Representing Black Women and Love: a Critical Interpretative Study of Heavy Exposure to VH1’S Love and Hip Hop

Home , Blac Chyna, Fetty Wap, Fever (mixtape), Stevie J, Video vixen

Representing Black Women and Love: A critical interpretative study of heavy exposure to VH1’s Love and Hip Hop

A thesis submitted to the

Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

in the Department of Communication

Olivia Harrison

B.A. Rochester Institute Of Technology

May 2015

Committee Co-Chairs: Ronald L. Jackson II, Ph.D.

and Omotayo Banjo Adesagba Ph.D.

Abstract

This study explores viewers’ perceptions after heavy exposure to VH1’s reality show franchise Love and Hip-Hop. Specifically the investigation seeks to understand how heavy viewership influences 1Black female college students’ view of male/female romantic relationships in their everyday lives as well as their understanding of the Black female image portrayed on the show. The researcher conducted 6 one on one interviews and coded each for emergent themes using the constant comparison technique.

Cultivation Theory and Black Feminist Theory guided this study and the researcher’s analysis of the six participants’ responses. This study serves as an analysis of how media messages influence a specific target audience’s image of themselves and their relationship goals.

1 For the purposes of this study the term "African American" is used to identify those Americans, who are descendants of Africa. The term "Black” will be used interchangeably with “African American” to describe the generally shared histories, experiences, sentiments, issues and concerns, and social situatedness of African Americans. 2

Acknowledgements

This has been a very, very, very long process and there’s no way I would have made it through without the continual guidance, support, help, and patience from Dr.

Jackson. He never once gave up on me, even after countless times I thought I gave up on myself. Dr. Jackson you are truly a blessing to the department and to all the students you touch, and I’m so grateful to have you as my advisor. To Dr. Bates and Dr. Banjo, thank you for supplying support, guidance, and continuously showcasing Black Girl Magic within academia. I appreciate the support I’ve received from the faculty at the University of Cincinnati and the opportunity for me to further my education.

A huge thank you to my always supportive parents, my Black and Brown girl magic girl gang and my dear friends Eugene, Brandon L and Branden E, there’s no way I would have made it through this process without you all. Thank you for always lifting me up when I’m down, listening to me whenever and wherever, celebrating my success, and loving me unconditionally. I am so grateful God has blessed me with people like you in my life.

Table of Contents

Abstract Page 2

Acknowledgements Page 4

Table of Contents Page 5

List of Tables Page 6

Chapter 1 Introduction Page 7

Chapter 2 Literature Review Page 22

Chapter 3 Methodology Page 44

Chapter 4 Analysis Page 51

Chapter 5 Conclusion Page 80

References Page 94

Appendices Page 114

List of Tables

Table 1: Snapshot of Participants Page 53

Table 2: Participant viewing of Love and Hip-Hop Page 54

Table 3: Seasons of Love and Hip-Hop Page 54

Table 4: Emergent Themes and Categories Page 55

Chapter 1

Introduction

Media images, whether fiction or not, are often produced to reflect possible real world experiences. Although most media viewers believe their media consumption has little to no impact on their daily lives or decisions, research shows us that the abundance of images we receive from the media on a continual basis has the power to influence our perceptions of reality and consequently how we interact with individuals in real life

(Grindstaff & Murray, 2015; Morgan et al., 2016). In today's hypermedia consumed society, we would be remiss to say that the media has no influence on either our perceptions of what is real or our culture in general.

While the abundance of media images contributes to one’s perceptions of reality, the scarcity of marginalized group representations or diversity of character portrayals can also impact viewers’ perceptions of reality (Jain 2017; Mastro, 2015; Riles et al., 2018).

A 2013 study conducted by Essence Magazine surveyed over 1,200 participants on their perceptions of the Black female images showcased throughout the media. The results yielded overwhelmingly negative depictions of Black women rooted in caricature portrayals such as Gold Diggers, Modern Jezebels, Baby Mamas, Uneducated/Ratchet

Women, and Angry Black Women, just to name a few (Walton, 2013). In particular, the study revealed that Black women ages 18-29 reported seeing more negative images of

Black women than positive, with 89% saying they saw Black women represented as

‘baby mamas’ while only 41% saw Black women represented as ‘real beauties’. Jerald et al., (2017) found that a heavy media intake, defined as consuming television for

approximately 18 hours a week, watching music videos for nearly 5 hours a week, and watching nearly 12 movies a month across platforms, framed Black college students image of Black femininity and endorsement of the Saphire, Modern Jezebel and Ratchet woman stereotypes. Jerald et al., (2017) saw that the viewing of Black female images within the media brought about a perceived realism and endorsement of the Jezebel stereotype for Black women in real life.

These depictions can also have an impact on how Black women are viewed in the workplace. Sophia Nelson (2012) writes that African American women are underrepresented in workplace leadership positions, and they are found to be most likely to file discrimination suits at work. While Black women are likely to be recruited within their career field Essence’s 2013 study indicated Black women are not often retained or promoted within their respective workplaces.

The present study centers around Black college women and the ways in which urban reality television, specifically the VH1 reality franchise Love and Hip-Hop, can influence viewers’ expectations of romantic relationships and their perceptions of themselves and the Black female image.

Statement of Problem

This study focuses on the influence of a Hip- Hop reality show on heavy viewing college females. The college aged population was selected for two reasons, one being the heavy influence of Hip- Hop and Hip-Hop media within the college and university space and the other being that a high concentration of Love & Hip- Hop’s audience are Black college aged women.

Within the past decades there has been an increase in the consumption of hip-hop media amongst college students (Gosa, 2013; Henry, et al., 2010; McIntyre, 2017,

Patterson, 2013; Patterson, 2015; Shanks, 2017) Universities are currently offering college courses on hip-hop culture and literacy such as Sociology of Hip-Hip at the

University of Cincinnati, Hip-Hop studies minor offered at the University of Arizona, and

Hip-Hop, Youth Identities, and the Politics of Language offered at Stanford. University faculty and administrators have also witnessed college and university students emulating

Hip-Hop artists’ use of language and style of dress (Henry et al., 2010; McIntyre, 2017,

Patterson, 2013, Patterson 2015).

Love & Hip-Hop falls within a television category of Urban Reality Television.

Urban reality television includes programs advertised as unscripted that document the lived experiences of past and current rappers, hip -hop moguls, producers, friends and romantic interest of those within the Hip-Hop arena. College-aged women have become increasingly engaged in consuming urban reality television (Boylorn, 2008; Patterson,

2013; Reid, 2013), with VH1’s Love & Hip-Hop topping charts. When Love & Hip-Hop

Atlanta premiered in June 2012, 3.6 million viewers tuned in, making it one of the highest rated VH1 programs of the year (Viacom, 2012). During Love & Hip-Hop

Atlanta’s first 12-week season it ranked as cable’s top reality series of the summer among adults 18-49 and women 18-49. In 2017 about 81% of Love & Hip-Hop’s viewers were

Black, and Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta came in as the third highest rated television series amongst Black viewers in 2017, with Fox’s Empire and Star being numbers one and two

(Levin 2017). Love and Hip -Hop Atlanta was the 5th highest rated cable series for Black women within the 2016-2017 season with the top 5 being Empire (Fox), The New Edition

Story (BET), Star (Fox), The Haves And The Have Nots (OWN), and Love and Hip-Hop

Atlanta (VH1) (Nielsen, 2017). Women between the ages of 18 & 49 account for 74% of

Love & Hip-Hop’s overall audience and Black viewers account for 81% of Love &Hip

Hop’s audience (Etkin, 2018). Black millennials, ages 18 - 34 are trailblazers in terms of technologies and social media tools (Nielsen Report 2016), and according to Nielsen in the 2016-2017 TV season, Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta was the second most talked about cable reality series on Twitter and Facebook and the second most talked about cable series overall, behind The Bachelor (Nielsen Report 2017), making it a leading show for

Black audiences.

