CARTOON ANALYSIS ORAL PRESENTATION

The Issue: Same-sex marriage being

legalised in Australia • Over the last decade momentum has
slowly grown for legalising same-sex
marriage in Australia
• The Abbott government promised a
plebiscite to address the issue
• Once Turnbull was named PM, the
plebiscite was shut down by opposition
parties in the Senate
• A postal plebiscite was agreed to by both
sides, even though many are still opposed
to this solution
• Stakeholders include:
• Same-sex attracted people
• Their families
• The law
• Church and religious groups
• Human rights advocates
The Cartoonist’s Contention
• The contention of this cartoon
is that gay marriage - like
racial equality, women’s rights
and disability rights before it
– has had to endure many
setbacks.
• However, the racial equality,
women’s rights and disability
rights movements have all
succeeded after enough
campaigning.
• Therefore, gay marriage will
succeed too.
Visual elements of the cartoon
The Steps

• They are labelled

• These labels are the
‘steps’ a social movement
needs to take before
becoming accepted (i.e.
achieving ‘equality’)
• The gay marriage
campaigners are still on
the ‘ridiculous’ step, as
many still consider gay
marriage to be ridiculous
Visual elements of the cartoon

• The gay marriage campaigners

• They look tired and unhappy
• They have a ‘long way to go’ before reaching the
top (i.e. equality)
Visual elements of the cartoon

• The campaigners at the top of the steps (racial equality, women’s rights, disability rights)
• Their speech is the ‘message’ of the cartoon (‘Never forget. Setbacks are merely temporary.’)
• The ‘setbacks’ they refer to are represented by the steps in the cartoon
 • The cartoon’s text serves three
The text in the cartoon purposes:
• The step labels function
symbolically
• The placard labels serve to
give ‘gay marriage’ a wider
context – other social
movements have
succeeded in the past
• The speech bubble is to be
read as a serious and literal
comment on how much
perseverance is needed by
same-sex marriage
campaigners, and is a
reminder that they will
succeed just as other social
movements succeeded
Persuasive devices Connotations
• Negative (‘ridiculous’,
‘illegal’, ‘offensive’)
• Suggest the
negative rhetoric
that gay people
have had to endure
for generations
• Positive (‘equality’,
‘women’s rights’,
‘disability rights’)
• Provide optimism
and hope for a
more enlightened
future

Symbols
• The steps = progress in
society
• Light and darkness
My stance
• The cartoon didn’t have to persuade me; I already agree with same-
sex marriage
• I found the symbolism of the steps to be accurate
• A good reminder of how other, similar historical campaigns have eventually
succeeded
• I’m not confident it would persuade opponents of same-sex marriage;
many do not desire ‘equality’ in the realm of marriage and this
positive connotation may not work on them