Senior Thesis, Collage, Zine

For my senior thesis project, I researched the topic of compulsory heterosexuality, also known as comphet (the assumption that everyone is straight and anything different from that is considered “other”). This process started with learning the history of compulsory heterosexuality, how it has influenced our society, and where it is most prevalent. I conducted an anonymous survey to learn about others’ real-life experiences with the topic. The goal of this project was to educate people on this topic and share how it impacts our lives, especially the lives of queer youth.

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I created collages by hand with a combination of 1950’s imagery, modern-day images, and queer-coded elements. The mixture of the strictly binary, heterosexual way of life united with themes of queer culture gives a visual representation of how LGBTQIA+ people have always been here and always will be. These collages, along with my research, were then compiled into a small zine that discusses compulsory heterosexuality and ways we can fight against it.