Although the presence of urban reality television has grown in popularity amongst college and university students, there is limited discussion surrounding how Black college women experience urban reality television and apply what they are viewing to their lives or relationships. Studies indicate that Black undergraduate women face risk factors that could negatively impact their academic achievement, including unhealthy intimate relationships (Henry 2008, Henry, et al., 2010). Much of the mainstream society’s discussion surrounding the objectification and devaluation of Black women within Hip-Hop media has been focused on the public’s perception of Black women being objectified rather than if individual Black women feel objectified by the media.

Within the world of Hip-Hop an insider vs outsider phenomenon has impacted how mainstream American society has viewed this unique Black sub-culture that is Hip-Hop culture (Phillips et al., 2005, Coleman et al., 2016). This creates a significant gap in the views of those outside of the Hip- Hop culture arena making judgements regarding the representation of Black women in the culture. This study seeks to understand the 10

perspectives of Black women who are heavy viewers of Urban Reality television, specifically Love and Hip-Hop, in an attempt to understand how they comprehend the controlling images projected by the Black women on the show and if they are influenced by the portrayal of romantic relationships showcased on Love and Hip-Hop.

Love and Hip-Hop, and other Urban Reality programs display performances of hypermasculinity, hypersexuality, aggression, and bickering among cast members (Henry

2008, Edwards, & Esposito, 2016, Edwards 2016). Women being used as props or objects in relation to men is also commonly displayed on this program. (Boylorn, 2008; Henry

2008, Edwards, & Esposito, 2016, Edwards 2016, Coleman et all., 2016). Past research has suggested that the consumption of mainstream hip-hop media has particularly negative implications on the self-conceptualization of Black female consumers (Henry

2008; Henry et al., 2010; Balaji, 2010; Robinson, 2011; Patterson, 2015; Freeman, 2017).

Media, including urban reality television such as Love & Hip-Hop, is seen as teaching individuals how to behave, plays a role in the construction of how relationships are interpreted and operates as a source of information for young women to learn how to operate in relationships (Awad, 2015; Johnson et al., 2018; Hunt, 2018; Ward et al.,

2019). Research suggests that young Black women who frequently consume hip-hop media are more likely to engage in unsafe or risky sexual behavior (Henry et al., 2010,

Johnson-Baker et al., 2016), be accepting of domestic violence or abuse (Henry et al.,

2010), and compare their physical appearance to the beauty standards projected by hip- hop media (Hunt, 2018; Ward et al., 2019, ). These studies however lack substantial information regarding how Black women themselves articulate their experiences with hip-hop media. 11

Unlike prior research, this study seeks to provide a space for Black college women to express their self-conceptualization and the ways in which urban reality television, specifically Love and Hip-Hop, consumption influences their expectations of romantic relationships and how they understand the controlling image of Black womanhood projected on the show.

Cultivation Theory

Cultivation theory comprises my theoretical framework. Cultivation theory showcases how media images influence our views of self and others through heavy television viewing. In this theory, Gerbner (1998) hypothesizes two outcomes for consumption of television content. Gerbner asserts the more time someone spends with television messages the more likely they are to view the world aligning with television portrayals. In effect, Gerbner proposes real life and media constructed ‘realities’ essentially merge in the eyes of heavy television consumers. Cultivation investigates media effects in relation to violence as well. Gerbner suggests that an over-representation of violence on television communicates a symbolic message regarding law and order. He also suggests viewers start to believe the televised version of reality the more they consume it. This typically leads to over-estimating the amount of violence that exists in the real world based off televised depictions of violence and crime. (Chandler & Munday,

2011). Cultivation Theory also takes the stance that television shapes the attitudes and perspectives of heavy viewers (Chandler & Munday, 2011).

If we take the assumption of cultivation theory to be accurate, in the sense that heavy viewers shape their perspective of the world based upon televised depictions,

African Americans are found to be one of the most susceptible groups to media influence.

According to Nielson ratings in 2011, 2013, and 2015 African Americans watch the most television of any racial group in America. Nielson ratings of 2015 found that Black people watch nearly 200 hours of television per month, and watch more live programing as compared to on-demand, than other groups (Nielsen, 2015). The proportion of African

American TV viewers does not align with either the proportion of diverse representations on television or the amount of African American diversity within the U.S. population

(Nielsen, 2011; Berg, 2017; Levin, 2017).

Black Media Representation

For years television media has been criticized for not having enough diverse portrayals of African Americans, and the depictions of African Americans in the media have not greatly improved since their inception (Gilliam & Iyengar, 2000, Mastro &

Tropp, 2004; Punyanunt-Carter, 2008). Dates (1990) theorized that the television images of Black individuals projected by the media may influence audience member’s perceptions and beliefs about Black people in real life, whether they are a part of the

Black community or not. She goes on to say that many of the stereotypical images of

Blacks shown in the media are “constructed, selective and distorted images that work to convey ideological messages” about the racial group (Dates 1990, pg. 5). Coleman et al.,

(2016) said the arrival and popularity of reality TV has contributed to the perpetuation of stereotypes about Black women. The researchers contested that if these reality shows are viewed as real they are likely to be perceived as accurate representations of Black culture and have the potential to influence their consumers. Jerald et al.,(2017) found that heavy media viewing was associated with Black students’ endorsement of stereotypes about

Black women and the perceived realism of the Jezebel stereotype. Mastro & Tropp

(2004) found that when faced with stereotypical media content, one’s previous exposure with Black people in real life and ones attitudes toward Black individuals, came together in influencing evaluations of Black television characters.

Research shows that individuals tend to prefer media that reflects them in some facet and African American viewers are no different (Banjo, 2013). Mastro (2009) found that African American viewers have a strong preference for television programs that showcase Black characters and a Black cast. Poindexter and Stroman (1981) found that

Black audiences reported greater belief in television when they identified with the characters displayed. Research has found that while African Americans primarily use television for entertainment and educational purposes (Becker, Kosicki and Jones 1992)

Black viewers also select, and avoid, television programs to support or reinforce their racial identity (Abrams & Giles 2007; Bryant & Oliver 2009; Banjo, 2013) Black audiences, and Black children in particular, reported a stronger belief in the authenticity and credibility of televised messages. They also exhibit a closer connection and identification with Black characters, especially those who identified with their race or ethnicity (Bryant & Oliver, 2009). According to a 2015 report by Nielsen, 62 percent of

Black millennials feel “really good” about seeing Black celebrities who share their ethnic background. (Nielsen, 2015)

Despite social advances, there remains negative stereotypical images of Black people in the media based upon character tropes such as the ‘Mammy’, ‘Jezebel’, ‘Buck’ and ‘Uncle Tom’, predicated on the racial inferiority of Black people (Adams-Bass et al.,

2014). Despite this, television viewing remains one of the most popular mediums among

media studies of Black youth; and Black characters that reflect negative stereotypical images of Black people on prime-time television programs are targeted toward Black audiences (Adams-Bass et al., 2014).

