REFLECTIVE RESEARCH JOURNAL By Caitlin Anderson
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CONTENTS PAGE Page 1 - Definitions Page 2 - Questions to ask when reflecting Page 3 -Attributes you need to be a trend forcaster Page 4-9 - Week 1 Page 9-10 - Week 2 Page 11-19 - Week 3 Page 20-23 - Week 4 Page 24-25 - Week 5 Page 26-27 - The Vulgar Exhibition Page 28-29 - Week 6 Page 30-31 - Week 7 , 8 & 9 Page 32-47 - Week 10 Page 48 - Week 11 Page 49-50 - Week 12 Page 51-54 - Reference list Page 55 -58 - Figure lis
Definitions
Trend: “Identifiable similarities across information sources related to styles, details, or other aspects of appearance characterized by a building awareness of this new look and an accelerating demand among consumers.” (Brannon, 2011)
Forecasting: “The process of anticipating future developments by watching for signals of change in current situations and events, and applying the forecasting frameworks to predict possible outcomes.” (Brannon, 2011)
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Questions to ask when reflecting...
• Where did you get it? • Why is it important? • Where might it lead? • What is it?
• Reflect on feedback given by peers and staff to the development of work • “During the trend tracking session the following outcomes happened and we got this because...” • Thinking about after the event and what knowledge and understanding we are getting/got. • Catch thoughts and reflections of information in the moment • To link information together would the use of a mind map be helpful?
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Attributes you need to be a trend forcaster...
• Consumer focused • Future focused
• Free from personal bias
• Free from assumptive bias • Free from reported bias
• Open to different interests • Open to different sectors • Open to different ideas • Systematic
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WEEK 1
Phase 1
Group work The group that I am working in for Phase 1 of Assignment 1 includes Sophie Wylie, Phoebe Merriman and Abigail O’Donnell, we formed a whatsapp group to share ideas and post interesting articles that we came across when starting out research. For the first session we each had to bring in 5 things that we thought represented ‘Now’.
My 5 things: 1. I brought a screenshot of press releases about Kim Kardashians recent robbery as I was shocked that so many of the big names reported on it considering all of the other things going on in the world. This shows just how much power and importance celebrities have in our society. 2. A map of the world with images of social media and technology covering it. I thought this was a good representation of now as technology has well and truly taken over the world. 3. My third thing is a screenshot of “Power leggings are the new jeans”, a quote from the CEO of Nike. I thought this was good as it shows how sportswear has become so important in fashion with many brands now having a sportswear line. People wear sports clothing as a fashion statement even if they are not going to the gym or to take part in a sports activity. 4. The “Same Love” music video is another thing that I chose as I think it represents the fact that today we are accepting a lot more than we used to regarding gender and equality. 5. My final thing is a press release on “free the nipple”, people fighting for gender equality is something very in the now as we see gender beginning to be eliminated completely.
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• Social media taking over the world
• Celebrities are more important than world events
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• Sportswear is becoming increasingly popular
• Women fighting for women’s rights with free the nipple campaign
• Music reflecting same sex marraige and new sexualities
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Reoccuring themes:
Together we combined our 5 things that we brought into the practical. We all wrote them out on sticky notes and put them into 4 groups, Social, Technology, Political and sustainability. I enjoyed this task as it enabled us to see how our ideas worked together and make links between the different topics, for example we said that political campaigns were not possible with out technology and social media platforms. With all of our items we came up with reoccurring themes: Social, technology and sustainability, political and world events. We identified these as out mega trends, from this we discovered macro trends and a lifestyle. On the 12th of October at 3pm we had a group meeting to decide on three key themes to track back, this was a very productive session where we all inputted and decided our three chosen themes would be social, technology and sustainability.
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TECHNOLOGY
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SUSTAINABILITY
POLITICAL SOCIAL
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3 Mega Trend’s
Social
We decided as a group that out macro trend was going to be the influence that Punk rock music and bands like the Rolling stones, Guns n Roses and ACDC has on peoples lifestyle. This music resulted in the lifestyle trend of attending festivals and gigs and aspiring to have the rocker lifestyle like Mick Jagger, wearing band t-shirts, leather boots and jackets. We looked at this lifestyle as being a form of escapism for people working in the industry of professional jobs, those who were young during the rock era are going back to their youth. The beginning of the punk rock era originates back in the 1970s (Young, 2002); the lifestyle adopters are looking back to the past and have a variety of ages.
Technology In technology we decides the macro trend was going to be social media, we want to look at how it is used as a vehicle to get a message across to the masses. This can be seen in the ‘#FreetheNipple ‘ campaign, which was launched through social media. It has been inspired by the acts of feminism since 1923 (Free the Nipple). This has been a huge movement occurring on social media and has led to a new liberation in millennials, in particular the young adults and women that are active on social media. The lifestyle trend is a social change towards gender equality and gender-neutralism.
Sustainability From our final Megatrend Sustainability we decided that the macro trend would be the idea of recycling and nature; making new things out of the old. We looked at Yeezy Season 4 and Raf Simons S/ S16 where you can see inspiration makes from the idea of clothing being distressed and earthy. The lifestyle that emerges from this is looking into what products are made off, the consumer would prefer materials made out of Tactel or Lyocell; they use recycled furniture for the home such as items made out plastic bottles. This lifestyle shows a constant concern for the environment and society as whole, the adopter recycles, buys organic foods, is cautious about the energy they use and have strong political opinions regarding the environment and animal rights; perhaps they are members of charity 8
• At the meeting we decided that we are going to use Prezzie to present our work as we think the layout of Prezzie looks more professional and captivating than a PowerPoint. We also decided that we wanted to create mood boards to show our ideas. In phase 2 we will be creating mood boards so we thought it would be a good opportunity to practice. They will be a good way to visually communicate our ideas during the presentation and they will be something that we can refer to throughout both of our projects.
