Why Are You So Ashamed?
Document Type
Graphic Novel
Publication Date
Fall 2024
Abstract
These comics were created by students in Dr. Stella Oh's WGST 3300: Race, Gender, and Graphic Novels exploring thematic topics of identity, loss, illness, disability, and caregiving. After reading creative and scholarly works addressing war, PTSD, social stigma, and graphic medicine, students engaged in creating several comics. Some of the student comics are featured in this collection. Communicating their ideas through the visual-textual medium of comics, students engaged in critical reflection of their readings and class discussions. Students produced their comics through software such as Illustrator, Canva, Procreate, and other media.
Repository Citation
Gaylord, Katherine and Oh, Stella, "Why Are You So Ashamed?" (2024). Women’s and Gender Studies Student Work. 1.
https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/wgst_student/1
Comments
“Why Are You So Ashamed?” explores struggles with social anxiety, as well as the shame of having social anxiety. The captions lead the reader through the main character’s inner-monologue as she questions “why she is unable to complete daily tasks and fulfill her needs.” The symbol of a caution sign and the presence and absence of color further emphasize these themes of shame and social anxiety, and the connections between them. Through visual absences and presences of color and features of the characters, “Why Are You So Ashamed?” delves into the shameful roots of social anxiety, as well as the shame of feeling this shame. The dark shading in select frames and the caution symbol that always obscures the other figure’s face highlights some parts of the frame, and hides others, reflecting the isolation and dissociation of the main character. These visible and invisible elements reflect the main character’s mental struggle and explore the causes and effects of social shame.