Body politics also plays a significant role. For example, Balaji (2008) found gendered media stereotypes of Black women to be overwhelmingly over sexualized.

Adams-Bass et al., (2014) suggest that puberty and the early maturation of Black girls may influence how young Black women perceive and interpret media depictions, specifically those associated with body image. They also argue that Black youth who watch a lot of media are exposed to a high volume of images that often project negative stereotypical messages about Black people.

Heavy Exposure to Reality Television

Cultivation scholars such as George Gerbner, Larry Gross and Emory Griffin discuss Cultivation Theory, examining the long-term effects of frequent television exposure on viewers’ perceptions of reality. Cultivation Theory was designed to “help understand the consequences of growing up and living in a cultural environment dominated by television” (Morgan, Shanahan, & Signorelli 2009). Cultivation theory proposes that the more exposure one has with the televised depictions of reality the more they will start to believe that televised reality is actual reality. Cultivation theory also suggests that heavy exposure to television shapes viewers perceptions of the real world

(Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorelli 1994). Cultivation theory has proven very useful in determining associations between levels of TV exposure and real-life perceptions

(Gerbner, 1998). With Cultivation Theory as the conceptual framework for this study this investigation seeks to explore the perceptions of Black college aged women who have

both heavy TV viewing habits and a preference for Urban reality television shows.

Watkins (2000) suggests Black college aged viewers tend to accept Black character portrayals and media images as acceptable and expected behaviors for Black people. Still,

Adams & Stevenson (2012) argue that cultivation theory does not address the nuances of

Black culture, or the historical backdrop of the racialized oppression Black people have faced on a global or national scale. This study will address these competing claims about

Black female TV viewers, specifically those who watch the urban reality TV show Love and Hip-Hop.

Urban Reality Television

Hip-Hop media has become increasingly prevalent amongst college students

(Henry et al., 2010, Patterson 2015) with some universities even teaching classes like

‘Sociology of Hip-Hop’ and ‘Fierce Sociology: Beyoncé’, both offered at the University of Cincinnati. Urban Reality Television has become a sub-genre within the Hip-Hop cultural context (Patterson, 2015). This television genre includes shows that showcase the experiences and daily activities of individuals somehow linked to the hip-hop industry.

The stars of these shows include current or former hip-hop stars themselves, music producers, video vixens, current or ex husbands, wives, children, girlfriends and boyfriends of hip-hop stars, music moguls, etc. Some shows highlighted within this category are, Runs House (2005-2009), Flavor of Love (2006 -2008), Sisterhood of Hip-

Hop (2014 – 2016), the Love and Hip-Hop franchise (2011 – present), Growing up Hip-

Hop (2016 - present), and The Rap Game (2016 – present). Urban Reality Television is typically marketed towards a young demographic, appearing on networks such as MTV,

VH1, and BET. These shows are also extremely popular with the under-35 year old

African American demographic. The top 5 shows for Black viewers ages 18-34

September 2015 - June 2016 were 1) Empire, 2) Love and Hip- Hop Atlanta 3) Love and

Hip -Hop Hollywood 4) Love and Hip-Hop New York and 5) Black Ink Crew (Nielsen,

2016). With the exception of Empire, all of these top programs are urban reality television shows broadcasted on the VH1 network.

Hip-hop culture and Hip-Hop themed reality television, have evolved into a space of great influence within the Black experience (Allen & Light 2015, Pough, 2015).

Taking that into account, this study seeks to understand Black college women’s perspective on the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop as well as their interpretation and expectations of romantic relationships based upon the images they see on Love and Hip-Hop.

The Black College Female Perspective

Much research has been conducted on the experiences of Black men at historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominately White Institutions, such as Brooms (2016), Cuyjet (2006), and Harris et al. (2011). While Black male and female college students face similar struggles as they navigate the college space, such as facing microaggressions influenced by systemic racism found on college campuses as well as coping with feelings of isolation and higher levels of stress (Benton 2001), relatively few studies have explored the Black female college experience. Winkle-Wagner (2015) explained that much research on Black college women remains untouched due to the tendency of researchers to look at Black students in the general sense, which typically defaults to male, rather than looking at Black students distinct intersectional identities.

One of the dangers of framing research through the lens of the Black experience in 17

general is its potential to leave the Black female perspective encapsulated within the experience of Black men.

Much scholarly work surrounding the gendered experiences of women, including women in romantic relationships and women’s self-esteem, has been presented through a

Eurocentric female lens (Collins 2000). Bowleg (2012) pointed out the use of the phrase

‘women and minorities’ has also been central around the discourse of public health and policy. She stated that the ‘and’ eludes to the identities of ‘women’ and the identities of

‘minorities’ being mutually exclusive to one another, therefore rendering the experiences of the minority woman obsolete and invisible again.

Purpose of Study

The study of media’s influence on viewers is nothing new, but the study of urban reality television’s influence on viewers’ perceptions of gender and relationships is a developing line of research. Because television is so captivating and convincing

(Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2007), it becomes progressively difficult for viewers to distinguish between media-based reality and real life, especially in instances in which television is presented as factual such as the case with ‘reality TV’. While viewers of

Love and Hip-Hop have a variety of reasons for tuning in, a voyeuristic desire appears to be at the forefront of their viewing habits (Reid 2013). Due to the abundance of verbal aggression, and even physical aggression, displayed on Love and Hip-Hop’s romantic relationships coupled with the promotion of argumentative drama filled friendships, reality television is seen as normalizing or even promoting aggressive behaviors in relationships, romantic or plutonic. The proliferation of aggressive behaviors can lead to the incorporation of aggression in the viewer’s real life (Reid 2013).

The purpose of this study is to see if and how frequent viewing of Love and Hip-

Hop impacts viewers’ perceptions of what to look for and accept in a romantic relationship and how heavy viewers understand the controlling image of Black women on

Love and Hip-Hop.

Preview of Theoretical Framework

This study will use Cultivation Theory and Black Feminist Theory as its conceptual framework. George Gerbner first introduced cultivation Theory into the field of communication in the 1970’s. The theory states that heavy exposure to television shapes viewers perceptions of the real world (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorelli,

1994) and that individuals who have heavy exposure to television are more likely to believe media messages to be accurate.

Black Feminist Theory or Black Feminist Thought examines the intersectionality

(a term first coined by Crenshaw (1989)) of race, class, gender and sex. Black Feminist

Theory highlights the unique experience of being both female and Black and the controlling image of the Black woman. This theory contends that sexism, gender identity, class/economic oppression and racism are all inextricably bound together.

A core theme of Black Feminism is challenging the controlling images of the

Black female stereotypes such as the mammy, the welfare chick and the jezebel. Collins

(1991) writes that the controlling images of Black womanhood are particularly important because of the power that is associated with having the authority to define the image of a group, and the ability to manipulate the image of Black women is an exercise of power.