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• We split the themes up between the group, Phoebe is researching Social, Sophie and myself are researching Technology and Abi is going to research Sustainability. This way we can get in-depth research and a mood board for each theme. We are then going to come back together to product the final presentation and accumulate our research.
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WEEK 2 Brain storming for each theme
SOCIAL: PHEOBE MEGA: SOCIAL MACRO: MUSIC -PUNK ROCK/GRUNGE BANDS - ROLLING STONES, GUNS NROSES & ACDC MICRO: BAND T-SHIRTS, THIGH HIGHBOOTS, CURRENT TREND. LIFESTYLE: EXPRESSION, PARTYING, REMEMBERING THE PAST.
TECHNOLOGY: CAIT & SOPHIE MEGA: TECHNOLOGY MACRO: SOCIAL MEDIA - FRE THE NIPPLE CAMAPIGN - FEMINISM MICRO: GENDERLESS FASHION, NO BRAS, REVEALING CLOTHES FAD TREND: STAR & HEART SHAPED NIPPLE COVERS, BODYSUITS. LIFESTYLE: LIBERATION, TOMBOY FASHION, CROSS DRESSING, TRANSGENDER.
SUSTAINABILITY: ABI MEGA: SUSTAINABILITY MACRO: NATURAL - MAKING NEW THINGS OUT OF THE OLD MICRO: DISTRESSED PRODUCTS, AWARENESS, RECYCLING TECHNIQUES YEEZY - EARLY TONS, DARKS SKINED MODELS - ETHICAL LIFESTYLE
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FEEDBACK:
The first feedback that we have received is that we have focused on the micro trend to much and that it is not really needed as we are leading up to creating a lifestyle trend. As a group we have also been focusing to much on fashion up until this point and need to remember that this project is not about fashion but lifestyle, this is something that I think we are finding hard to get our heads around.
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WEEK 3
MYSELF & SOPHIE’S TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
Mega Trend To begin with we did some research into technology to find out when and where it originated from and when it became public. Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989, he was a British computer scientist who went to Oxford University. The World Wide Web first became public in 1991, this set up the opportunity of globalization, the world instantly became more connected and everyone was equal as anyone could publish something on the Web (Web Foundation).
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Macro Trend Our macro trend is Social Media; we looked at the most popular social media sites and when they first originated. Mark Zuckerberg launched “The Facebook” in 2004, he did this while studying psychology at Harvard University, within 24 hours ‘1,200 Harvard students had signed up’ (Phillips, 2007). Jack Dorsey created twitter; it was launched in 2006. Today it is worth more than 5 billion dollars (Carlson, 2011). Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched Instagram in 2010; over 400 million people use it worldwide (Streatfield, B). We then focused in on the Free the nipple campaign, the campaign is one of the fastest growing movements, their mission is to ‘raise awareness and affect change’ (Free the Nipple). The campaign is now impacting change worldwide; it is a global platform for change. Free the nipple is an organization that ‘as human beings, we should all be treated equally’ (Free the Nipple). Free the nipple uses Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to raise awareness for gender equality. Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus support the movement often posing topless and using the hash tag ‘Free the Nipple’. It is currently illegal for women to be topless yet men can be; this is something that the campaign wants to change. The overall objective is to make all aspects of the female body accepted in society and not seen as sexual, men constantly feel as if they have more power than women and can speak out about their bodies and this is something seen as unacceptable and needs to change.
Awareness of sexual acceptance is also seen in music, an example that I brought in, as part of my 5 things was Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. This music video shows the life of a main character from birth to death, it looks into the assumptions and labels as well as the stereotypes that the character is bombarded with until eventually he finds love with another man (Critical media Project). The music video won a MTV VMA award for ‘Best video with a social message’, it acted as inspiration for many people to come out and embrace their sexuality. The music video supported the LGBT movement and same sex marriage, the music video was released in 2012 and same sex marriage was not legalized until 2014 in the UK. This shows how music and songwriters can show their opinions and ideas to the public supporting what they believe in. In the future we currently see that there will continue to be less difference between those that are male and female, a current growing trend that I came across when going through my Instagram is pansexulaity. This is something stemmed from the likes of Miley Cyrus; it is the idea that you can be attracted to whoever you want gender is irrelevant. 13
TECHNOLOGY LIFESTYLE
With campaigns like Free the Nipple, celebrities and music all expressing their opinions and beliefs on sexuality and feminism through social media, it is leading into the lifestyle trend of liberation of sexuality and self confidence. We have seen the progression of opposite sex marriage to same sex and now we are seeing a new development in sexuality among some member of society; the idea of pansexual. The term pansexual comes the Greek word for ‘all’, it has been growing in recent years and is a new way for people to liberate and identify their sexuality (Stop-homophobia). A definition for pansexual is: “A group which is open to members of all sexual orientations or gender identities including straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual or transvestite” (Urban Dictionary, 2016). Gender Stereotypes are increasingly becoming an issue of the past; becoming transgender is something that is becoming openly accepted. Public figures like Caitlyn Jenner are driving this; through transitioning in the public eye it has shown the world the process and given the world exposure. Gender has always shaped and influenced companies for the attitudes and choices they make for the company and whom they want to target, with gender being questioned this is beginning to change. Those who are raising the next generation have different values and behaviors, which they are passing onto their children (Miller, 2016). The younger generation is therefore more open to different sexualities. Figure 10
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Celebrities voice their support for campaigns on social media, especially the #FreetheNipple campaign. Recently the Kardashians have been showing their support exposing their breasts and linking images to the campaign, Kendal tweeted her support for the campaign. Cara Delavigne is another celebrity, who supports the campaign; she is used to nudity and is very comfortable with her body acting as a role model. She shows her support through Instagram often, additionally Miley Cyrus does the same as well as bearing all on the red carpet. As a result of social media, it seems that celebrities influence the younger generation; we see a trickle down effect from the celebrities to the millennials.
