They’re just like us only fictional: an analysis on the materiality of LGBTQI+ representation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Practically Perfect is a two-person show about our experiences growing up Queer and trying to be perfect. It is a performance experiment through which we analyzed our memories of mediated LGBTQI+ characters and by which we document our research on the material impact those media representations had on our Queer identity building. Through Practically Perfect, we theorize performance methods as survival tactics for Queer adolescents in the process of identity building. Further, we assert that it is through the performance of coming-of-age personal narratives that we rewrite our traumas, relearn behaviors, and re-member new ways to grow up Queer.