Table Of ContentIDENTITY, CULTURE, AND ARTICULATION: A CRITICAL-CULTURAL
ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC LGBT ADVOCACY OUTREACH
by
ERICA L. CISZEK
A DISSERTATION
Presented to the School of Journalism and Communication
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
June 2014
DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE
Student: Erica L. Ciszek
Title: Identity, Culture, and Articulation: A Critical-Cultural Analysis of Strategic LGBT
Advocacy Outreach
This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the School of Journalism and
Communication by:
Patricia Curtin Chairperson
Christopher Chavez Core Member
Gabriela Martinez Core Member
Judith Raiskin Institutional Representative
and
Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation;
Dean of the Graduate School
Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School.
Degree awarded June 2014
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© 2014 Erica L. Ciszek
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DISSERTATION ABSTRACT
Erica L. Ciszek
Doctor of Philosophy
School of Journalism and Communication
June 2014
Title: Identity, Culture, and Articulation: A Critical-Cultural Analysis of Strategic LGBT
Advocacy Outreach
This study examines how LGBT activists and LGBT youth make meaning of a
strategic advocacy campaign. By examining activist and advocacy efforts aimed at youth,
this research brings to light how LGBT organizations use campaigns to articulate identity
and, conversely, how LGBT youth articulate notions of identity. Through the lens of the It
Gets Better Project, a nonprofit activist organization, this dissertation uses in-depth
interviews with organizational members and chat-based interviews with LGBT youth to
study the meanings participants brought to the campaign.
Strategic communication has been instrumental in construction of LGBT as a
cohesive collective identity and has played a vital role in the early stages of the gay rights
movement. This research demonstrates how contemporary LGBT advocacy, through
strategic communication, works to shape understandings of LGBT youth.
Instead of focusing on the Internet as a democratic space that equalizes power
differentials between an organization and its publics, this study shows that the construction
of identity is the result of a dynamic process between producers and consumers in which
power is localized and does not simply belong to an organization or its public.
This research challenges the Internet as a democratic space and demonstrates that
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identity is a discursive struggle over meaning that is bound up in the intimate dance
between producers and consumers of a campaign. In contrast to functionalist
understandings of public relations that privileges the organization, this dissertation
contends that a cultural-economic approach focuses on the processes of communication. A
cultural-economic approach gives voice to the diverse audiences of a communication
campaign and addresses the role communication plays as a discursive force that influences
the construction of identities.
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CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME OF AUTHOR: Erica L. Ciszek
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon, Eugene
Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
Colby College, Waterville, Maine
DEGREES AWARDED:
Doctor of Philosophy, Communication & Society, 2014, University of Oregon
Graduate Certificate, Women’s and Gender Studies, 2014, University of Oregon
Master of Science, Mass Communication, 2010, Boston University
Bachelor of Arts, 2008, Colby College
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Strategic Communication
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Strategic Analyst, Mullen, 2009-2010
Research Analyst, MaPS (Marketing and Planning Systems), 2009
Marketing Assistant, Edge Publications, 2007, 2009-2010
GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS:
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, School of Journalism and Communication,
University of Oregon 2010-2014
Waterhouse Family Institute Research Grant, Villanova University, 2013
Lokey Scholarship, School of Journalism and Communication, University of
Oregon, 2013
Graduate Research Grant, The Center for the Study of Women in Society,
University of Oregon, 2013
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The Bruce M. Abrams LGBT Graduate Essay Award, Department of Women’s
and Gender Studies, University of Oregon, 2011
Columbia Scholarship, School of Journalism and Communication, University of
Oregon, 2010-2014
Travel Grant, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Oregon,
2012, 2013
Travel Grant, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon,
2011, 2012, 2013
Diversity Travel Grant, National Communication Association, 2011, 2012
Graduate Research Travel Grant, The Center for the Study of Women in Society,
University of Oregon, 2011
PUBLICATIONS:
Ciszek, E. (2013). Advocacy and amplification: Nonprofit outreach and
empowerment through participatory media. Public Relations Journal,
7(2), 187-213.
Ciszek, E., & Gallicano, T. (2013). Changing cultural stigma: A study of LGBT
and mental illness organizations. Public Relations Review, 39(1), 82-84.
Ciszek, E. (2013). LGBT advocacy in the digital age: Participatory media and
the empowerment of an LGBT public. In N. T. Tindall & R. W. Waters
(Eds.) Coming out of the closet: Exploring LGBT issues in strategic
communication with theory and research (pp. 207-218). New York, NY:
Peter Lang Publishing.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my advisor, Pat Curtin: thank you for giving me faith in this project,
confidence in myself, and hope for making the world a better place through my
scholarship. Thank you for always being armed with a red pen, only being an email away,
and having a box of tissues handy. Thank you for pushing me further than I ever believed
I could go.
To my committee members, Chris Chavez, Gabriela Martinez, and Judith Raiskin:
thank you for pushing my scholarship forward. Your feedback challenges my thinking
and makes me reach higher.
To the faculty at the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of
Oregon: I express my gratitude for your financial support through these years and for
granting me funds for my scholarship.
To my organizational participants: Thank you for making this project possible.
Thank you to the organizational members for your relentless work to make the world a
better place. Thank you for believing in your work and your message. Thank you to the
employees at the It Gets Better Project, for as Seth noted, “lifting up the kimono” to show
me what goes on behind the scenes. Thank you for opening your door to scholars, like
myself, and seeing the value in collaborating.
To my youth participants: Thank you to for opening yourselves up and sharing
your thoughts, trials and tribulations, dreams and aspirations, and believing that my
research will help make the world a better place.
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To my partner, Christina, for her unconditional love, support, and patience, for giving me
hope that my work will make a difference. To my daughter, Quinn, for being born amidst
the chaos and wonder of this process, for giving me hope that I can work to make the
world a better place for her. To my parents, Al and Sophie, for their relentless support
throughout the years, for giving me the skills to love what I do and do what I love, and to
keep my head up in moments when hope was hard to find. To my in-laws, Don and Beth,
for their encouragement to stay focused on my hopes and dreams. And lastly, to our dog
Charley, for giving me hope in humanity, one tail wag at a time.
“I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living.
And you gotta give ‘em hope.” – Harvey Milk
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1
Youth and the LGBT Movement ........................................................................... 3
The Homosexual Threat (1920-1979) .............................................................. 3
Lesbian and Gay Youth (1980-1989) .............................................................. 6
Schools and LGBT Youth (1990-2002) ........................................................... 9
Contemporary Issues: Bullying, Suicide, and LGBT Youth (2003- 2013) ..... 10
The It Gets Better Project ...................................................................................... 12
Bridging the Gap: Advocacy, Activism, and Public Relations ............................. 13
Justification for Study ............................................................................................ 14
II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 16
Public Relations and Activism ............................................................................... 16
The Functional Tradition in Public Relations Theory ..................................... 20
Role Theory ............................................................................................... 21
Systems Theory .......................................................................................... 22
Issues Management .............................................................................. 23
Situational Theory of Publics ............................................................... 24
Situational Theory of Problem Solving ............................................... 25
Excellence Theory ............................................................................... 26
Activism and the Critique of Excellence .................................................. 28
Critical Approaches to Public Relations .......................................................... 30
Cultural-Economic Model ........................................................................ 32
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Description:contends that a cultural-economic approach focuses on the processes of communication. A cultural-economic approach gives voice to the diverse audiences of a communication Ciszek, E., & Gallicano, T. (2013). the suicides caused by violent harassment faced by our community's young people.
