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Misogynoir's Problem and Black Women's Support, Narratives and Identities Found in Love & Hip-Hop's Reality Tv Franchise

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Misogynoir's Problem and Black Women's Support, Narratives and Identities Found in Love & Hip-Hop's Reality Tv Franchise Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University African-American Studies Theses Department of African-American Studies 8-13-2019 Spill The Tea Sis': Misogynoir's Problem And Black Women's Support, Narratives And Identities Found In Love & Hip-Hop's Reality Tv Franchise Adeerya J. Johnson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/aas_theses Recommended Citation Johnson, Adeerya J., "Spill The Tea Sis': Misogynoir's Problem And Black Women's Support, Narratives And Identities Found In Love & Hip-Hop's Reality Tv Franchise." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2019. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/aas_theses/62 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of African-American Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in African-American Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SPILL THE TEA SIS’: MISOGYNOIR’S PROBLEM AND BLACK WOMEN’S SUPPORT, NARRATIVES AND IDENTITIES FOUND IN LOVE & HIP-HOP’S REALITY TV FRANCHISE by ADEERYA JOHNSON Under the Direction of Sarita K. Davis, PhD ABSTRACT Love & Hip-Hop (LHH) is known to be the highest rated reality TV show, producing more than 400,000 viewers on the season premiere of Love & Hip-Hop: Miami and continues to be one of the most talked about cable series across Facebook and Twitter (Etkin, 2018). Considering the demographic that LHH speaks to, 74% of women between the ages of 18-49 tune into LHH weekly and 81% of viewers are Black with an average media age viewership of 36 (Etkin, 2018). Additionally, this study explores the ways in which misogynoir is fluid in the performances of the characters on VH1’s Love & Hip-Hop (LHH) and how the characters and viewers claim agency and space through their involvement in the Hip-Hop industry and social media. This study will investigate the new phenomena of emerging hip-hop reality tv culture and its nuance in Black women’s involvement in Hip-Hop that defies respectability politics. INDEX WORDS: Hip-Hop feminism, Black Feminism, Black Woman, Hip-Hop Studies, Black studies, Love and Hip-Hop, Pop Culture SPILL THE TEA SIS’: MISOGYNOIR’S PROBLEM AND BLACK WOMEN’S SUPPORT, NARRATIVES AND IDENTITIES FOUND IN LOVE & HIP-HOP’S REALITY TV FRANCHISE by ADEERYA JOHNSON A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2019 Copyright by Adeerya Jazman Johnson 2019 SPILL THE TEA SIS’: MISOGYNOIR’S PROBLEM AND BLACK WOMEN’S SUPPORT, NARRATIVES AND IDENTITIES FOUND IN LOVE & HIP-HOP’S REALITY TV FRANCHISE by ADEERYA JOHNSON Committee Chair: Sarita Davis Committee: Lia Bascomb Tiffany King Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2019 iv DEDICATION This study is dedicated to all of the Black women who continue to tell their stories through Hip-Hop, no matter who tries to tell them their stories aren’t real. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to acknowledge all of the Black Women who helped me with this project. The ones who are lifting me as they climb. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ XI PROLOGUE ................................................................................................................. XIII 1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1.1 Background .................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Problem Statement............................................................................................ 4 1.3 Purpose............................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Significance of Study......................................................................................... 8 1.5 Nature of Study ................................................................................................. 9 1.6 Theories and Concepts ................................................................................... 11 1.7 Assumptions and Approach ........................................................................... 15 1.8 Scope and Limitations .................................................................................... 16 1.9 Summary .......................................................................................................... 18 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 21 2.1 Hip-Hop Feminism .......................................................................................... 22 2.2 Misogynoir and the Black Woman in Hip-Hop Culture ................................ 29 2.3 Body, Beauty and The Black Woman’s Appearance ...................................... 34 2.4 Sexual Stereotypes of Black Women in Hip-Hop Reality TV ........................ 37 vii 2.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 45 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 49 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 49 3.2 Design Appropriateness ................................................................................... 49 3.3 Black Twitter and Twitter Methods ................................................................. 51 3.4 Setting ............................................................................................................... 53 3.5 Sample .............................................................................................................. 54 3.6 Procedure ......................................................................................................... 55 3.7 Coding Analysis ............................................................................................... 58 3.7.1 First Cycle Coding ....................................................................................... 60 3.7.2 Second Cycle Coding ................................................................................... 60 3.7.3 Reliability and Validity................................................................................. 61 3.8 Limitations ........................................................................................................ 63 3.9 Summary........................................................................................................... 64 4 RESULTS ................................................................................................................ 65 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 65 4.2 Demographics .................................................................................................. 67 4.2.1 Twitter Survey Sample ................................................................................. 67 4.2.2 Interview Sample .......................................................................................... 68 4.3 Quantitative Results........................................................................................ 69 viii 4.3.1 Viewership Responses .................................................................................. 70 4.3.2 Misogynoir and Agency Responses ............................................................. 72 4.4 Qualitative Results .......................................................................................... 76 4.5 Themes and Categories................................................................................... 77 4.5.1 Why do Black female viewers utilize Twitter to discuss LHHMIA highlights? 78 4.5.2 How do Black female viewers respond to the treatment of the Black women on the show? 80 4.5.3 Why do Black women continue to watch Love & Hip-Hop?...................... 85 4.6 Summary of Findings ..................................................................................... 86 5 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 89 5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 89 5.2 General Conclusions ....................................................................................... 90 5.2.1 Conclusion 1 ................................................................................................. 91 5.2.2 Conclusion 2 ................................................................................................. 92 5.2.3 Conclusion 3 ................................................................................................. 92 5.3 Discussion......................................................................................................... 94 5.4 For Future Research ....................................................................................... 95 5.5 Limitations
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