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Abstract:
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With the ultimate goal of illustrating the ways that queer youth employ change and act as agents of self -representation , this project examines the relationship between the It Gets Better Project , a queer adult project focused upon ‘bettering‘ the lives of their younger generation , and the Make it Better Project created in response by queer youth . This thesis addresses the following questions : How do adult conceptualizations of queer youth as vulnerable victims operate within discourses that employ queer youth as agents of change ? In what ways do queer youth grapple with such conceptualizations ? Furthermore , how might queer youth actively resist adult narratives of risk , vulnerability , and surveillance ?
Seeking to not only examine the ways in which queer youth negotiate adult
narratives of adolescent risk and vulnerability , this project is organized to highlight the ways in which queer youth understand and experience their own representational and performative narratives , particularly when performed in response to adult narratives . In examination of the “It Gets Better : Dan and Terry” (2010a ) and “It Gets Better : President Barack Obama” (2010c ) vlogs of the It Gets Better Project , this thesis seeks to uncover the ways that assimilationist goals of inclusion , tolerance , and equality impact the intelligibility of queer youth . As a means for which to explore the possible resistance employed to counter such silencing mechanisms , the examination turns to three youth -produced vlogs of the Make it Better Project . An additional intent of the focus on the “LGBTQ Youth Speak Out” , “Make it Better Project” and “Make it Better Project - You Can Make it Better Now!” vlogs is to construct a space to analyze the complex and fluid dynamics of queer youth communities .
With focus given to the various mechanisms employed by the adult and youth performers of these particular vlog -narratives , this project constructs an interdisciplinary framework of new social movement theory , new online media studies , queer theory , quare (queer of color ) studies , feminist sociolinguistics , and critical youth studies as a means to position queer youth voices at the forefront of discussion . With the goal of continuing research that represents queer youth as agents of their own experiences , bodies , lives , and identities , it is my hope that the framework provided by this examination will inspire future work that highlights and centers the voices of queer youth . |