willow's pub 448 portfolio

[willowgl]

Self Reflection #3

For this course, I completed all the other 13 assignments. From my understanding, I passed all of them. All of them have been posted here on my portfolio.

In both of my previous reflections, I identified my main challenge to be handing in assignments by the weekly deadline. This challenge proved to be true, and while I was able to catch up a few times, ultimately it did not work in my favour in the end. However, I still completed all the assignments, which I am proud of doing. My main goal was to understand the intersections of publishing and social change from a deeper perspective. I believe this goal was very well met. I learned a lot from this course about different mediums, both from a hands-on and academic perspective. That made the learning much more effective and impactful.

The most important skills I will be taking away from this course is the ability to contest very real examples to academia. Of course, this is something I had previously learned, however I was able to learn it on a different level in this course. Here, I was able to take these examples in these different mediums and already understand them at a high level of analysis without needing to be lectured or given a load of readings on them. Essentially, it gave me the ability to look at pieces with an initial critical thinking based on my previous learning and own experience, rather than start at the face value and go from there.

I am actually very proud of the zine I created. For a medium I didn’t know much about and never created myself, I’m pretty proud of what I made. It was a lot of fun to create, and really fantastic to bring the topic of self-care to the table, something I’m quite passionate about!

Thank you for such a fun, engaging, and thoughtful class this semester! I had a great time taking this course.

[willowgl]

Creative Output #3

Link to listen.

The topic I chose for my podcast was diet fads/apps, and why Noom isn’t actually all that different, a miracle weight loss solution, or “not a diet”. I chose this because of my own personal experience with Noom, dieting/weight loss in general, and disordered eating. It’s a kind of pandemic, the diet industry, and a war on fat bodies, and something I believe needs to be discussed widely and critiqued. Doing a podcast felt right for this because it is a wide topic that can be covered in a long-form series, like many podcasts cover. Many podcasts are also educational (or edutainment) and are used to explore topics that other mediums such as videos or TV cannot or will not. My goal with this was to educate while providing lived experience to aid my argument.

When thinking of a narrative flow to get out all the information I wanted in the time limit, I decided to blend my experience with the description of the subject matter, rather than break them apart cleanly. I also believe this aids with creating an engaging story to follow, instead of just lecturing on the subject.

While I’ve listened to and followed many podcasts for the last decade, I’ve never made my own. Getting to do so helped me learn a lot about the process of developing a podcast, and working on it in post-production. I’m very familiar with making online videos, but working solely with audio is an entirely different matter because there is no way to rely on visuals to aid your information or story. It creates a very different writing process, and I learned a lot about how to make it just as effective by creating this project.

[willowgl]

Media Analysis #4

For this media analysis, I chose to look at YouTuber Natalie Wynn’s channel “Contrapoints”. Wynn is a trans, American BreadTuber who creates engaging video essays, often using her background in philosophy. She created videos after dropping out of her philosophy doctorate program, and went through a very public transition while creating content on YouTube. For the last few years, her videos have been lengthy essays, often presented with a clear narrative story, and often using humour and flashy video effects to add to the videos. She also often uses characters and skits, and a high regard for aesthetics to present the information. For the purpose of continuing this analysis, I chose to have a close look at her video “Beauty”. Wynn does come from a white, middle class perspective, and that is not lost on her part within her discussions of politics and philosophy.

Wynn’s video on beauty discusses her recent facial feminization surgery, and the way beauty is regarded in modern, western society, from her perspective as a trans woman to the outlooks on beauty cis people have, to the way beauty is regarded in communities such as incels or the variety of it in non-binary spaces. She articulates the history of beauty standards, backs it through philosophical evidence, and uses many, meticulously researched examples. She argues for regarding beauty in a complex way; beauty is an individual experience, but one that is highly judgmental and loaded with horrible biases that reflect hegemony and white supremacy, and that is not to be forgotten. She makes this statement in a direct way—this video is an essay, and while she uses video making tactics, personal anecdotes, and humour to make it interesting to watch, it is laid out as such.