Preview of Methodology

This study seeks to examine if heavy viewing of Love and Hip-Hop influences how Black college women perceive romantic relationships, specifically what is to be expected in a romantic relationship, and their perception of the controlling images of

Black women on Love and Hip-Hop. The six participants are between the ages of 18 and

24 and include Black female undergraduate and graduate students. The participants have all self-identified as heavy viewers of Love and Hip-Hop New York, Atlanta or

Hollywood, seeing nine or more episodes of one or more of the series within the franchise.

The study was conducted through a qualitative content analysis using the constant comparison method. Through one-on-one direct interviews the participants verbalized their life experiences and thoughts through telling their own stories. After conducting the interviews they were transcribed and coded for common themes that emerged from the participants’ responses. Two methods were used to verify the data, audit trail, which entails having a clear and transparent description of the research laid out from start to finish, and member checking, involving interviewees reviewing the researchers interpretations to ensure the voyeuristic findings are consistent with what they articulated during the interview. The researcher engaged in an iterative process that allows for the investigator to refer back to relevant literature and their findings to present contextual information that clarifies respondents’ perceptions while answering the research questions.

Research Questions

The following questions helped to guide this study. The RQ1 is framed by cultivation theory, while Black Feminist Theory frames RQ2.

RQ1: How do Black female college students describe the influence that continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop has on their perceptions of male/female romantic relationships?

RQ2: How do Black female college students describe the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop?

Overview The following chapters will discuss the role of Cultivation Theory and Black

Feminist Theory in shaping the real worldviews of my participants. Chapter 2 will explore the significant literature surrounding Cultivation Theory and Black Feminist

Theory and provide some examples of its usage in previous research. Chapter 3 discusses the structure and nuances of the methodological approach to the study in order to assist the reader in understanding the data collection process and analysis. Chapter 4 discusses the participant interviews and the common themes that came from them. Lastly, Chapter

5 will establish conclusions to the study and offer implications that may be used in future research concerning Black female television audiences.

Chapter 2

Literature Review

It has become increasingly apparent that Hip-Hop culture is embedded within

American youth popular culture. As the Hip-Hop generations gain more access to college and universities Hip-Hop culture subsequently becomes more present on university campuses (Harrison, Moore & Evans 2006, Petchauer, 2012). While studies have been conducted examining the media’s role on young Black men and media influence on their development (Hawkins, 2017) or Black people as a whole and how the media affects them (Rocchio 2018) fewer studies exist that examine the role that urban reality television has on young Black women and specifically in their romantic ideals and concept of self and view of other Black women alike (Collins & Bilge, 2016, McCall,

2005).

In order to add to the prior research there will first be a review of previous literature to contribute to the study and to identify gaps within the literature. This chapter will review literature that discusses the Black Feminist perspective, the effect media exposure has on heavy viewers, individuals motivations for watching reality television, and the representation of Black people, more specifically Black women, on television.

Media Effects

News framing, agenda setting and priming effects are classified as the three models of media effects as identified by Scheufele & Tewksbury (2007). Agenda setting recognizes the idea of an interrelationship between the attention the mass media places on an issue or story and the level of importance or urgency that is attributed to the issue by

the mass media. Agenda Setting makes the correlation between the amount of coverage an issue receives and the level of importance the mass media places on said issue.

Priming is often seen as an extension of agenda setting as defined by the authors.

Priming is used particularly within the political media realm. Priming is the idea that the media creates an influence within society in which people make their judgments about individuals from. Priming allows an audience to measure a situation and make a decision based upon the effectiveness of the media in providing a frame of reference.

News framing is based on the presumption that the way in which an issue is presented in the media news cycle has an influence on how it is understood by the audience. Goffman (1974) contends that we cannot fully understand our world or make sense of our life experiences therefore we apply framework schemas to classify, interpret, and eventually understand the world around us. Frames become a tool for the mass media to convey information to their audiences using pre-existing cognitive schemas (Scheufele

& Tewksbury 2007).

Media Impacts

Hjarvard (2008) presented a theory on the influence of media on culture and society. In this article mediatization is seen as a two-fold process of originality in which the media in one aspect is seen as an independent entity that society must accommodate to. While on the other hand media is seen as being integrated within aspects of our societal institutions such as politics, work, family, marriage, and religion. Hjarvard’s theory of media being an integral aspect of society is due to the fact that the institutions such as marriage, politics, family, and religion are performed both in real life and in mass media; and that mass media performances impact how these aspects of our society are

performed in reality. He reflects that media has become such an inherent piece of society that it has the authority and capability to use a media agenda to influence societal standards. Hjarvard (2008) proposes that media images are influencing society while at the same time society is influencing media depictions. Using this logic the media becomes both an aspect birthed from society and an independent entity that exists to facilitate and influence the interaction between societal and cultural standards.

Mediatization has been criticized for overemphasizing the role of the media as a change agent (Deacon and Stanyer, 2014), but Hepp et al., (2015) ascertains that mediatization is a media-centered approach that encompasses a holistic understanding of the intersecting social forces working together to create our perspective, with an emphasis on the media’s role in the process of perspective creation.

Media Exposure

Cultivation Theory. Cultivation theory proposes that heavy television exposure over time creates viewers perceptions of reality. Gerbner, Morgan and Signorelli (1986) say that television is a form of storytelling, and images projected by television construct the mainstream of images in our environment. Gerbner, Morgan, and Signorelli (1986) also find that cultivation is a complex process in which television doesn’t naturally create or simply reflect images found in real life, instead television creates and displays images and opinions held by the general public. In turn, the public takes these images and opinions and develops their own identity that aligns with the images provided through heavy television exposure. Gerbner, Morgan, and Signorelli (1986) suggest that through its projection of images, television helps to define what it means to be a given identity and that those who are heavy viewers cultivate their identity incorporating the television

images provided. The cultivation process does not see the messenger (television) or the viewer as the sole power in decision-making, but rather examines the influence of television exposure over long periods of time and how that influences the viewer’s perceptions of their social reality (Gerbner 2002). Cultivation theory is seen as an indicator for confirming associations between a viewer’s amount of television exposure and their real-life perceptions about what they see on television (Gerbner 1998). Gerbner found that the more time a viewer spends with reality programming the more they viewed reality TV as a projection of reality itself. (Shanahan & Morgan 1999).

Cultivation Theory also encompasses the idea that the more time one spends within a televised depiction of the world, the scarier they come to believe the world is, referred to as the mean world index. Jamieson & Romer (2014) found that TV violence worked to predict fear of crime and that the amount of televised violence one consumes, coupled with national crime rates and ones perception of crime, create fear for an individual. They also found that the rate of TV drama violence predicts viewers reported fear of crime. However, TV drama violence alone did not predict viewers’ perceptions of crime prevalence. Instead, national crime rates were related to viewers’ perceptions of local crime rates, and these perceptions mediated the relationship between crime rates and fear.