In fashion we are seeing fad trends coming from the free the nipple campaign, sheer tops and materials, low cut tops, nipple piercings and no bras are very popular throughout the younger generation. Genderless fashion is making its way through the fashion industry with a variety of different brands taking it on board; from high street to luxury. Prada, Saint Laurent and Givenchy are luxury brands, which have featured both men and women in their shows, the ‘models and the clothes so similar that guess the gender is fast becoming a favorite fashion week pursuit’ (Pratt, 2015). According to Robin Mellery-Pratt from Business of fashion, ‘People of all ages and markets are constructing their own identities more freely than ever’, patterns that brands are creating are no longer defined by traditional demographics (Pratt, 2015).
However, when we look at women in the workplace and in fiancé we will see a lack of gender equality. ‘Women are likely to earn 300,000 pounds less than men over their working lives’ (Allen, 2016) showing a huge pay gap. This shows that there is still so far for this lifestyle trend to go, as it is not completely embraced in all aspects of society. 15
Technology presentation board
Sophie and myself set a deadline of the 19th of October to bring all of our research images together and create the mood board to ensure that we did not leave it until last minute. We met at 11.30am with all of our images printed out to put the mood board together. We divided it into sections of music, social media; free the nipple, fashion, celebrities, fabric swatches and feminism so that we could visually show the whole lifestyle of our theme. We both brought in images with myself also bringing in a swatch of material to add to the board and Sophie adding magazine cut outs to ensure that the board had a range of textures.
We organized to meet up as a group on the afternoon of the 19th of October to put together the presentation. We used Prezzi and kept the presentation very minimal, as the mood boards will be used as the main aspect of the presentation.
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SUSTAINABILITY BOARD Figure 18
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SOCIAL BOARD Figure 19
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WEEK 4
FEEDBACK:
During the tutorial as a group we shared our trends to receive feedback, from this session we took away that we were still focusing to much on Mega, macro and especially Micro far too much. We decided that the mood board Phoebe had created was too focused so she is going to make it a lot more general for the presentation, the mood board myself and Sophie have made is quite general so we think that it is still suitable.
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MAKING CHANGES
Sophie and myself have made changes to our research focusing in a lot more on the macro trend of social media and the campaign of free the nipple, looking into how it was inspired and the shift in awareness in terms of sexuality and equality. We realized that we had not looked at lifestyle enough. However, the feedback allowed us to see that we had not done the task wrong we had just gone into a bit to much depth so now we can go away and take a step back and do some more research into how the ‘Free the nipple’ campaign came about and the lifestyle change we are seeing from it, looking at how people are changing. How have people changed socially that they have that lifestyle and don’t care about gender or fashion or gender in lifestyle.
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FUTURE continued... TUTORIAL
In this session we started to look into where the free the nipple campaign is going to lead in the future, the clothing trend of sheer tops would not have happened years ago so the idea of clothing being something to cover us up slowly disappearing? In society we see gender becoming less important and equality becoming more important, there is a cross over emerging with women leading more manly lives and men leading more feminine lifestyles. Unisex toilets are becoming popular and the things such as boarding schools with separate houses for boys and girls could change. Living in Dubai and Oman has given me an insight into the middle culture where younger generations are testing their religion a bit more by showing their hair and wearing their own clothes, this shows a big influence being had on their culture from western society. This is something that I contributed to of the trend future of equality. We made final changes before the group presentation.
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WEEK 5
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Group Presentationn
For the group presentation we decided to use cue cards to write points for what we wanted to talk about, I think the presentation overall was professional and different to the others. Our use of mood boards was effective; they will be something we can reference to as a starting point throughout the rest of the module! Overall during the group work I think our group worked well, we communicated and shared our ideas often through whatsapp and in-group sessions, we ensured to contribute and make sure everyone was fully involved to aid us in phase two of the project – our individual project.
I am really happy with the way our group has worked together. We all contributed and shared ideas consistently, we organized group sessions in which everyone attended and worked efficiently. When we first met up we made a time plan for when we wanted out work to be done by; everyone was successful in meeting this. Through the Whatsapp group we were very efficient in communicating and posting our work in progress.
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“the VULgAR” Figure 24
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I decided to go to The Vulgar Exhibition: Fashion Redefined at the barbican in London on the 30th of October as I felt like it would be beneficial for my individual project area of ‘No Gender’. The exhibition was all about how fashion ‘revels in, exploits and ultimately overturns the prevailing limits of taste’ (Clark, J).
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FASHION REDEFINED
Notes taken from the Exhibition: Vulgar = Common people – this word is used by snobs essentially to describe a class of person • Vulgar is often associated with explicit sexuality • Viviane Westwood ‘Eve’ bodysuit, voyage to Cythera collection autumn/winter 1989-1990 ready to wear - related to Adam and eve • The fortunate fall is refereed to as this enabled Adam and eve to live a new life, one we have now (wearing what we want) • Viviane Westwood’s body suit is all about the idea of wearing nudity in the form of a skin coloured body stocking drawing attention to what should be hidden • Waler Van Beirendonck body suit and trousers explicit collection, spring/ summer 2009 menswear – ‘Questions the function of clothing to conceal the body’ • Classic copies – people copying designs and styles has been around for a while – H&M today copies and collaborates. For example the Trompe Loeil evening dress was a re edition of a design from the spring summer 1996 collection (copy of a copy) • When something is copied it takes away the exclusivity and therefore classes meaning you can dress like the rich. ‘Showing off’ – people are getting richer therefore affording what the rich could have and making the rich common. • Not vogue.com – Mario testino public enemy spring summer 2003 advertisement campaign for Gucci rogue feb 2003 • If something shocks it could be perceived as vulgar – very fine line depending on who wears it and hat people feel • Vulgar is the sense that it reveal all, not knowing what to cover and what to show and what not to show • Vulgar is all about showing the body and sexuality – it is about how people react to it not about those wearing it but the society around those wearing it and hoe they react to it, if they accept bodies being shown or if they don’t it would be vulgar to them • Being modest is vulgar – post war mentality • Fashion is working around certain boundaries and pushing boundaries
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WEEK 6
phase 2 For phase two I have decided to look further into my group work topic of technology.