This piece was created as a video essay to engage with a wider audience in an edutainment way. As a BreadTuber, Wynn also uses the platform’s algorithm to rope in viewers who are on the opposite political spectrum to her, to try and engage them in changing their thought processes. It is a highly effective and popular method, and is helped by her own popularity on the platform.

The way Wynn uses personal, humorous skits to illustrate her points is a lot of fun to watch, and very effective communication. When making my own videos, that is something I would love to draw on to make my content more engaging and personable.

I believe this platform is very effective in generating the change the video calls for. Not only with the tactics used by BreadTubers, but also in getting the point out to a massive, widespread audience. YouTube is one of the most popular websites in the world, and if a video like this was to make the trending page, or to simply get many views, then the message is able to reach many audiences it wouldn’t have in other forms, such as if it were published as an academic article.

[willowgl]

Reading Reflection #4

Rebecca Raby et al. discuss in their article “Vlogging on YouTube: the online, political engagement of young Canadians advocating for social change” how Canadian youth are working to create effective social change through content creation on YouTube, and as such youth should be considered more in the political sphere as creators of activism and social change. They do this through a case study of twenty—eighteen of which became usable—Canadian youth vloggers, by analyzing their content and the response to it, and contesting it with their literature review and research.

The goal of this reading is to recognize youth as key actors in activism, and as bringers of community care and implementers of social change. Much of this outlook is informed by poststructuralism to observe the agency youth have online, and as online content creators. Again, they do this primarily through their case study of Canadian teen vlogging channels, with a close look at the content itself and the response to the content from other users. They urge the reader to look at youth as more than passive, more than the stereotypical idea of being politically disengaged and mindless, especially due to the rise of social media use.

I actually spent most of my teen years creating content on YouTube, and have been engaging with the platform since 2006. While it was great to read about this topic being heavily researched by scholars, and in recent years, my own experience as a teen on YouTube gave me a very extensive and detailed primer going into this reading.

I would have liked to see what the authors’ recommendations for further engagement of youth online and how to foster teen activism online in a healthy, supportive way would be. While the main argument of urging to see teens as more than vapid and passive is wonderful, I felt as if it was missing a true call to action rather than just providing evidence to change one’s mind at the base level.

As previously stated, I am intimately familiar with video production and YouTube. As such, I did not feel as if the article expanded my view on the platform and the act of creating in that medium much, however it did inform a more detailed and recent perspective on youth activism in the context of vlogging. What I will take away from that is that youth content creation is ever-changing, and much of the time it is the youth who are making big changes in online spaces, especially in regards to certain forms of activism from own voices experience.

[willowgl]

Media Analysis #3

The podcast “Below the Radar” was created to amplify voices and subjects relating to social justice and equity that are less talked about, or suppressed. The podcast is created by SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement, and thus comes from a highly academic background, which is relevant to the language used, the nature of the podcast, and the way it creates access but also creates barriers to access in those academic contexts. The episode I chose to analyze is “Decolonizing Climate Justice”, where the host speaks with Khelsilem, a Squamish Nation councillor and spokesperson. Khelsilem makes critiques of the fossil fuel industry, the role of the government, and the importance of community in fighting for climate justice; intense individuality is a neroliberal, colonial concept.

This episode argues for the centering of Indigenous voices in the climate justice movement in Canada, as well as including the voices of other people of colour. Listening and utilizing those voices in the way they want is a main point shared. In those points, it argues as well for the critique of fossil fuels and of the government’s role in supporting fossil fuels, considering how damaging and dangerous they are. This piece argues for this social change by creating conversation, but mainly giving a platform for the guest to speak—and the host to listen. The statement is quite direct in the detail of the conversation, and in the high-level critique.

This piece was created in this medium due to the radical nature of podcasting. Podcasts make a great space for uplifting marginalized voices as it is a low-barrier, cost effective way of creating communication publications, and does not have the same moderation as radio, for example. It offers the creators more control to do what they want and say what they want, and from that, distribute the podcast how they want to. This podcast makes use of this by the nature of it as a platform for suppressed and oppressed voices, and also by discussing a topic that is controversial but much needed to be spoken about by indigenous climate justice leaders.