In addition to encompassing the viewers perception of real world violence,

Cultivation theory is also related to idea that people who consume television daily for multiple hours think differently about the social reality than infrequent or non-consumers of television. This idea was explored in Narcos (2000) review of Shanahan & Morgan

(1999) book concerning cultivation. Narcos (2000) wrote that cultivation theorists

suggest that television images foster a mainstream worldview that reflects and maintains the interests of the dominant culture and social /political power elites. Narcos proposes that televised depictions work to maintain the status quo of power, reflecting imagery that allows or reinforces the power of the dominant group while the subaltern group continues to be disenfranchised. Narcos (2000) concludes that cultivation theory marks a system where media messages are presented in a way in which they benefit or are in the interest of the privileged group within a society.

Gerbner and Gross (1976) found that an effect of heavy television viewing was a multidirectional process to determine television’s contribution to viewers’ perceptions of social reality. Cultivation theory suggests that the media takes attitudes already present within society and re-presents them to television viewers. In this manner television and media elevates the status quo within society rather than challenging it.

Cultivation theory suggests television messages can be a major influential factor regarding the behavior of television viewers (Shanahan & Morgan 1999). Shanahan &

Morgan (1999) also determined that a considerable amount of our knowledge about the world is not shaped by lived experiences but by accounts of others’ experiences, whether those accounts are fictional or true. Much of what we know about the world is shaped by viewing and hearing about experiences that we may not have personally gone through, and as cultivation theory proposes television plays a significant role in how we view the world around us, and our beliefs about others. With this in mind it is fair to assess that reality-based programs that feature predominately Black women, such as Love and Hip

Hop, are shaping how viewers perceive Black women both on and off the television screen.

Television Viewing Habits of Black Viewers

For the purpose of this research study cultivation theory will be used to analyze the influence that television has on Black college women’s perceptions and expectations of reality. Typically Black people spend more time consuming black media and have more of a preference for Black shows, as compared to the dominant society (Berry, 1998;

Adams-Bass, Stevenson, and Kotzin, 2014). Nielsen (2013) found that African

American’s consume television at a higher and more aggressive rate as compared to other

US American ethnic groups (Garcia, 2013, Resilient, Receptive and Relevant 2013).

Watkins (2005) suggests that Black youth will interpret Black media character portrayals and images as legitimate models of expected and acceptable behavior for Black people and culture. One critique of cultivation theory is that it does not account for the individual nuances that exist within the diversity of Black culture, the history of Black racial oppression, and continuous racial stereotyping that exists in Black life. (Adams &

Stevenson 2012, Adams et al., 2014).

Defining Reality Television

According to Cultivation research the more time one spends watching TV the more likely they are to believe that the ideologies and images represented on TV are reflections of the real world Gerbner et.al., (2002). This theory suggests that reality television shapes what people believe to be appropriate behaviors within their culture and reality.

The start of reality television is debatable, some suggest it started in January 1973 with ‘An American Family’, a documentary style reality show following the lives of an upper middle class family in Santa Barbara, California. Others make claim that it began

with the 1992 premiere of MTV’s ‘The Real World’, which chronicled the lives of 8

American strangers living in the same house in a new city. The Real World just finished its 32nd season in January 2017 and is set to start production for the 33rd season in March

–May 2019. Reality show Survivor is attributed by many as the introduction to the reality craze, premiering in 2000 and continuing today with season 37 which started in

September 2018 (Huff 2006; Ross, 2018)

As reality television has changed throughout the years it’s definition has changed as well. Fishman and Cavender (1998) argued that reality television is differentiated from other television programs in that reality television “claims to present reality.” This definition alone seems too broad, seeing as it could effectively encompass everything from Survivor and Teen Mom, to scripted shows such as Girlfriends, to local network news, all of which showcase ‘reality’ in some sense. Kilborn (1999) defines reality television as “the attempt to simulate real-life events through various forms of dramatized reconstruction” and recording the lives and events of individuals and groups by using lightweight video equipment. Dictionary.com defines it as “a genre of television programming in which “real life’ people are followed in a situation, game, etc..” Nabi et. al (2003) describes reality television as “programs that film real people as they live out events (contrived or otherwise)” and must include the following : people portraying themselves (not actors), programs that are filmed, at least in part, in natural living or working environments, and programs that are not scripted with events evolving from narrative contexts, for the primary purpose of viewer entertainment. The authors describe reality television as its own particular genre, separate from other ‘real’ broadcasts such as talks shows, the nightly news, or documentary series. Nabi (2003) indicated that although

reality television is distinctly different from other TV genres, reality TV within itself is not one cohesive genre.

Due to the wide variety in reality based programming different subgenres have been created to label all (or most) of what encompasses reality TV. Some of these sub genres include, social experiment, documentary-style, talk shows, competition or game shows, self or home makeover, dating, urban, hidden camera, and travel reality programming. (Huff 2006, & Reality Television 2013)

Motivations for Watching Reality Television

It is also important to understand why individuals watch reality television. Baruh

(2010) found that voyeurism and social comparison tendencies were positively associated with viewer’s consumption of reality programming. Gardyn (2001) found that the top reason audiences tune into reality programing is to see who will be eliminated from the show that week and who will ultimately win. Such as the case with shows like America’s

Next Top Model, or The Bachelorette. Another reason for viewers to watch reality programming is to attain a sense of gratification in watching people in difficult and high drama situations and then imagining how they (the viewer) would act in that situation or one similar. Greenberg (2013) discussed how envy and desire for lavish lifestyles contributes to people watching reality shows, particularly shows like Real Housewives,

Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and Love and Hip-Hop, which all center relatively wealthy women living lavish lifestyles. Greenberg describes watching these reality shows as being a part of a ‘privileged altered universe’.

Ebersole and Woods (2007) revealed that individuals are motivated to watch reality TV due to a desire to be included in conversation within social situations in which

a reality program may be the topic of discussion. They also saw viewers had an easier time identifying with perceived ‘real’ characters on reality TV than actors on a scripted television program. Viewers were interested in watching reality TV to be entertained, to change their mood or to pass idle time. The authors concluded that because reality TV is somewhat interactive in nature viewers have a sense of personal identification with the program and the characters on the show.

Nabi et. al (2003) discussed the role of cultivation theory when evaluating reality television. They concluded that what is portrayed as reality may, and often is, different from the actual real environment. From their research the assumption is made that a media channel cannot influence someone unless they have some use for the medium or its particular message. With Mastro (2009) findings that Black viewers have a strong preference for programs that showcase Black characters and a Black cast, researchers can infer that Black individuals, Black women in particular, will have a greater interest in and are more influenced by reality programming that stars other Black women.

The motivations of entertainment, mood boosting and passing idle time, are all backed up by the theory of Ritualized and Instrumental Viewers (Rubin 1984). Rubin

(1984) concluded that active audience members are drawn to TV programs in order to gain some type of gratification mainly to expand their own knowledge, while routine, or more passive viewers, often times watch TV out of habit or as a diversion. Papacharissi and Mendelson (2007) found that entertainment and habitually passing time were the main reasons for reality show consumption amongst college students. They also found that students with limited interpersonal interactions with others watched reality programs to fill voyeuristic and companionship needs.

