Implications of Representing Identity in Comics
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School EXCEPTIONAL SISTAHOOD: IMPLICATIONS OF REPRESENTING IDENTITY IN COMICS FOR COLLABORATIVE ART EDUCATION PRACTICES AMONG WOMEN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF COLOR WITH DISABILITIES A Dissertation in Art Education and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies by Veronica Hicks © 2019 Veronica Hicks Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2019 The dissertation of Veronica Hicks was reviewed and approved* by the following: Booker Stephen Carpenter, II Professor of Art Education & African American Studies Interim Director, Penn State School of Visual Arts Dissertation Co-Adviser Co-Chair of Committee Ariane Cruz Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Dissertation Co-Adviser Co-Chair of Committee Joel Priddy Associate Professor of Graphic Design Mary Ann Stankiewicz Professor Emeritus of Art Education Kimberly Powell Art Education Graduate Program Officer Associate Professor of Art Education *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT Mainstream comic books featuring disabled women of color characters reinforce stereotyped depictions of minority group identities. In a radical approach to the disability narratives in art education research and counter-storytelling by women of color, this study reads, produces, and shares comics from the perspective of a feminist art education researcher. This study highlights and critiques mainstream comics and the educational systems that maintain group oppression over disabled women of color by considering the creation of comics as an inquiry-based and arts-based education research method. I argue that comic book creators affect reader’s beliefs about disabled women of color by subverting or supporting their accurate representation. Comics created and shared by disabled women of color who are art students and teachers reveal personal and community narratives as a reaction to and reflection of their society. I review how comics created by White, able-bodied men overwhelmingly determine overwhelmingly the presentation of disabled women of color characters. Ultimately, the oppression of minority populations in education and in comics is maintained through the control of representation, which is accomplished through miseducation and misinformation reinforced in the form of laws, imagery, and societal norms. Thus, constructions of race, gender, and ability in comics should be critically examined and changed to counter the racist, sexist, and ableist sociocultural contexts and society producing those images. The study results reveal ways in which an art teacher and her former student employed collaborative art making practices to express their experiences through sequential art in the form of a comic book entitled, Woven. The act of sharing Woven, among a community of disabled female art students and teachers of color, communicated situational oppressions and forged unity around common themes of identity, art making, and community. The same community of disabled women art students and teachers of iii color participated in a survey about Woven. The survey results demonstrated disabled women of color—specifically art students and teachers in this study—identified overwhelmingly with the themes of art making, identity, and community. The creation and sharing of Woven with art teachers and students added to the representation of disabled women art students and teachers of color in comics publishing, and as a result, provided an accurate representation of this minority population’s experiences in art education. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi Prologue ........................................................................................................................................ xii Chapter 1. MISTY KNIGHT AS EXCEPTIONAL AND DIFFERENTLY ABLED WOMEN OF COLOR IN COMIC BOOKS: SITUATING THE STUDY........................................................... 1 An Art Class Dilemma ................................................................................................................ 7 Research Rationale...................................................................................................................... 8 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 25 Scope: Assumptions and Limitations........................................................................................ 26 Organization of the Study ......................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 2. INVESTIGATING SILENCED AND CONCEALED NARRATIVES .................... 29 Intersectionality as Feminist Lens ............................................................................................ 30 Black and Brown Ink: A Justification for Critical Race Theory ............................................... 35 Tints and Shades: Black Disability Studies and Dis/ability Critical Race Theory ................... 41 Introduction of ES Characters in Comics ................................................................................. 46 Visualizing Exceptional Sista Artists........................................................................................ 47 Image-Conscious: Discussing Representation in Comics......................................................... 49 Re-Presenting Exceptional Sistas in Comics ............................................................................ 63 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 66 v Chapter 3. A COMICS METHODOLOGY TO FRAME STUDENT-TEACHER ART PRACTICES ................................................................................................................................. 67 Thought Bubbles: Inspiration for a Comics Methodology ....................................................... 67 Comics Methodology: Sequencing Student-Teacher Narratives .............................................. 69 Elements of Comics Methodology............................................................................................ 74 Arts-Based Research ................................................................................................................. 74 Narrative Inquiry ....................................................................................................................... 76 Comics Methodology ................................................................................................................ 78 Using a Comics Method........................................................................................................ 79 Case Study Interview Data and Procedure................................................................................ 82 Visual/Audio and Written Document Collection ...................................................................... 87 Comics Design and Development ............................................................................................. 87 Survey Data and Procedure ....................................................................................................... 87 Research Participants ................................................................................................................ 89 Mixed-Methods Benefits and Issues ......................................................................................... 91 Limitations of the Data ............................................................................................................. 92 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 93 Chapter 4. REVEALING THEMES: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS .................... 95 Comics Method Case Study ...................................................................................................... 96 vi Comics Method Process ........................................................................................................ 97 Comics Method Results ...................................................................................................... 106 Theme of Identity ................................................................................................................ 107 Theme of Art Making ......................................................................................................... 111 Theme of Community ......................................................................................................... 113 Comics Method Discussion .................................................................................................... 114 Comics Method Conclusion .................................................................................................... 118 Survey Method ........................................................................................................................ 119 Survey Method Process....................................................................................................... 120 Survey Method Results ......................................................................................................