About

Dr Damien J O’Meara is an academic, communications strategist and professional writer. He is a Lecturer, Public Relations with RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Damien holds a PhD from Swinburne University of Technology. His thesis ‘Queering Australian Screens: The production culture influences on gender and sexually diverse representations in Australian scripted television, 2011–2021’ examines how queer representations are negotiated by creatives and executives for distribution through mainstream television networks and streamers.

In addition to his PhD, Damien holds a Master of Arts (Writing) from Swinburne University of Technology (in Melbourne) and a Bachelor of Communications (PR) from Griffith University (in Brisbane). His study has always centred on queer representation and understanding through media, fuelled by his own experience of growing up queer and isolated in regional Victoria.

In his spare time, Damien and his friend Natasha record the Lowbrow Lowdown, a podcast that explores how a cultural moment manifests in pop, trash and pulp culture. Season 1 is all about self-published literature of the coronavirus. Season 2 (coming soon) is unpacking the undead, analysing the zombie sub-genre and how it reflects social and cultural anxieties at the time it is made.

Damien occasionally adds an episode to his other podcast, Camp Scary and Squee – where guests bring a horror film for discussion, dissection and classification on the Camp-Scary Scale.