Reiss and Wiltz (2004) used the theory of human motivation to determine why viewers watched reality television. The authors found that the more reality TV a viewer watched the more status orientated they were. The more status oriented participants were the more they reported enjoyment and pleasure from viewing reality TV. According to

Reiss and Wiltz (2004) status oriented people are motivated by a need to feel self- important. The authors suggest reality TV may satisfy this need by communicating an idea to viewers that they are more important or have a higher status than the characters displayed on reality TV shows and/or that reality television communicates an idea that regular people are important due to the interest in watching the day to day lives of ordinary people. The authors propose that reality television gives everyday people the opportunity to see other ordinary people like themselves being pushed into an arena of fame and imagine that they too could gain celebrity status by becoming a reality TV star

(Reiss and Wiltz 2004). Reality television viewers also have a higher motivation for vengeance in comparison to non-reality TV viewers and individuals own desire for vengeance is satisfied through reality TV (Reiss and Wiltz 2004).

Reiss (2000) states that the longing for vengeance is closely tied to the enjoyment of competition and stated that individuals who dislike conflict and competition may avoid reality TV shows because these shows are often centered around interpersonal conflict and competition.

Uses and gratification theory can also play a role in motivations for watching reality programming. This theory proposes that the audience is consciously choosing a particular media to satisfy a given need (Ruggiero 2000). Many viewers say they watch

Love and Hip-Hop because of the drama it provides and how that is different from their

everyday lives. Mack (2016) wrote about his top 8 reasons why people should watch

Love and Hip-Hop and they included, an escape from reality, relatability to the issues that

Love and Hip-Hop characters are going through, and an opportunity to learn positive and negative problem solving skills.

Nabi et. all (2006) examined why people watch reality TV and how they feel after viewing reality programs. They found that participants reported to have higher levels of happiness after viewing reality programming due to positive parasocial relationships with reality television stars and viewers seeing themselves in the place of the reality star per social comparison theory.

Representations of African Americans in the Media

Caricatures and the misrepresentation of Black bodies and the Black identity have existed in the media throughout history (Jackson, 2006; Bogle, 2001). White actors donned blackface starting around the 1830’s and performed exaggerated unintelligent and uncivilized depictions of Black people. Other depictions of African Americans subjugated them to only exist in roles as subservient help with the crux of their existence being to please their white employers (Jackson 2006). The characterization of black women as mammies, the tragic mulatto; the sapphire, and jezebel; and males as coons, the Buck, and Uncle Toms only further communicate the idea of Black inferiority

(Adams-Bass, Stevenson, & Kotzin, 2014, Bogle, 2001; Harris-Perry, 2013; Jackson,

2006).

Staples (2005) looked at how femininity was portrayed by African American characters in the media. The author states that femininity is encompassed by the gendered ways in which women identify themselves as social, sexual, spiritual, and intellectual

beings. She identified blackness as “a social identity trait that is informed by historical, cultural, political and linguistic variation” (Staples, 2005 p.3). She proposes that blackness is both admired and seen as threatening to the white heterosexual middle class male who resides at the center and most privileged position in American society.

Femininity she writes, is a condition of being female and the performance of feminine attributes. Staples (2005) writes that the prototype of the American woman is sweet, white, and virtuous and that is the standard to which all women are held. Being “docile, lovely but dispassionate, compliant, and decidedly unthreatening” are characteristics associated with this ideal woman, writes Staples (2005).

Representations of Black Women in the Media

Warner (2015) writes how romance on mainstream television aims to represent a

‘universal woman,' which she claims is usually coded as a normative white woman.

Springer (2011) wrote that Black women are usually left out of conversations surrounding romance and the female audience, due to a long history of Black women being interpreted as both hypersexual and asexual. In the world of Hip-Hop, women, particularly Black women, are under a different kind of scrutiny than in a general context.

In her book, Morgan (2017) talked about the sexism that exists within the arena of Hip-

Hop:

My decision to expose myself to the sexism of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg or

Notorious B.I.G is really my plea to my brothers to tell me who they are. I need to

know why they are so angry at me? Why is disrespecting me one of the few things

that make them feel like men?.... As a Black woman and a feminist I listen to the

music with a willingness to see past the machismo to see what I'm really dealing

with." (Morgan, 2017 p72).

Women in hip-hop must negotiate their positions in a misogynistic space and choose to be empowered.

Like any stigmatized group Black female representation in the media has been overwhelmed by tropes. Harris - Perry (2011), Walton (2013) and West (2017) all touch on the current media landscape being populated by stereotypical images of Black women being depicted as gold diggers, modern jezebels, sexual promiscuous, baby mamas, uneducated, ratchet, angry, mean and unhealthy. These images of Black women are continually reinforced via the media, through established laws, and even through our own political system (Allison, 2016; Harris – Perry, 2011). At the same time, Black women are frequent consumers of these negative televised depictions. In 2013, 6 out of the top 10 television shows watched by African American audiences were within the “reality television” genre (Allison, 2016). In 2017 Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta was the third highest rated major cable- network series amongst African Americans Levin (2017).

Within the 2016-2017 season 4 reality shows were amongst the top 12 highest rated

Cable and Network Television shows for Black Women, the shows included Love and

Hip-Hop Atlanta #5, Love and Hip-Hop New York #9, Real Housewives of Atlanta #11, and Love and Hip-Hop Hollywood #12.

The internalization of these negative stereotypes can have a lasting effect on how

Black women are viewed and treated by others in our society and on Black women’s own view of self and self worth. bell hooks (1992) suggests that viewers take an “oppositional gaze” at the controlling images and negative stereotypes of Black women projected by

the media. hooks proposes challenging and deconstructing negative images and rebuilding positive and uplifting images of Black women.

The jezebel and the sapphire may be two of the most pervasive images of Black women in today's Hip-Hop culture media (Campbell, Giannino, China, & Harris 2008).

The jezebel stereotype is characterized as a woman who is aggressive, sexually promiscuous, and uses sex to manipulate and deceive men (Brown, White-Johnson, &

Griffin-Fennell 2013; Lack 2015). This Jezebel image can be traced back to slavery when white men would frequently rape and sexually abuse Black women. To deflect blame from themselves for cheating on their wives the white men would attribute the sexual assault to Black women’s promiscuity and aggression, ridding themselves of any blame and making the Black women responsible for their own victimization. The jezebel stereotype can be seen today in tropes like the video vixen or the stripper turned media personality, popularized by women like Bernice Burgos, Blac Chyna, and Rosa Acosta.

The jezebel image reduces Black women to sexual animals and dehumanizes them so that when sexual assault happens the onus falls on the black female victim to prove the aggression rather than aggressor proving their innocence. This is exemplified in the 2006 scandal of a Crystal Mangum, a North Carolina Central student, mother of two and Black female stripper hired as entertainment for a Duke varsity lacrosse players party. Mangum accused three players of sexually assaulting her in the bathroom of the party. The case never made it to trial and in April 2007 the North Carolina Attorney

General dropped the case and declared the three players innocent of all rape allegations.

The three young men also each received 20 million dollars in settlement with Duke.

Surrounding this case were speculations that the intersections of race and class played a

defining role in the trust and credibility of Mangum and her aggressors (Cohan 2016,

Pace 2006, Yamato 2016). The ESPN 30 for 30 special recounting the case positions the white male lacrosse players as the true victims who are owed an apology from the media and the justice department for subjecting them to unnecessary mental and emotional distress and painting them in a negative light before all the facts of the case were known

(Yamato 2016) while Mangum is barely mentioned during the special at all leaving her voice and story essentially silenced.

