Diversity – The Orbital

20Mar

By Samantha DavisNo Comments

Features

Pride Is For Everyone

The icon rainbow flag, also known as the Pride flag, has been used as a symbol of pride and solidarity amongst the LGBTQ+ community since 1978. First designed by openly gay activist Gilbert Baker, the flag first flew on 25 June 1978 at San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade, although it looked a little different to the flag you might recognise from today. The original pride flag contained eight different coloured stripes which all carried a specific meaning: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for serenity, and purple for spirit. The hot pink was removed in 1978 due to a lack of fabric when attempting to replicate and distribute the flag. The turquoise soon followed and was later removed in 1979 to modify the f...

19Mar

By Jasmine CoxNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Diversity in YA Literature

As a genre that has arguably only been a marketed category within in its own right during the last century, YA literature has rapidly progressed to the forefront of diversity discussions. Diversity feels particularly important with regards to the YA community because naturally, they are the next in line to push for intersectional representation. In terms of mainstream publishers, such as Macmillan, Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, statistics show that the numbers of LGBTQ+ YA novels have been increasing rapidly since 2014; Malinda Lo gathered that in 2015, 54 LGBTQ+ novels were published by aforementioned publishers, and in 2016, figures rose to 79. Although recent years show a positive rise in YA novels about sexuality, there seems to be a lack of literature being published s...

15Mar

By Amal AbdiNo Comments

Lifestyle

Bring it 2019

2018, what a year! Here’s what we should bring into 2019 and what we never want to see again: Bring It – Memes Somewhere in the world there is an ancient calendar and engraved in a sacred rock it says '2018: the year of the meme'. BDE (big dick energy) seemed to be the term on 2018. Originating with Pete Davidson, it means confidence without cockiness. Of course, the person with the greatest BDE of all time is Rhianna. Obviously. Pete Davidson is also to be thanked for the Ariana Grande song Thank You Next, both the song and everything else that came from it. In our ever fracturing world, with extremist views on either side of the political spectrum, it was nice to see everyone rally over one thing: Twitter's white boy of the month. When it seems like no one can agree on anything any...

15Mar

By Bethany GoodingNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Black Panther

The newest Marvel film, Black Panther has smashed box office records, heading towards $1 billion in global ticket sales. The huge turnout to cinemas to watch the newest superhero movie proves the industry wrong in their belief that films dominated by a black cast would not be popular. Across America, a trip to the cinema became a cultural event as African-Americans arrived in traditional African dress. The huge success of the film highlights how long it has taken a film like this to be made and how long it is taking for the entertainment industry to diversify. The music industry is becoming increasingly diverse as grime and rap artists rise in popularity. In 2016 the Brit Awards were criticised when not a single black person was nominated for any of the awards. This year, Stormzy’s succ...

22Sep

By Natasha PhillipsNo Comments

Opinion

The New Voices of Podcasting

The advent of podcasts saw the movement of media consumption into the online space, and changed the relationship between creator and audience. The continued decline in TV ratings reflects a change in the way that we seek out entertainment. We’re no longer satisfied by ‘what’s on’ and thus, podcasting allows for people to produce and consume exactly the content that they want, with minimal or no cost to either party. This format also supersedes the barriers to entry posed by traditional media – all you need to make a podcast is a microphone and a good idea. What has ensued is a new wave of minority voices infiltrating a new platform, affording the representation not seen in TV or radio broadcasting. Lack of representation of minority groups in traditional media still poses a significant ...

30Mar

By Joanne ArcherNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Disney and Diversity

Joanne Archer discusses the developments and diversification in Disney’s films. If you know me well, it is no secret that I am a huge fan of Disney, probably the most obsessed person you will meet. That said, I am able to see the faults in the company, and diversification is a matter that Disney has often fallen short with. Although Disney have been including diverse characters in their films and TV programmes for a while, Princess Tiana was Disney’s first black princess, joining Jasmine and Mulan in the line-up of diverse females. Released in 2009, I can’t help but agree that this revelation came far later than it should have. The Princess and the Frog is one of my favourite Disney films, but it was considered a Box office failure when it made ‘only’ 267 million USD. That may still see...

20Mar

By No Comments

Lifestyle

Diversity’s Demons

Hefina explains how to embrace your individuality ‘Be your own person’, ‘don’t let others dictate who you are’ -the sad reality is, people find it difficult to express who they want to be. The lack of diversity today is an appropriate reflection of the media’s influence on our own bodies. Often the media depicts how we should look, what size we need to be, what we should class as normal; most of us have grown up in society’s constructions, demonstrating the lack of diversity today and why this needs to be changed. There are many examples of an absence in diversity, mainly through the different industries; however, it is more prominent in fashion, especially through the form of media. It can be argued that the clothes, accessories and often even the hairstyles and make-up presented in...

14Dec

By Georgia BeithNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Netflix & Diversity

Orbital's Georgia Beith gets to grips with an issue bigger than Netflix and Chill: the topic of Netflix and Diversity. Netflix is widely recognised as the future of the entertainment industry - it’s not news to anyone. It’s a way of watching film and TV that has rapidly increased in popularity. But it isn’t just its quickly garnered success that sets Netflix apart; it also far outstrips traditional forms of media in terms of representation. TV and film’s lack of diversity is not a new issue by any means but, more recently people have finally been taking notice of this problem. The #OscarsSoWhite controversy, a response to the lack of diverse acting nominees at last year’s Oscars, highlights the limited opportunities and recognition given to actors of ethnic minorities. The lack o...