I think it’s great that this podcast was posted on Spotify. Spotify is a highly accessible platform with a great algorithm to develop recommendations for similar content. Having listened to this, Spotify now sees I have an interest, and shows me more content in the same vein. It’s a very useful tool and thing to consider, as opposed to “easier” platforms to upload podcasts to, such as Soundcloud, that do not have the same highly specialized algorithm.

I believe this medium is very appropriate for the social change presented in this podcast. Based on the reading by Sapna Mulki and Alison A. Ormsby (2021), podcasting is extremely effective for environmental justice, and their research is backed by real evidence and analysis. From that, I can see how effective using this platform is for presenting this subject.

[willowgl]

Reading Reflection #3

In Sapna Mulki and Alison A. Ormsby’s article “Breaking Green Ceilings: podcasting for environmental and social change”, the authors discuss podcasting as a communication publishing medium, and argue that podcasting is a highly effective medium to be considered for historically marginalized groups to get their stories out and have their voices be platformed. In the article, the authors use the specific example of how environmental organizations are white, cisgender and male dominated spaces, and that marginalized groups are spoken over and silenced. They branch from this notion to how DQTBIPOC-run podcasts break through this hegemony, and use the specific example of the podcast “Breaking Green Ceilings”. Through the example, they illustrate how podcasting can be used to amplify diverse voices through the “easy” nature of the medium—both in creation, publishing, and access.

The goal of this reading is to better understand podcasts as a communication tool, more specifically for DQTBIPOC individuals and communities, and how podcasting is actually a very revolutionary medium for marginalized peoples. They go about this by introducing the concept of podcasts, the environmental industry itself, and then doing a close analysis of “Breaking Green Ceilings” as their prime example to back their thesis. In the end, they conclude that their example podcast absolutely fills representational gaps, however it is a starting point to many stepping stones in creating a more diverse industry.

While I have been an avid podcast listener for over a decade, environmentalist podcasts are something I have not actively sought out, or engaged with. I have a better understanding of what many of them do, and how crucial uplifting diverse voices is within this industry.

The authors provide solutions specific to this singular podcast. I wonder if the same can apply to other podcasts in the field, or even wider social justice podcasts with the same goal. I am now very curious about how other underrepresented voices and communities make use of podcasting, and would love to read another detailed analysis of several other kinds of social justice podcasts. I think that would really elevate the authors’ arguments.

Going forward, this article will help me further grasp the radical side of podcasting, and how the medium can be used for so much more than hobby talk, news, pop culture, and storytelling. It truly aids in informing me on how large and crucial educational podcasts are, and how important they can be to certain communities. This will help me in deciding how I could potentially create my own podcast, and where it may fall with my own social justice standings.

[willowgl]

Creative Output #2

The topic I chose for my zine is self-care. Self-care is very whitewashed, very much painted as something for upper class folks with disposable income to engage with, and very commercialized. The meaning of self-care in the mainstream completely goes against the true crux of it, and I am quite passionate about going against those ideals. Using a zine to discuss this works because zine making, and zines as a medium, are all about going against the hegemonic mainstream, and creating space for radical feminism and marginalized peoples experiences to be centred. Especially in this case, I believe making a zine about self-care is important to reach these communities who are often working hard, getting no breaks, and engaging in a lot of trauma daily by existing in systemically oppressive societies.

I chose to blend my images into my narrative for my zine to limit some of the text used to really play on how visual of a medium this can be. Also, to make it easier to understand the subject from both a visual standpoint as well as for ease of quick consumption. Being able to take in key information quickly, especially in a short-form medium like this, helps get the message out very efficiently. I also chose to focus on colouring the people in the zine more than anything else, to ensure the focus is on the self, rather than what is around the self—we focus on that enough, it's time to take a "selfish" moment of radicalism.