The Sapphire stereotype is a sassy, hot-tempered, nagging woman, notably characterized in the 1950’s TV show Amos & Andy. The character Sapphire is a nagging wife who often demeans and emasculates her husband. The Sapphire stereotype depicts

Black women as unnecessarily angry and aggressive, trivializing legitimate pains voiced by Black women (Lack 2015). The sapphire trope is also seen as the cause for the high rate of single mothers and lower rate of women being married within the Black community, due to having an ‘attitude problem’ or being seen as ‘difficult’ (Perry 2006).

Kim Kardashian's winter 2014 Paper Magazine cover image recalled for many

Black women the difficult history of Sarah Baartman, a South African woman who was paraded around Europe as an exhibit in a circus style Freak Show due to her large butt.

The erotic fetishization of Black women in the media is a topic that has also been a media trope of black femininity. This trope was illuminated in the 1980’s with the media image of model, actress and singer, Grace Jones. Her provocative and animalistic photo with photographer Jean-Paul Goude depicted her as extremely darken, in a cage, with her mouth open in a roaring motion, entitled ‘Jungle Fever’. This imagery played into the idea of Black women being aggressive, wild, exotic, and animalistic.

(Photo credit: Jean-Paul Goude, 1982)

Another term that seems to be circling around media depictions of Black women is the term ‘ratchet'. Ratchet, according to Stallings (2013 p.135) is defined as foolish, ignorant, ho-ishness, ghetto, and a style of dance. Ratchet is typically described as the opposite of respectful, classy and or positive behaviors (Stallings 2013, Walcott 1995). In an interview for VH1, cast mates Mimi Faust and Erica Dixon from Love and Hip-Hop

Atlanta discuss what the word ratchet means to them as, "someone who has no morals, no values, they do whatever, say whatever and don’t care who it affects” (Exton, 2013).

Some say the Love and Hip-Hop franchise promotes “ratchet behavior”, with multiple popular blog sites such as bossip.com, thatsnoneofmybusiness.com, and hiphopwired.com all writing about the top most ‘ratchet' moments from Love and Hip-

Hop. Others, on popular opinion blog or message board sites such as reddit.com and within the social media space, argue that Love and Hip-Hop is simply a reflection of how

some groups of Black women communicate and interact and we should acknowledge that

Black women are not a monolith, they can be an embodiment of both former first lady

Michelle Obama and Love and Hip-Hop star Cardi B, and still be valid. Alcantara (2017) says that Cardi B and her ratchet and overly sexualized behavior represent the opposite of what society says women should be, docile, chaste, non argumentative etc. Alcantara

(2017) writes that to love Cardi B is to “understand womanhood in all its shapes and forms”. Cardi B unapologetically talks about using men and sex to achieve financial prosperity and brags about her swiftness in disposing of them once they cease to provide her with the money or attention she desires. Her message is seen as both ratchet and admirable by women. In a society where men feel they have autonomy over women’s bodies, especially if they are financially supporting the woman, Cardi’s message interjects. The Bronx native attests that she is in full control of her body and does what she wants regardless of what man, or men, are providing her with. This message is seen as inspirational for some Black women (Alcantara, 2017).

While Cardi B raps about being quick to cut men off, in reality that action appears harder to do for the Love and Hip-Hop star, which is significant in highlighting the duality and negotiations that must be made in relationships. Cardi B was married to rapper Offset from the popular group Migos in September 2017, between October and

December 2017 videos leaked of him allegedly cheating on his wife (Haylock, 2018).

She responded to the cheating allegations on twitter saying that cheating is something that happens, and is almost inevitable in relationships, staying with her husband until

December 2018. While many Black women were saying she could do better and that no one deserves that kind of disrespect others were agreeing with her saying that if you truly

love a man and he’s your best friend you’d be willing to work things out (Treadgold,

2018).

Hip-Hop culture has been criticized for disrespecting images of Black women and thriving on the explicit sexuality of the jezebel (Morgan, 2005; Chung, 2007). While Hip-

Hop culture promotes a variety of things including a particular lifestyle, language, and way of dress, it also proposes women as objects of sexual gratification (Chun, 2007;

Karru, 2006). This idea is then passed on that Black women can be dominated by men and operate to please men who aren’t required to make any commitment to them in order to receive the sexual pleasure they desire.

Ghetto Girl Motif

In her book, Pough (2015) talks about the ghetto girl motif and how it exits as a stereotype that is rarely questioned. Alonzo Westbrook’s Hip- Hoptionary defines a ghetto girl anywhere from an “ignorant sista’ to a sista’ making the best of what she can out of her circumstances”, she could also be a “run of the mil girl exalted to queen status” (Pugh, 2015 p.128; Westbrook, 2002). One must question what credits this ghetto girl’s accelerated climb from average to queen status, what actions must be performed for one to be deemed worthy ‘queen ghetto girl status’?

Many songs glorify the ghetto girl persona such as LL Cool J’s ‘Around the Way

Girl’, Cash Money Millionaires ‘Hood Rat Chick’, and Fetty Wap’s 2015 hit ‘Trap

Queen’. Pough goes onto describe the ‘ghetto girl motif’, which is exploited in many TV and film depictions. Pough, (2015) highlights that the ghetto girl is deprived of the full benefits of womanhood, with her intersectional marginalized identities being female, a racial minority, and from a low socioeconomic background, coded as Urban environment,

not taken into thorough consideration. In Hip-Hop culture, music and reality television, the ghetto girl is depicted as a gold digger, sexually promiscuous, living in a poor, predominantly African American, area and no questions are specifically raised as to why the ghetto girl is portrayed in this manner yet this image is taken as an “unproblematized truth” as Pough writes, or as a stereotypical caricature Pough, (2015).

Black Female Views of Black Women in the Media

Boylorn (2008) discusses Black female viewers of Black women on reality television as doing a two-part gaze. In one aspect Black female viewers watching depictions of Black women on reality shows have the opportunity to see themselves and how they are presented in reality television, this is seen as a way for Black women to shift standpoints from their own gaze and see how others are seeing them as a group.

Black female viewing audiences can use both their double gaze and personal experiences to resist and relate to reality television representations, finding both similarities and the contradictions within the characters displayed, Boylorn (2008).

Boylorn (2008) asserts that Black women must be prepared to critique and challenge media images displayed in contrast to their personal lives and life experiences.

This, she argues, is necessary so that what is presented as an authentic or ‘‘real’’ experience of Black womanhood is not simply based upon the most exaggerated media stereotypes. “Black women should not have to choose between ‘being real’ and ‘being

Black’ (Squires, 2007). Because Black women often find other Black women to be their mirror image, seeing Black women boxed into stereotypes is like seeing yourself there.

Some of it fits, some of it doesn’t.” (Boylorn, 2008, pg. 415).

Black Feminist Perspectives

When examining how Black women view themselves and how they are viewed by others understanding Black feminist theory is essential. Black feminist theory examines the intersectionality of race, class, gender and sex, and how theses distinct factors work together to form social identities. Black feminist theory also highlights the unique experience of being both female and black, and the controlling image of the black woman

(Crenshaw 1989; Smith 2013).

