Research Proposal

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How is the experience of LGBTQ+ youth misrepresented in Adolescent Literature?

1. How can we create more inclusive environments for LGBTQ youth?

2. What causes LGBTQ youth to be misrepresented within YA Literature?

3. Are students actually exposed to LGBTQ+ characters in school?

4. What statistics are there that represent this misrepresentation?

5. How does this misrepresentation affect LGBTQ+ youth?

6. What factors of LGBTQ+ youth are romanticized within most literature?

7. What factors of LGBTQ+ youth are completely ignored within literature?

8. Are there certain subgroups within the LGBTQ+ community that are less represented than others?


I think it is no little known fact that LGBT+ youth is highly underrepresented within all forms of literature.  Nonetheless, adolescent literature is where the most representation for this community can be found.  However, this representation is often romanticized and rarely authentic to what most LGBT youths experience throughout their development and the search for their identity.  This is a topic very near and dear to my heart as I am a part of the LGBT+ community and am constantly aware of the misrepresentation.  I chose this topic because I want to delve deeper into something that directly affects me and research ways to potentially improve the situation.  For texts related to the subject, I plan to look at Aristotle and Dante Discover Secrets of the Universe, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Boy Meets Boy, Geography Club, and The Miseducation of Cameron Post. For resources, I plan to search for scholarly articles that examine the misrepresentation and underrepresentation of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as examine statistics that directly involve the youth of this community.  If possible, I hope to use sources that are written from the perspective of other LGBTQ+ people as their account and research is more likely to include authentic viewpoints and experiences.  This will also be an obstacle when it comes to finding entirely credible authors, as one cannot entirely understand a situation of misrepresentation until they have lived the experience.   The initial claim that I plan on presenting is that LGBTQ+ youth are highly misrepresented due to the stigmatization of queer culture within American society.  This misrepresentation may be directly related to high suicide rates for LGBTQ+ youth among other factors. I'm genuinely excited to begin this project and bring some topics to the surface that are usually pushed under the rug.

Comments

  1. Ally DunlapNovember 11, 2019 at 11:27 AM

    Noah, this is a very interesting topic to explore. I agree with you that the LGBT+ youth is highly underrepresented within all forms of literature. I think the resources that you are using will be very beneficial to your paper.

    ReplyDelete

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