Prior to this assignment, I had only a vague idea of what zines were, and as such I never made one before. This gave me hands-on experience with it, and helped me see the real power in this medium. Creating something entirely by hand is cathartic in of itself, but the ability to distribute information that is radical and feminist, and something you truly believe in, holds a uniquely anti-systemic quality to it that is very inspiring to enact and learn through the practice of making a zine.

[willowgl]

Media Analysis #2

Food Thoughts (2013) is a zine created by Root Loop (Minh Nguyen), a Seattle-based creator. The purpose of the zine is to discuss the way that race and class are often left out of the argument in food justice movements. The author brings the perspective of a first generation Vietnamese-American living in a lower class neighbourhood. The piece draws from the work of Dr. Breeze Harper’s writing to further contextualize the points the author makes. The author discusses examples on the wider scale relating to American food culture, where that differs between poor and middle to upper class people, and uses examples specific to their lived experience in Seattle. The goal of this zine is to make the discussion more prevalent, to have race and class included in food justice, rather than offer answers at this point, mainly due to the fact that POC and poor people are made invisible by the mainstream of this movement.

The zine makes a very direct request for the inclusion and recognition of race and class within the food justice movement. The author builds a clear narrative in introducing the topic, explaining it, then going forward with how it is manifested in everyday life, what we see from the mainstream, and how that differs in their own lived experience as a poor person of colour, as well as what they see from other poor people of colour in their community. They make the clear point that the mainstream and the majority of the popular groups within this movement care more about animals than the livelihoods of people—primarily because the people who suffer the most at the hands of food injustice are poor people and people of colour. The author urges the reader to see the systemic issues with the food justice movement, and also offers some examples of poor, POC-led food justice groups to engage with instead of the mainstream (which includes groups such as PETA).

Food Thoughts was created as a zine due to the inherent radical nature of zines as a medium. Zines often take on topics that the mainstream won’t, and allows for complete creative control of the author, as well as creating space for own voices stories to be shared. This zine is deeply personal, but also speaks to a wider issue that is pressing and a form of systemic violence. The author makes this apparent through great use of narrative in the zine, both through words and through drawn images. The zine is also completely handmade, showing the care and thought put into this medium. It makes for a much more deep look at how this topic affects people directly, and how is isn’t just something worthy of showing up in a viral piece of journalism. It is something that needs to be engaged with at the root, and with the people it affects the most.

The self-published nature of this zine, as well as offering it for free, on a database of works created by and for people of colour, is quite inspiring. It makes me think of seeking out spaces specific to my own marginalized identities, and finding community publishing tactics for my own activism. Also, the use of a zine as the medium shows that things can be beautiful and meaningful without needing to be a big affair, or advertised to the ends of the earth. It can be radically passed through spaces, and can exist outside of capitalism. That is an extremely important reminder.

I believe this publishing medium is highly effective for the goals of this author as it is a very sensitive, personal topic, and one that goes heavily against what we see of it in the mainstream. The radical aspects of zine publishing fits that bill perfectly, and also allows for the subject matter to be even more personal and gives a platform for wider discussion of this topic in safe spaces, with the ability to be engaged with further outside of them.

[willowgl]

Self Reflection #2

Thus far, I’ve completed my portfolio set-up, my first self reflection, my self portrait (including the presentation of it), two reading reflections, one media analysis, and one creative output assignment. All have been posted on my portfolio.

I think I’m doing well at completing the assignments to the best of my ability, however I do need to improve on uploading them in a timely manner each week. I believe I’m doing the best at the reading reflections, in terms of specifics.

The skills I’ve been implementing is close reading for conducting effective reading reflections, something I’ve honed in over my time as a post secondary student. I’ve also been using those skills in my media analysis, as well as using media literacy skills, such as critical evaluations of context and cultural contexts, in my analyses.

While I don’t have any barriers, I do find uploading my assignments on time to be a challenge. This is something I foresaw when completing my first self reflection. Though, I will give myself credit for having done better at completing the assignments than I first anticipated; I did think I would be much further behind at this point.