Individual project synopsis: For my individual project I am going to be looking at ‘No gender’, the way in which clothes have transformed into what we see today, where we can where what we want. The Vulgar exhibition in London based on texts by Adam Phillips showed me that what we have seen over the years is peoples perception of what is vulgar has changed, it is all about how people react to clothing and sexuality. The more people get used to and accept different clothes and sexualities the more society will develop. ‘Free the nipple’ is a campaign that has occurred recently, but in history we have already seen reflections of it such as the ‘Tits top’ by Malcolm Mclaren and Vivienne Westwood and the Topless bathing costume from 1964 by Rudi Gernreich. Gernreich campaigned to ‘liberate the body from physical and cultural constraints’ (Phillips, A), he described his topless bathing consume as a ‘symbol of freedom’ (Phillips, A). When I think of ‘No Gender’ I think of trans gender, cross dressing, equal rights and pansexual, a world where gender is no longer relevant. RESOURCES to look at for my individual project - H&M Lady AUTUMN collection – campaign all about diversity - “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.” (Nicola Williams) http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=forum - quote regarding religion relating to how people feel about ‘No Gender’. - LSN – Neutral culture – report on a gender neutral culture
FEEDBACK:
Feedback that I received from peers said that it felt like I was not sure about the direction of my trend yet, I am trying to include an exhibition that perhaps is not as relevant as I would like it to me. However, I want to incorporate it into my trend somehow. 28
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WEEK 7
My developed trend
Taking on the feedback from peers, a new topic has been developed. The trend is now going to be called “No Longer Vulgar” reflecting on the exhibition I attended, it will be a trend focused on the development and acceptance of sexualities. ‘No longer Vulgar’ Vulgar is all about how people react to clothing and sexuality. The more people get used to and accept different clothes and sexualities the more society will develop. – Background paragraph on sexuality that we initially saw as vulgar and that we now accept in society (opposite sex, same sex, pansexual). Synopsis: Today we don’t see the fashion industry catering for those that are cross dressing or transgender as it is still seen as vulgar in society – the consumer wants clothes that fit properly. In the future cross-dressing will be part of the designing process, designers making clothes to fit transgender and cross dressing people properly. Cross-dressing and transgender is becoming increasingly popular, this will lead to this no longer being something we perceive as vulgar. Innovators (Example: Caitlyn Jenner) are the people coming out cross-dressing and transgender as they are creating a market for clothes to fit them and designers following on from this.
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WEEK 8
FEEDBACK ON NEW TOPIC:
Feedback received from the seminar helped me to establish a key innovator Grayson Perry who is a cross dressing male artist. I need to establish the lifestyle of someone who cross dresses or is transgender as they are broadminded people who want to feel confident about them and lead a liberated lifestyle. Clothes don’t fit cross dressers properly, I need to address the fact that brands are doing genderless but not actually catering for those who are women wanting to dress as men need clothes that will fit them and men who dress as women want clothes that will fit them. From the feedback received, I need to establish what the person who is genderless and what the person who is sympathetic for genderless see as vulgar. There is always the next big thing with different sexualities so something more extravagant will become vulgar instead in the future, look into the possibility of the genderless having suitable clothing and no longer hiding their sexualities.
WEEK 9
Finalising the trend
This week there was a realisation from peer feedback about my new named trend that he word ‘Vulgar’ was the wrong work to use. The exhibition is going to be used a stepping-stone for the direction that the trend has gone in. The trend is going to be focused around the topic of sexualities and how we are no longer oppressed into being a certain sexuality; the new trend is going to be called “No Longer Oppressed”. 31
WEEK 10
“NO LONGER OPPRESSED” Over the years society has been becoming increasingly more accepting towards different sexualities. Same sex marriage became legal after midnight on the 29th of March 2014 (BBC, 2015). ‘More then 15,000 same sex marriages have taken place since it became legal in England and Wales’ (BBC, 2015), this shows what a big lifestyle shift we have seen over the past couple of years. Facebook is a huge platform for those coming out updating profiles to express same gender attraction (Lopez, 2015). With same sex relationships on the rise the lifestyle that we all lead is changing, the traditional family orientation is being completely changed with children having either two mothers or two fathers who as of yet do not have the ability to have completely biological children. With different sexualities gender is becoming not as important we are also seeing day to day necessities like toilets move with the lifestyle shift (Sanghani, 2015), unisex toilets are being opened across the country. The trend is about people no longer being oppressed into being a certain way; you can be whomever you want.
To form the trend cartogram I will be looking at: • The Innovators (who) • Names the trend (the what) • Assesses current impact (where it’s happening) • The Drivers (the why) • The consequences of the impacts (the when) • What this means for the long term future
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trend Innovators Grayson Perry a comedian who cross dresses
Caitlyn Jenner a reality star who has recently transitioned from a man into a women in the public eye
Tim Cook who was the first CEO to be openly gay, he is CEO of Apple.
India Willoughby who was the first transgender newsreader, she also appeared on loose woman.
Sarah Morris is a ordinary women leading an openly gay life working in the British Army
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ABOUT: INnOVATORS • Grayson Perry is a comedian who crosses dresses. He uses his skill of art to tackle subjects such as gender, social status and sexuality (Miro, 2015) and has also done a documentary that explores how masculinity shapes men’s lives and expectations. • Caitlyn Jenner transitioned in the public eye and has documented this stage in her life through a reality TV show called “I am Cait” to give exposure for the trans community.
