Bisexuality Reflection
“Life is only a reflection of what we allow ourselves to see.” • Trudy Symeonakis Vesotsky
Being competent in the 21st century goes far past the skills of reading and writing. To better understand the world around us, we first need a better understanding of ourselves. “Meaning is made in ways that are increasingly multimodal – in part and parcel of visual, audio and spatial patterns. To find our way around this emerging world requires new literacy” Melzer (2011). Being literate cultivates economic, communal and individual well-being. With diverse language spoken all around us, why aren’t we fluent consumers in translating the rhetoric of content? Let’s analyze.
Dissecting narratives can be as obvious as an alarm clock’s use of sun emoji labels or as subtle as a dark backstory to a music artist’s otherwise happy-sounding track. The point is, nowadays we subconsciously shutdown engaging with our environments because our attention spans are desperately drowning in multimedia. The visual analysis tools proposed in Everything’s a Text teach key elements on staying focused in saturated markets and becoming intentional content consumers. I wanted to assess the weaknesses I’ve discovered in myself over the past four weeks of class when approaching this project. Keeping my flashpoints in mind, I implemented several methods taught in the course. I carefully adjusted the tone of the piece to keep in mind my internal audience, but also the external audience in hopes the methodical language would leave little to no room for misinterpretation. We also learned genres in the context of communication. The primary focus was visual modes to make the statements and transition my written text as I felt they provoked thought and could shape the topic persona better than my word selection. “To explore the meaning of images we must understand culture norms, ideology and social power” Melzer (2011).
Choices in the artwork and layout of the website were constructed to symbolize different moments experienced in my orientation awakening. Beginning with a photo of females kissing alludes to similar content one may research when exploring their sexuality. We then move on to the label, literally and figuratively exhibiting the formal bisexual identification. The next stage focused on the intrinsic needs of bisexual relations which I showed can be similar to that of heterosexuals. As heavy as it is, I needed to show and discuss the dark side of openly claiming the LGBTQ+ community. As you become comfortable in your own skin and identity, that does not mean others are progressing with you. Learning how to effectively live despite the hate of others trying to shape opinions of you or even cause physical harm is still a very real part of our community struggles today. Next is one of my favorite illustrations that best captures the intricacies, beauty and difficulties of being attracted to more than one sex. There is no one template one must fit in to be bisexual and the ongoing discovery can be a bit blurred and messy at times. Lastly, I end on a photo of wrinkled bedsheets illuminated with pink, purple and blue light. The bed appears to be empty which intentionally leaves room for question about the subject. It could represent those who identify as queer but do not live a promiscuous lifestyle, though the bed is there without judgement should they choose to be erotic.
The difficulties I experienced throughout this process were staying aware of bias behaviors, language and tendencies formed from being an active member in the chosen community. For multiple statements I actually had to outsource my content to family members or friends and get feedback on the inclusive or exclusive interpretation of the arguments. Overall, I believe I was able to create an informative, thought provoking and impactful analysis that complicates conventional representations of the LGBTQ+ community from both internal and external perspectives. Enjoy!