To address this, I am working hard on my time management skills when it comes to this course and the rest of my courses, as well as personal commitments such as work. I’ve implemented a working system of scheduling specific times to work on course work, and so far it seems to be helping.

I don’t see how you can help more than by being so flexible with deadlines already. I greatly appreciate that, and it does aid in taking a lot of the pressure off.

[willowgl]

Reading Reflection #2

In Melanie Ramdarshan Bold’s article “Why Diverse Zines Matter: A Case Study of the People of Color Zines Project”, Bold discusses the importance of zines as cultural artifacts and as an activist medium. It notes the history of zines, and how they became more radicalized through the rise of the Internet. From that, the focus on zines by and for people of colour is analyzed through the digital publication the People of Color Zines Project and the impact and importance of such a project and archive.

The goal of this reading is to first create an understanding of zines as an art form and activist tool, and how that is rooted in the history of zine making. However, that merely serves as a base point for the central point of the article, which is reflecting on the importance of creations by and for POC in the zine community. It notes the racism and ostracization many creators of colour have faced in the community, and how zines have offered a space for reclamation of that community space and identity. This is exemplified in the article through the case study.

Going into the reading, I did not know much about zines besides that they are a short-form, often handmade medium. I did not know much about the political nature of them, mostly having come in contact with them through sparse instances of friends creating digital zines and from my own academic research on fandom and its origins. Now, I have a much more detailed understanding of the medium, of its history, and of the politics woven into the artifacts themselves and the community.

I am curious if the zine community has more potential to really blow up on social media. From my own research into the POC Zine Project, it seems email is still the primary form of contact, with sparse social media posts and their web hub, tumblr, being inactive since 2015. Can the community thrive as more widely active on social media? Or would that defeat some of the purpose of underground counterculture and/or open marginalized people to more violence in areas used as safe spaces?

Moving forward, this reading will help inform my work on zines, both as a potential creator and a consumer. It will provide essential pieces of historical information, giving key context to the medium itself and giving the opportunity for mindfulness when reading and creating. As a white person, it also aids in learning about the importance of a medium like this for POC and unlearning my own biases when engaging with the community.

[willowgl]

Creative Output #1

1. The topic I chose to use culture jamming on is Canada Day, or more broadly, the celebration of "independence" in colonized countries. I believe this topic is a fit for this type of content dissemination because publicity of any kind surrounding these days is huge. Similarly, posters carry the opportunity to encourage the use of symbolism in their messaging, and are an accessible form of communication; they can easily be used digitally and physically.

2. For this poster, I chose a clean, simple style with real photo imagery to draw the eye in. By keeping the colour palette simple, it is both clear what the poster is about and encourages the eye to the images used. With the images being the main focus, I chose pieces of Canadian history that normally wouldn't be used. Where images of nature, RCMP, and Parliament Hill would be, I decided Residential Schools, the Freedom Convoy, and BC's Japanese Interment Camps would be more fitting of what taking pride in Canada and waving the flag would be - a country built on genocide and hatred where freedom of expression only exists for white people.

3. What I learned from this medium is that simplicity can be more powerful than trying to jam everything you want to say onto your creative space. I started out with a lot of ideas and tried to include a lot of them in my critique, but as I started to combine ideas and simplify down to a small bit of text and a few key images centred on the page with a simple colour palette, I felt there was more impact with my work and it lead me to my end result a lot faster with more satisfaction with it.

[willowgl]

Media Analysis #1

This Calvin Klein spoof ad was created by the Canadian organization Adbusters. Adbuster is a non-profit media company, self-described as having the purpose to create “a total reinvention of the cultural and political playbook — to discover new ways to live, love and think”. They partake in a great deal of culture jamming, defined by Tatjana Đermanović as a practice of altering existing media to create a new, political and activist meaning (2017, p. 20). Adbusters works to create commentary on the most popular multi million and billion dollar industries and brands, and on consumerist culture and capitalism, with a focus on the highly negative aspects of these industries.