• Tim Cook is a businessman and the first CEO to be openly gay. He is the CEO of Apple, which has given his sexuality a lot of media coverage and interest. • India Willoughby is the first transgender newsreader, she told her story on ITVs Loose Woman. • Sarah Morris and her partner Majella Bushe are ordinary people leading an openly gay lifestyle.
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trend drivers James Franco who was featured on the cover of candy magazine, photographed by Terry Richardson in women’s clothes.
Lady Gaga who has dressed as a man on multiple occasions, she first
appeared as a man in Japans vogue Hommes and most recently on the cover of her single You and I, which got a lot of media attention.
Same love music video (group work research)
69 a brand based in LA, is a ‘non-gender, non-demographic clothing line’ (Mar, 2016)
Time magazine cover, features two same sex couples kissing.
Celebrities posting images of their children wearing whatever they
want, for example boys wearing dresses. They are allowing their children to be who they want to be. Figure 33
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RESEARCH: drivers • Both Time and Candy magazine used images that the viewers would not expect to see. Time magazine has a up close shot of same sex couples kissing and candy magazine has James Franco dressed as a woman. • Lady Gaga has dressed up as a man on multiple occasions; she shocked fans by dressing up as a man for the MTV VMAs. At this event she also tried to kiss Britney spears that declined (IBT, 2011). • Celebrities like Charlize Theron are causing controversy after letting her son dress up as Elsa from the movie Frozen, she received backlash from twitter fans with one saying “He’s too young to know what a transgender is. She’s confusing him” (Hilton, 2016). Cheryl Kilodavis also lets her son dress how he likes, she published a book about him called “Princess boy” with hopes to “teach critics to accept his differences” (Daily Mail, 2011). • Fashion is a important aspect of the trend, 69 is a “non-gender, non-demographic clothing line’ based in LA, California (Mar, 2016). It is a label meant for the future, creating denim products for everyone. The designers at the brand 69 are kept anonymous as they think identity should not be important, “we manifest certain characteristics about strangers” (Bellizzi, 2014). 37
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Current impact LGBT communities and societies
Campaigns such as ‘it gets better project’
Gender neutral sexualities such as pansexual (Group work research) Same sex couples using surrogates and sperm donors
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RESEARCH: CURRENT impact • Within Leeds University we have a LGBT society, which acts as a community for Leeds university students. Events are often held at the union to support events such as ‘Trans day’, they also hold events for people to come and find out what it is like to be LGBT to help people understand become exposed to it. • There are campaigns such as the ‘it gets better project’ where they aim to communicate to the LGBT youth around the world that it gets better. The project was launched in 2010 when Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry Miller to provide hope for the youth who are facing harassment and negativity towards their sexuality (It gets better Project, N.D). 86 percent of LGBT youth have been bullied at school (No bullying, 2016). • The use of surrogate mothers is increasing as society accepts same sex couple shaving children, there has always been a larger number of women having children in same sex relationships but now we are seeing men wanting to have biological children leaving the days of adoption behind and looking for surrogate mothers and egg donors (Lyderson, 2013). 41
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the consequences LGBT protests – shooting in Orlando lead to everyone changing their profile pictures in support.
LGBT Rejected In countries like Russia Legal and social terms to surrogacy
Unisex toilets becoming increasingly popular
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RESEARCH: the consequences • There is a high-tended demand of same sex couples that want to have children of their own and therefore using surrogacy as a way to have them. • There are legal and social terms surrounding this as the pregnant women still has the rights (Pascual, 2015). In “2013 a surrogate mother refused $10,000 offered by supposed parents to abort the baby”. This was due to the baby having brand and heart defects, the intended parents gave up their parental rights to the child and the baby was given to a anonymous family (Pascual, 2015). • Recent data indicates that only 19% of homes are made up of the traditional family such as a mum, dad and children (Chahinian, 2014). With this decline, gendered holidays like mothers and fathers day are being reconsidered as these two days are made so important making it hard for a child who may only have one parent or two of the same sex. • Unisex toilets are being opened across the country. This will have a huge impact as those who are trans gender and non-binary struggle to know what toilets to use; going to the toilet is made the centre of their day with anxiety being formed (Sanghani, 2015). • Unisex toilets in Leeds university union • LGBT Protests two days before the winter Olympic games in 2014, the protests wanted sponsors of the event, coca cola, McDonald’s, Samsung and Visa to speak out against Russia’s laws on homosexuality (BBC, 2014). • Russia implemented laws to criminalize any “demonstrations of ones distorted sexual preferences in public area” (O’Toole, 2015) to top children from being influenced and protect the traditional family. Protests against these laws took place all over the world including Melbourne, London and Paris. 45
the future The change in relationships means a change in the human lifecycle, the traditional
family is changing and methods of having children are being developed. IVG is a new development, which if successful would mean that in the future there might be the possibility for same sex couples to have their on completely biological children.
Multiplex parenting could also be another outcome from IVG, this would create a
whole new family dynamic with more than two people being parents to a child. Instead of being with just one person this could lead to a joint relationship with more than two people creating a whole new lifestyle changing morals we see today.
Both male and female clothing to be made to fit both sexes with people wanting to be confident in the clothes they wear and want them to fit properly when cross dressing.
Originally the colour pink was for girls and the colour blue was for boys, this is now changing.
