Conclusion
🌈 Reflections
This project was born from a simple but urgent question: How are LGBTQ+ characters represented in teen dramas, and what impact does this have?
Through a combination of ontology engineering, narrative analysis, and empirical data collection, we were able to:
Define a structured and nuanced vocabulary to describe queer representation
Model both the surface (how characters are portrayed) and the depth (why these portrayals emerge)
Use real data to validate and enrich our ontology
Create tools for querying, visualization, and critical reflection
Our approach is intentionally hybrid: it mixes semantic technologies with cultural critique, theory with practice, representation with perspective.
To do so, we adopted a multi-layered modeling strategy, combining theoretical grounding, real data, and perspective analysis.
🔁 A Three-Level Modeling Approach
Top-Down Modeling We started by designing a conceptual structure grounded in theory, using 10 sample scenarios and the user story of Jules Vaughn (Euphoria). This phase defined the main classes (Portrayal, Narrative Role, Representation Type, etc.) and their relationships, drawing inspiration from GLAAD’s frameworks and the Vito Russo Test.
Bottom-Up Validation Using a dataset of 31 LGBTQ+ characters, we enriched the ontology with new subclasses, properties, and attributes. This level grounded the model in real-world portrayals and allowed us to structure queryable patterns and measurable trends across shows, genres, creators, and roles.
Perspective Modeling Finally, we incorporated Gangemi and Presutti’s Perspectivization Ontology to understand why portrayals emerge in certain ways. Two core lenses were introduced:
Profit-Driven Lens → Market-safe, tokenistic, or surface-level representation
Social Impact Lens → Authentic, empowering, and socially engaged narratives
🎯 Why This Ontology Matters
This work is more than a taxonomy — it’s a tool for critical media analysis. By combining structure (what is shown) and intention (why it is shown), our ontology provides a framework for:
Evaluating narrative depth, fairness, and stereotypes
Tracing cultural and industrial influences on queer representation
Enabling advanced querying and visual exploration of LGBTQ+ portrayals
It can support research in media studies, cultural heritage, ethics, and digital storytelling — offering both interpretative power and practical applications.
🧠 Contributions
A custom ontology for LGBTQ+ media representation
A curated dataset of 31 queer characters in teen and adjacent TV shows
A dual modeling framework: Portrayal + Perspective
Competency questions and SPARQL-ready structure
Visual diagrams and GitBook-ready documentation
🌍 Contextual Considerations
The importance of authentic representation is underscored by real-world events.
Casting Hunter Schafer, a transgender actress, as Jules Vaughn in Euphoria adds depth and credibility to the character’s portrayal. Her identity is not just performed but embodied — making the show’s representation of queerness feel genuine, lived, and culturally significant.
However, in 2025, political developments in the U.S. have highlighted the growing tension between media inclusion and institutional rollback. On February 18, 2025, President Trump signed the executive order “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies”, which significantly increases presidential control over independent federal agencies. 👉 Source – The White House 👉 Source – Wikidata
This order requires that all major regulations — even from traditionally independent bodies — undergo White House review, and it empowers only the President and the Attorney General to determine legal interpretations across the executive branch.
As a result, many agencies that previously offered protections for LGBTQ+ people — in areas like healthcare, education, or civil rights — may now be pressured to align with politically imposed definitions of sex and gender. In this new context, Hunter Schafer revealed that her passport had been reissued with the gender marker “male,” despite her identity as a transgender woman, saying:
“That’s the reality for so many trans people right now.”
👉 Source – CBS This highlights why fair, authentic LGBTQ+ representation in media isn’t just symbolic — it’s political. Our ontology helps expose how these portrayals function within broader systems of power and resistance — and why they matter, now more than ever.
🚀 Future Directions
This project can be expanded and reused in many ways:
Adding more shows and characters from global contexts
Integrating reasoning tools or ontology alignments (e.g. FOAF, Schema.org)
Exploring genre-specific lenses (e.g. sci-fi, comedy, thriller)
Creating dashboards for media literacy or activism
The ontology is just a starting point — a map of what we see and what we want to change.
While politics can enforce reductive definitions of gender and identity, the patterns we observed in media — and the diversity captured by our ontology — suggest something else: that audiences, creators, and characters are already imagining more inclusive, complex, and human ways of being queer.
This project shows that representation is not just shaped by power — it also reflects resistance, empathy, and a cultural shift in progress. And mapping that shift is one step toward making it real.
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