This particular piece speaks to the commodification and objectification of women’s bodies in the fashion industry, and how damaging this imagery is in advertising. It compares women to chicken you would buy at the grocery store, but branded with Calvin Klein’s logo, a popular fashion brand. It speaks to how women in the industry are valued at their youth, skinny stature, and attractive breasts and long legs, as models are usually tall, thin, young, and conventionally attractive. The use of “grade A design” on the package also notes how these are the women that are valued the highest in society, based solely on their appearance as objects. The criticism is overtly implicit in the way it directly uses brand recognition but does not state the true message outright - it does need to be inferred through looking at all components of the ad.

This piece was created as a print ad that may feature in a magazine as that is how the majority of these kinds of fashion ads are consumed. Fashion magazines are a massive industry, too, so spoofing in this context is highly effective in communicating the purpose of the critique.

The use of food as a metaphor for the treatment of women as objects for consumption is really clever, and something to consider when creating commentary on objectification of people. Similarly, using each aspect of the packaging on the chicken with such clear attention to detail works really well, and the centering of the logo is what makes it stand out; simplicity is useful, but attention to detail in conjunction makes for a really powerful image.

I believe this platform is effective for creating social change as, similar to what I said above, the fashion industry thrives on ads and magazines. Print ads and magazine-style ads make for a strong critique of the industry and encourage the viewer to look at fashion ads differently after viewing the spoofed version.

[willowgl]

Reading Reflection #1

Tatjana Đermanović’s essay “Subversive Postering (Dominance and Consumerism Culture Jamming)” focuses on the concept of culture jamming. She looks at it as both a concept and a tool for communicative resistance against hegemony, and provides examples of how this exists online and in the real world. Through these accounts, she argues for the importance of culture jamming, and how it is a real and tangible form of activism. She does this through implementing communication theory to aid in validating the communicative importance of the subject matter.

The goal of this reading is to first understand culture jamming from a general and in depth perspective through a theoretical outlook and real world examples. The author is both arguing for the significant influence of culture jamming and for a deeper understanding of it as a form of modern communication against hegemony and consumerism.

While the term is something I have heard as a buzzword, I have never actually looked into it as a concept and only had a vague notion of what it could be. I feel as if I better understand the subject as a whole, as well as its crucial significance in our vastly shifting and communicatively overwhelming capitalist world.

I am curious about culture jamming from an individual perspective; the author only really discusses organized culture jamming. How impactful is culture jamming done by the individual? Is it as effective, or does culture jamming require organized action by a group? I would like to see some examples of this “smaller scale” culture jamming. Similarly, can memes be a form of culture jamming when used in similar contexts, for example taking an advert and changing the messaging to fit an albeit humorous activist outlook?

This reading will greatly help with contextualizing the communicative importance of creating and analyzing publications and how they fit into the greater conversation. It will also aid in deciding the tone and nature of publications, and how their intent may fit into a rhetoric of culture jamming in the ways that they embody certain traits and communications theory.

[willowgl]

Self-Reflection #1

My main goal for this course is to gain a deeper understanding of the intersections of publishing and social change, especially in regards to intersectional feminism and new information technologies. I would also like to gain further tools for interacting with intersectional queer feminism and contributing to it through my own work and publishing.

Being quite far into my degree as a Communications student, I have a lot of knowledge about information technologies online, which I count as a strength. I also have work experience with developing advocacy publications relating to disability/accessibility and sexual violence, which I may be able to apply the foundational methods of education and information dissemination to other topics and mediums I want to explore.

A challenge I may anticipate is being able to effectively stay on top of all my assignments as the semester goes on. I would like to get the highest grade available, however with my other courses I am geared to anticipate challenges with completing the assignments on time each week.

What I will be doing to address this is rigorously planning my schedule and setting aside an appropriate amount of time to work on the projects for this course. Finding a balance is key, and I will strive to find that balance here.

I actually think the way you have set up this class is very conducive for how I learn and do my work, as in no late penalties and a pass/fail structure. I find it very refreshing and helpful compared to the other more suffocating ways institutional education tends to be structured, so thank you for that!