IVG
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Figure 45
RESEARCH: THE FUTURE • Same sex marriage is on the rise with straight marriage on the decline, young people get married later and the number of unwed mothers is rising. The next generation wants to retain their youth putting of adult duties (Thompson, 2013). - Some blame the acceptance of same marriage for this decline; with the traditional family being taking away we are redefining marriage (Schumm, 2015). The pope defends the definition of marriage ‘it must be promoted and defended’; it is important for the human race. • The pope claims that we need to protect ourselves from becoming endangered, ‘The acceptance of transgender people would kill off the human race” (Park, 2012). • New methods for having children are being developed such as IVG; this is a process that makes “sperm cells from egg cells or egg cells from sperm cells without the use of embryos” (King, 2016). With this new technology those who are asexual could create sperm and eggs from themselves and have a baby without needing another person, there is also the opportunity with IVG for ‘Multiplex parenting’ with the child carrying genes from more than two parents. This will lead onto a completely new lifestyle with relationships incorporating more than two individuals with the ability to have children together (Waghorn, 2015). “Research suggests that IVG will eliminate the need for gamete donors – embryo could be produced when a sperm or egg cell of the opposite sex is sourced from the individual’s cells and combined with a naturally derived cell from the other member of the couple” (Pascual, 2015). • Family tickets for the cinema or funfair will change • Demand for women’s clothes to fit men and men’s clothes to fit women, having specific companies who cater for the cross dressing community is not going to satisfy the consumer in the future. • The bigger the demand the bigger the market is, which designers will want to meet. • Unisex changing rooms are a future for this trend, like toilets, going to try on clothes is something that causes anxiety for those who want to wear the opposite sex’s clothes. In a store you find different changing rooms for male and females, there are always positioned near to the clothing of the particular gender. 47
WEEK 11
FINAL FEEDBACK:
Feedback received from this weeks practical session is that I need to have more general Innovators so that I can see how the normal person lives. I am going to speak to my auntie’s and add them in as innovators. I also received feedback from the group to add to my consequences section things like same sex marriage, how the home is changing with perhaps having two mothers instead of a mother and a farther in the home structure. I was also giving the feedback to mention in the future that the idea of a family ticket will change as the family changes, the criteria is a mother, farther and their children; this will change.
New Trend Innovators •
Auntie sarah and Maj
• •
Same sex marriage Home family structure
•
Family tickets
New Trend Consequence
New trend future
Figure 46
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WEEK 12
SWOT ANALYSIS & OVERALL REFLECTION
s
Strengths: Each stage of the trend links together to form the future
w
o
t
Weaknesses: The trend innovators are mostly celebrities, which makes them hard to relate to for the consumer
Opportunities: There is evidence that shows a growing market in fashion for the LGBT community New ways for people to have children without needing a sperm and an egg.
Threats: Religious people do not agree or accept LGBT The older generation Changing the human race with more same sex relationships occurring the more accepting society becomes
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TRENDS & FORECASTING overall REFLECTION How could I do better:
When a new idea is developed I need to research it fully, time management is also something that I could do better. I need to work on laying out my work and being more creative. I should perhaps look for inspiration on how to layout pages to make my work more visually pleasing.
What did I learn:
When being a trend forecaster you go on a journey; over the course of this module I have stopped focusing on getting the grade and focused on developing the trend and fully emerging myself in it. I have also learnt that asking for feedback is key for developing the trend, as you need an outside view to give you new ideas that you would not necessarily have thought of.
How involved in the module have I been:
This has been a module where you need to attend all sessions to be able to understand and get the most out of it, which I did. Peer review sessions have been the most helpful, mixing up friendship groups worked really well to get the most out of the feedback. I enjoyed listening to other members of the group’s trends and providing feedback for how their trend can be developed as it helped me understand what I needed to do a lot more.
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Reference list Exhibition: The Vulgar: fashion redefined. 2016. [Exhibition] Accessed: 11/13/16. Barbican Centre: London
Books: Brannon, E. 2010. Page 404. Fashion Forecasting. [Book] Accessed: 11/13/16. Published: Fairchild Publications: USA Brannon, E. 2010. Page 412. Fashion Forecasting. [Book] Accessed: 11/13/16. Published: Fairchild Publications: USA
Documentaries BBC, 2013. Grayson Perry. [Documentary] Accessed: 11/9/16. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ programmes/b00sj965 Websites: Allen, K. 2016. Gender pay gap. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/07/gender-pay-gap-uk-women-earn-300000-less-men-lifetime
BBC, 2014. Russia laws on homosexuality. [Internet] Accessed: 12/4/16. Available from: http://www. bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26043872 BBC, 2015. Gay Marriage. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ news/uk-34580793
Bellizzi, M. 2014. 69 loves denim. [Internet] Accessed: 12/5/16. Available from: http://www.vice.com/ read/69-loves-denim-like-we-love-to-69 Carlson, N. 2011. The Real History of Twitter. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http:// uk.businessinsider.com/how-twitter-was-founded-2011-4?r=US&IR=T&page=1
