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Beyonce Feminism: Feminist Messages' Impact on African American Female Identity

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Beyonce Feminism: Feminist Messages' Impact on African American Female Identity Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University African-American Studies Theses Department of African-American Studies Spring 5-3-2017 Beyonce Feminism: Feminist Messages' Impact on African American Female Identity Laura-Ashley Taylor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/aas_theses Recommended Citation Taylor, Laura-Ashley, "Beyonce Feminism: Feminist Messages' Impact on African American Female Identity." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2017. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/aas_theses/41 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]. BEYONCE FEMINISM: FEMINIST MESSAGES’ IMPACT ON AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE IDENTITY A NARRATIVE APPROACH RESEARCH STUDY by LAURA-ASHLEY TAYLOR Under the Direction of Sarita Davis, PhD ABSTRACT This study examines the influence of Beyoncé’s brand of Black Feminism on the sexual decision making and agency among African American female millennials. This study explores how young African American women interpret and are influence by Beyoncé’s treatment of race, class, and gender as sites of power and privilege. The study targets fourteen (14) Black women ages 18 to 25 who are attending Georgia State University. Narrative inquiry was used to capture participants’ stories via structured interviews. The study’s findings have implications for several arenas of research including sexual communication studies, African American male-female relationships, and gender studies. INDEX WORDS: Beyoncé, Black Feminism, Womanism, Millennials, African American Female Performances BEYONCE FEMINISM: FEMINIST MESSAGES’ IMPACT ON AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE IDENTITY A NARRATIVE APPROACH RESEARCH STUDY by LAURA-ASHLEY TAYLOR 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 2017 Copyright by Laura-Ashley Taylor 2017 BEYONCE FEMINISM: FEMINIST MESSAGES’ IMPACT ON AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE IDENTITY A NARRATIVE APPROACH RESEARCH STUDY by LAURA-ASHLEY TAYLOR Committee Chair: Sarita Davis Committee: Jonathan Gayles Tiffany King Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2017 iv DEDICATION To my father and super hero: Not a day goes by that I do not feel your spirit. I know that everything I am is because of you. I try to find comfort in that and live for you. Thank you for letting me stand on your shoulders. To my mother: Thank you for allowing me to become the woman the world needed me to be and believing in my dreams. To my brother: We can make it, “Little Lion,” we just must fight a little harder. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and support of my father, Dr. Albert Taylor Sr., whose memory lives through me. I am so grateful that he believed in my success when I did not. I would like to thank the greatest professors at Georgia State University: Dr. Jonathan Gayles, Dr. Tiffany King, and Dr. Makungu Akinyela. I must express a special acknowledgement to my thesis chair, Dr. Sarita Davis, who always encouraged me to persevere through the storm. Without these titans of academia, my achievements would not be possible. Lastly, thank you for all the friends and family who thought enough of me to offer a kind word of enthusiasm and support during this research project. To my tribe: Aunt Ting, Aunt Carla, Aunt Gina, Lexi, Sharla, and Erica, I hope to one day be half the women that you are and to make you proud. Thank you for keeping me going. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ V PROLOGUE ...................................................................................................................... 1 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 6 1.1 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................ 6 1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM ............................................................ 9 1.2.1 THE AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE BODY ........................................... 9 1.2.2 AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S SEXUAL HEALTH ......................... 15 1.2.3 BEYONCE FEMINISM ............................................................................... 18 1.3 PURPOSE STATEMENT ................................................................................ 19 1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................. 20 1.5 NATURE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................. 22 1.6 THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..................................................................... 24 1.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................. 24 2 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................... 28 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 28 2.2 HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S PORTRAYAL IN MAINSTRAM MEDIA........................................................................................................... 28 2.3 AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S PORTRAYAL DUIRNG THE ANTEBELLUM AND CIVIL WAR PERIOD (1789-1865) ................................................ 29 vii 2.4 MEDIA PORTRAYAL OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN DURING THE JIM CROW SEGREGATION (1800-1965) ................................................................ 31 2.5 THE PORTRAYAL OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA (1954-1968) ........................................................................................ 35 2.6 BRANCHES AND SECTS OF AMERICAN FEMINISM ........................... 36 2.6.1 FIRST WAVE OF FEMINISM (1809-1920) .............................................. 37 2.6.2 THE SECOND WAVE OF FEMINISM (1945-1968) ................................ 39 2.6.3 THE THIRD WAVE OF FEMINISM: WOMANISM (1980-2000) ........... 40 2.6.4 HIP HOP FEMINISM ................................................................................. 41 2.7 RESEARCH ON THE EFFECTS OF BLACK FEMALE SEXUAL REPRESENTATION ON SEXUAL DECISION MAKING .............................................. 44 2.8 BEHAVIORAL FACTORS IN SEXUAL DECISION MAKING ................ 44 2.9 AGENCY IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION 45 2.10 AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE AMERICAN BLUES TRADITION 47 3 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .............................................................. 52 3.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 52 3.2 DESIGN OF STUDY ........................................................................................ 53 3.3 SAMPLE POPULATION................................................................................. 54 3.4 SAMPLE SELECTION .................................................................................... 54 3.5 DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUE ............................................................ 56 viii 3.6 DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................................ 57 3.7 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY.................................................................... 57 3.8 INTERNAL VALIDITY ................................................................................... 57 3.9 CODING STRATEGIES .................................................................................. 59 3.10 INTER RATER RELIABILITY .................................................................. 59 3.11 EXTERNAL VALIDITY .............................................................................. 60 3.12 RELIABILITY............................................................................................... 60 3.13 RESEARCHER BIAS AND ASSUMPTIONS............................................ 61 4 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS .............................................................................. 64 4.1 THE PARTICIPANTS ..................................................................................... 65 4.2 OVERVIEW OF CATEGORIES AND THEMES ........................................ 82 4.2.1 BEYONCE’S BRAND OF FEMINISM ...................................................... 83 4.2.2 TREATMENT OF SITES OF OPPRESSION ............................................ 89 4.2.3 MILLENIALS INTERPRETATION OF BEYONCE, BLACK MALE PATRIARCHY, AND FEMINISM .................................................................................... 101 5 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS .............................................................................. 111 5.1 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....... 111 5.2 CHAPTER SUMMARY ................................................................................. 115 6 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 118 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 128 ix 6.1 APPENDIX A: INFORMED CONSENT ..................................................... 128 6.2 APPENDIX
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