Emily Macenko

The association of AIDS and homosexuality in the United States during the 1980s exposed cultural fears over nonnormative sexual behavior and its visibility.  Mainstream representations of the gay male body, often displayed in the horror film as threatening, embraced exisiting anxieties of otherness and constructed homosexual identity through a heteronormative lens.  The slasher film A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) perpetuated this mainstream depiction as a threat to traditional masculinity, reinforcing proper gender and sexual roles.  To bring awareness to the actualities of these marginalized positions, gay, male artists during this decade who were affected by AIDS, such as photographer David Wojnarowicz, used their works to critique inaccuracies in these portrayals.  Examining these two arenas of representation in film and art, this project encourages viewers to question perception and discrimination in our current society, while highlighting art as a powerful medium to confront and redirect these stereotypes.