Critical Media Project. Same Love music video. [Internet] Accessed:11/13/16 Available from: http:// www.criticalmediaproject.org/cml/media/macklemore-and-ryan-lewis-feat-mary-lambert-samelove/ Daily Mail, 2011. Princess boy book. [Internet] Accessed: 12/5/16. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1343989/Princess-Boy-Dyson-Kilodavis-5-Mother-Cheryl-allows-weargirls-pink-dress.html Free the Nipple. Era History. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://freethenipple. com/the-era-campaing/
Free the Nipple. Our story. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://freethenipple.com/ our-story/ Hilton, P. Charlize Theron causes controversy. [Internet] Accessed: 12/5/16. Available from: http:// perezhilton.com/2016-08-25-charlize-theron-son-dress-up-elsa-frozen-twitter-controversy#.WEVJlLQVzzI
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IBT, 2011. Lady gaga shocks fans dressed as a man at the VMAs. [Internet] Accessed: 12/5/16. Available from: http://www.ibtimes.com/lady-gaga-shocks-fans-dressed-dude-mtv-vmas-photos-708342
It gets better project, N.D. About. [Internet] Accessed: 12/5/16. Available from: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/pages/about-it-gets-better-project/ King, E. 2016. New reproductive technology. [Internet] Accessed: 12/4/16. Available from: https:// www.fatherly.com/parenting-and-relationships/ivg-is-the-new-reproductive-technology-for-samesex-procreation/
Lopez, G. 2015. Rise in people coming out on Facebook. [Internet] Accessed: 11/24/16. Available from: http://www.vox.com/2015/10/16/9551901/facebook-coming-out-day Lyderson, K. 2013. Same sex children. [Internet] Accessed: 12/4/16. Available from: http://www. chicagobusiness.com/article/20130202/ISSUE03/302029981/make-room-for-daddies-surrogate-demand-grows
Mar, G. 2016. Gender Neutral brands. [Internet] Accessed: 11/9/16. Available from: http://www.themetropolist.com/style-shopping/style-latest/5-gender-neutral-brands-that-are-defying-the-fashion-industry/ Miro, Victoria. 2015. Grayson Perry art work. [Internet] Accessed: 11/30/16. Available from: http:// www.victoria-miro.com/artists/12-grayson-perry/
Miller, R. 2016. Beyond Binaries. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rebekah-mackay-miller/brand-marketing-gender-fluidity_b_11588072.html
No Bulling, 2016. LGBT Bullying statistics. [Internet] Accessed: 12/5/16. Available from: https://nobullying.com/lgbt-bullying-statistics/ O’Toole, M. 2015. Russia rules. [Internet] Accessed: 12/4/16. Available from: http://www.pinknews. co.uk/2015/11/06/russia-wants-to-expand-anti-gay-law-to-ban-all-public-homosexuality/ Park, J. 2012. Same sex marriage threatens the future of human nature and society. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/09/22/pope-same-sex-marriage-threatens-the-future-of-human-nature-and-society/
Pascual, K. 2015. Same-sex couples could have biological children in the future. [Internet] Accessed: 11/16/16. Available from: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/118278/20151221/same-sex-couples-could-have-their-biological-children-in-the-future.htm Power, J. 2016. Same sex couples and their children. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://theconversation.com/same-sex-couples-and-their-children-what-does-the-evidence-tellus-55565
Pratt, Robin. 2015. Will genderless fashion change retail. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/will-genderless-fashion-work-retail
Sanghani, R. 2015. Gender neutral toilets. [Internet] Accessed: 11/24/16. Available from: http://www. telegraph.co.uk/women/life/why-the-uk-should-ditch-male-and-female-toilets-for-gender-neutr/ 53
Savedge, J. 2014. 20 environmental charities you should know about. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/responsible-living/blogs/21-environmental-charities-you-should-know-about Schumm, W. 2015. Redefining marriage. [Internet] Accessed: 12/4/16. Available from: http://www. thepublicdiscourse.com/2015/04/14885/ Social times, 2015. LGBTQ social influencers. [Internet] Accessed: 11/16/16. Available from: http:// www.adweek.com/socialtimes/lgbtq-social-influencers/631277 Stop-homophobia. What is Pansexual. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://www. stop-homophobia.com/pansexuality.htm
Stylist, 2016. Cross Dressing stars. [Internet] Accessed: 11/9/16. Available from: http://www.stylist. co.uk/people/cross-dressing-stars
Streatfield, B. 2015. The History of Instagram. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http:// www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/technology-video/12064686/Rise-of-a-tech-giant-the-history-ofInstagram.html
Theunissen, M. 2014. Gay couples marry. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://www. nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11197176 Thompson, D. 2013. Rise of gay marriage and decline of straight marriage. [Internet] Accessed: 12/4/16. Available from: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-rise-of-gaymarriage-and-the-decline-of-straight-marriage-wheres-the-link/274665/
Urban Dictionary, 2016. Pansexual definition. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http:// www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pansexual Young, I. 2002. A Brief history of Punk. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://news. bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2601493.stm
Waghorn, M. 2015. Gay couples carrying their own children. [Internet] Accessed: 12/4/16. Available from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/gay-couples-could-biological-children-7033918
Web Foundation. History of the Web. [Internet] Accessed: 11/13/16. Available from: http://webfoundation.org/about/vision/history-of-the-web/
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Figure list: Figure 1 – Ross, J. LGBT flag. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http://www.scarymommy. com/raising-a-transgendered-child/ Figure 2 – Shutterstock, N.D. Social media map. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http:// www.shutterstock.com/pic-86095873/stock-vector-social-media-network-icons-in-world-mapshape-concept.html Figure 3 – Google, N.D. Kim Kardashian search. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: www. google.com
