearlessness and/or presence in community - also visually stimulating.

Progression(Museum Exhibit)

Chose the theme of “progression” for our exhibit.

The overall statement of the exhibit is that the acceptance of the gay community has made progress, but still has a long way to go

Design: Each panel is a color of the rainbow (total of six panels)

RED: Artifacts symbolize hate crimes. Includes Matthew Shepherd headlines, remembrance crosses, Laramie Project Poster, etc.

ORANGE: Artifacts symbolize national news media. Includes newspaper articles, magazine articles.

Museum Exhibit continued…. YELLOW: Artifacts symbolize national

entertainment media about gay community. Includes Will & Grace DVD, Queer as Folk flyer, movies, etc.

GREEN: Artifacts symbolize campus media. Includes Laramie Project ticket, Coming Out Week, Local news media

BLUE: Artifacts symbolize gay community resources. Includes health pamphlets, LGBT flyers, etc.

PURPLE: Artifacts symbolize public displays of acceptance. Includes bumper stickers, flags, ribbons, pins, etc.

How could we improve this? Photographs could be more candid of homosexuals in community - touchy

subject, sometimes felt uncomfortable asking for photographs or felt like we were exploiting gay community as we are not members of the community.

With more knowledge of Dreamweaver/other Internet programs, could have made Web site more visually pleasing or had more special features.

With more time, could have gone to more events on campus, bring topic to national scale, or find that there are more sides to our topic, could research it more and talk about the media effects/content analysis.

More reactions and feedback from gay community - not enough time to see if people truly agree with our topic.