Student creates cartoon for social injustice awareness

Women's studies class encourages student to draw different type of cartoon

By: Dan Acee

Posted: 6/6/08

Social injustice awareness has been a common issue raised at several events this year.

Biking for Justice and Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence Friday were two popular events primarily focused on social injustice.

Brandon Loanzon, a junior majoring in exercise and sports science, wanted to create a new way to raise awareness.

In Loanzon's women studies class, Women: Personal and Social Change, the professor assigned the class the project of creating awareness of social injustices among students and faculty at OSU.

These injustices were listed to the class as racism, sexism, heterosexism, looksism, ageism and ableism.

"We were actually discussing what kind of areas we could educate the student body and faculty on campus," Loanzon said. "We had a broad topic of educating 'isms' to choose from.

"Everyone else's project focused on a certain 'ism,' but we wanted to challenge ourselves with all the 'isms.'"

The goal of Loanzon's group project is to make people think about social injustices in society in order to realize that there are problems.

Each cartoon demonstrates a couple of "isms" that people use in a negative manner. The hero of the comic strip, Captain Ism, shows up with a witty anecdote about the ignorance of "isms" and their lack of conscientiousness towards diversity of people.

Each comic carries the same title, "Think," which Loanzon chose so he could compel his readers to think deeply about the things they say and how their words can affect others.

"I wanted to do something that was funny, yet still challenge people to think about social injustices," Loanzon said.

Although the group's original idea to make fliers was initially discouraged by their professor, it only took the group an hour to come up with the idea of a comic strip.

"I liked this whole idea for a social injustice awareness project," Loanzon said. "I've never taken a women studies class, and it's helped me out to see what feminism means."

Loanzon and his group are pleased with their project and hope to eventually turn it into an ongoing strip that they hope to have published in The Daily Barometer.

Daniel Acee, senior reporter

news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231