Figure 4 – Asome, C. 2015. Power leggings. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http://www. dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3329589/Power-leggings-new-jeans-claim-slim-legs-flatten-tumsmake-wearer-look-motivated-achieve.html Figure 5 – Dunn, J. 2016. Hundreds strip off in Brighton. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3631707/Hundreds-strip-Free-Nipple-protest-BrightonBeach-bid-make-breasts-accepted-society.html Figure 6 – Youtube, 2012. Macklemore same love. [Internet] Accessed: 11/22/16. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0 Figure 7 – Anderson, C. 2016. Group mind map. [My own image]
Figure 8 – Anderson, C. 2016. Group work picture. [My own image]
Figure 9 – Kovacik, A. N.D. Free the nipple. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http://sites. psu.edu/kovacikpassionblog/2016/03/04/to-free-or-not-to-free-the-nipple/ Figure 10 – Jalal, T. Social media. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http://www.graphicdesignsinspiration.com/2014/07/100-free-social-media-icon-sets-for-designers/
Figure 11 – Feldman, J. 2015. Miley red carpet. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http:// www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/miley-cyrus-vmas-2015_us_55d74c80e4b04ae49702f898
Figure 12 – Corner, N. 2016. Kendall nipple flash. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http:// www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/kendall-jenner-flashes-nipples-again-8573221 Figure 13 – Fact-MN. N.D. Kim kardashian sheer top. [Internet] Accessed: 12/7/16. Available from: http://www.fact.mn/284272.html Figure 14 – Anderson, C. 2016. Technology board 1. [My own image] Figure 15 - Anderson, C. 2016. Technology board 2. [My own image] Figure 16 - Anderson, C. 2016. Technology board 3. [My own image] Figure 17 - Anderson, C. 2016. Technology board 4. [My own image]
Figure 18 – Anderson, C. 2016. Sustainability board. [My own image] 55
Figure 19 – Anderson, C. 2016. Social board. [My own image]
Figure 20 – About time Magazine, N.D. Free the nipple top. [Internet] Accessed: 12/8/16. Available from: http://www.abouttimemagazine.co.uk/life/about-time-we-free-the-nipple/
Figure 21 – Robothams, N.D. Boarding houses. [Internet] Accessed: 12/8/16. Available from: http:// www.robothams.co.uk/projects/boarding-houses/
Figure 22 - Heckinglovato, 2014. Unisex toilets. [Internet] Accessed: 11/23/16. Available from: http:// atrl.net/forums/showthread.php?t=549307 Figure 23 – Anderson C, 2016. Group prezi. [Internet] Accessed: 12/8/16. Available from: www.Prezi. com Figure 24 – Anderson, C. 2016. The Vulgar exhibition. [My own image] Figure 25 – Anderson, C. 2016. Exhibition leaflet. [My own image]
Figure 26 & 27 – McDonald, S. 2016. H&M collection. [Internet] Accessed: 12/8/16. Available from: http://thezoereport.com/entertainment/culture/hm-inclusive-collection-fall-2016/
Figure 28 – Christian Post, 2012. Recognition for gay marriage. [Internet] Accessed: 12/8/16. Available from: http://m.blogs.christianpost.com/bright-ideas/recognition-for-gay-marriage-rising-infographic-9838/
Figure 29 - Norman, G. 2014. Tim proud to be gay. [Internet] Accessed: 11/22/16. Available from: http://www.findmysoft.com/news/Tim-Cook-Comes-Out-of-the-Closet-Says-He-s-Proud-to-Be-Gay/ Figure 30 – Loose women, 2016. India Willoughby. [Internet] Accessed: 12/1/16. Available from: http://www.itv.com/loosewomen/presenters/exclusive-uks-first-transgender-tv-newsreader-indiawilloughby-there-was-only-50-of-me-that-was-actually-alive Figure 31 – Hutchinson, C. 2014. Grayson Perry in York. [Internet] Accessed: 11/17/16. Available from: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/11218100.Grayson_Perry_visits_York_for_an_evening_of_ teddy_bear_themed_events/
Figure 32 - Leibovitz, A. 2015. Caitlyn Jenner interview. [Internet] Accessed: 11/17/16. Available from: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/06/caitlyn-jenner-photos-interview-buzz-bissinger Figure 33 - Cooper, L. 2011. Lady Gaga You and I cover. [Internet] Accessed: 11/16/16. Available from: http://www.nme.com/news/music/lady-gaga-385-1274426 Figure 34 - Heinrich, E. 2016. 69 clothing brand. [Internet] Accessed: 11/16/16. Available from: http://impakter.com/69-clothing-a-nondemographic-brand/
Figure 35 - Mirkinson, J. 2013. Times cover, gay marriage already won. [Internet] Accessed: 11/17/16. Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/time-gay-marriage-cover_n_2970561. html Figure 36 – CoParents, 2016. Surrogacy. [Internet] Accessed: 11/22/16. Available from: https://www. coparents.co.uk/surrogate-mothers.php 56
Figure 37 - Modern family surrogacy, 2016. Legal issues surrounding surrogacy. [Internet] Accessed: 11/23/16. Available from: http://www.modernfamilysurrogacy.com/page/legal_issues_surrounding_surrogacy
Figure 38 – LUU, 2016. LGBT society. [Internet] Accessed: 11/22/16. Available from: https://www.luu. org.uk/groups/lgbt/ Figure 39 – Wikipedia, 2016. Pansexual flag. [Internet] Accessed: 11/22/16. Available from: https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansexuality Figure 40 - 2 views mag, 2016. LGBT. [Internet] Accessed: 11/22/16. Available from: http://www.2viewsmag.co.uk/creative/croydons-lgbt-youth-create-a-film-in-a-day-to-help-bridge-the-gap/
Figure 41 – Schliess, G. 2014. Russian homosexuals turn to US for help. [Internet] Accessed: 11/23/16. Available from: http://www.dw.com/en/russian-homosexuals-turn-to-us-for-help/a-17563496
Figure 42 – Gayashville, N.D. Gay couple getting married. [Internet] Accessed: 12/1/16. Available from: http://www.gayashevillenc.com/gay-marriage.html Figure 43 – Bever, L. 2014. Same sex family. [Internet] Accessed: 12/1/16. Available from: https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/07/children-of-same-sex-couples-arehappier-and-healthier-than-peers-research-shows/?utm_term=.d6a17ef75fd3
Figure 44 – Gu, Y. N.D. IVG. [Internet] Accessed: 12/9/16. Available from: http://www.nature.com/cr/ journal/v22/n10/fig_tab/cr201284f1.html
Figure 45 - Thompson, D. 2013. Rise of gay marriage and fall of straight marriage. [Internet] Accessed: 11/23/16. Available from: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-rise-of-gaymarriage-and-the-decline-of-straight-marriage-wheres-the-link/274665/ Figure 46 - National wax museum, N.D. Family ticket. [Internet] Accessed: 12/1/16. Available from: http://shop.waxmuseumplus.ie/collections/tickets
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