The term intersectionality was coined by Kimberle Crenshaw (1989; 1994) as a way to explain how racial and gender discrimination work hand in hand to create and maintain systems of oppression. She warns that having a singular focus on either oppression by race or oppression by gender is deemed ineffective while examining women of color who are susceptible to discrimination on both grounds. Crenshaw’s work regarding intersectionality has served as the reference point to examine how multiple oppressions work together to create a new and distinct form of discrimination. Collins uses intersectionality to credit the forms of oppressions particularly the intersections of race and gender, or the intersections of sexuality and national (Collins, 2000).

Collins (2002) writes that African American women’s oppression has encompassed three interdependent dimensions. 1) The exploitation of Black women’s bodies is a crucial factor of US capitalism 2) Political and social laws have allowed for the systematic oppression of Black women, deniying them the rights and privileges provided to white male citizens in U.S. society 3) The images of Black women that originated during slavery attest to the ideologies that uphold Black women’s oppression in America to this day.

Squires (2008) reflects upon the impact of controlling images on Black women as she uses critical race theory and Black feminist theory to discuss racialized performance on reality television and how these performances display problematic and stereotypical images of ‘real’ people embodying racial identities. She reflects on representations of

Black bodies in television and noted how these bodies are relegated to specific genres, and mainly low-budget productions. She used BET as an example with its production of cheap content such as music videos, infomercials and copycat versions of sister channel

MTV reality shows directed at teens such as Baldwin Hills. She writes, “advertisers and programmers have consistently relegated Black media products for cheaper production budgets, and undervalue Black audiences in setting rates for advertising” (Squires, p.439.)

Womanism vs. Black Feminism

Collins (1996) discusses whether a Black woman’s standpoint should be categorized as womanism or Black feminism. Considering what to label a Black woman’s standpoint, "womanism" or "Black feminism" reflects the basic challenge of accommodating diversity among Black women, writes Collins. In her acclaimed volume of essays Walker (1983) introduced four meanings of the term "womanist." According to

Walker's first definition, a "womanist" is "a Black feminist or feminist of color." Walker highlighted womanism as being rooted in the Black woman’s history of both gendered and racial oppression. One could ascertain that Walker herself uses the two terms, womanism and Black feminism, as being virtually interchangeable. Collins, (1996) discussed Black women rejecting feminism, even if they agreed with its core principles, because of its association with whiteness. She also points out that the term Black

feminists interjects the ‘whites only’ ideology that feminism projects, and prides itself for being there for Black women as a collective. Collins (1996) also acknowledges that the womanist vs. Black feminists’ debate is typically conducted within a circle of privileged

Black women, particularly privileged in the sense of higher education. The voices, thoughts, and assessments made by Black female academics with access may not speak to the essence of Black womanhood as a whole, especially to those whom are illiterate, uneducated, living in systematically impoverished neighborhoods, or from a low economic status.

While the varied experiences of Black women could still use exploration within the context of Black feminism, both Womanism and Black feminism exist to create a space to discuss the intersections that lie within a racial and gendered identity.

Summary

In examining the potential impact that media has on its viewers this study will be guided by highlighting stereotypical media images of Black women, and determining to what degree, if any, reality television has on influencing Black, female, college aged viewers. Black Feminist Theory will help determine how Black women understand and interpret the controlling images of Black female characters on Love and Hip-Hop.

Understanding intersectionality will also be helpful seeing as the majority of the female cast of Love and Hip-Hop are Black, the women have a somewhat form of economic prosperity and fame, particularly in comparison to the participants, and many of the women have transitioned from a low socioeconomic status to a higher status due to relationships, sexual or otherwise, with men.

Cultivation Theory allowed the researcher to determine the degree to which Black women are influenced in their romantic choices by the relationships exemplified on Love and Hip-Hop. Cultivation Theory also assisted the researcher in determining if heavy viewing of reality television plays a role in determining media influence on the audience.

This study makes additions to the growing literature by providing a better understanding of the genre of Urban Reality Television and uses the media stereotypes of

Black women to interpret how Black female viewers understand the controlling images of

Black women on Love and Hip-Hop. This study took the concepts of cultivation theory and applied it directly to a specific demographics idea of love and relationships. The study also places an emphasis on the consumption of urban reality television by women in higher education and determines to what degree it is influential.

Chapter 3

Methodology

Qualitative research is an interpretive form of investigation in which the researcher(s) collect and interpret data to understand a specific audience’s behavior and perceptions in reference to a certain topic or stimuli (Corbin, Strauss, & Strauss

2014). The focus in qualitative work is on self-reported sense making as revealed through methods such as focus groups, interviews, ethnography, oral history, etc. It is distinguished from quantitative research in that functionalist research seeks to predict and control. Qualitative work is exploratory, privileging the researcher as an instrument. A key aspect of qualitative research is understanding the way the respondent believes the world operates around them (Rossman & Rallis 2003), and this construction is influenced by the media we consume (O'Guinn & Shrum 1997). As indicated previously the focus of

this study is to better understand Black college women’s perception of the Black female image on Love and Hip-Hop and also their opinions on romantic relationships based upon the relationships they see on Love and Hip-Hop.

The approach deployed here is a thematic analysis, achieved through six one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Emergent themes were analyzed using the constant comparison technique. In this chapter there will be a discussion of the research design, including an explanation of the research method used, discussion of the research questions, review of the data collection process and analytical technique and an acknowledgement of researcher bias.

Understanding Constant Comparison Method

The Constant Comparative Method (CCM) coupled with theoretical sampling comprises the core of qualitative analysis in the grounded theory approach developed by

Glaser and Strauss (Glaser, 1965; Glaser and Strauss 1967; Boeije 2002). Tesch (2013) refers to comparison as the primary intellectual tool used in grounded theory to break down high volumes of diverse data. Tesch (2013) states the method of comparing and contrasting is used for virtually all phases during analysis, including forming categories, assigning data into categories, and summarizing the information within each category.

The goal is to identify similarities within the data and form categories based upon said similarities and then to determine patterns. CCM allows the researcher the ability to break down large amounts of data by focusing on smaller groups of similar data (Tesch,

2013). CCM is not designed to ensure that two researchers working on the same data will achieve the exact same results, as is the aim of quantitative analysis. The constant comparative method is designed to allow for some flexibility in the creation of theory,

through coding, determining categories and connecting them (Boeije, 2002). The constant comparative method is used as a method for analyzing data in order to develop a grounded theory. This method consists of 4 main steps (1) Identifying a phenomena (2)

Identifying concepts or principles of the phenomenon (3) Determining categories for the data based upon the researchers understanding of the phenomenon and (4) Engaging in theoretical sampling (Glaser & Strauss 1967).

Comparison groups are determined based upon their theoretical relevance for cultivating the development of new categories within the data (Glaser and Strauss 1967).

In situations in which the data is more so a homogeneous sample, such as with this research project, there is a basis for generalizing the findings and concepts found in the study for a broader sample of the same phenomenon. Due to the relatively small sample size the researcher will not be making any inferences regarding other phenomena even if they are of the same nature.

Research Questions

This study seeks to answer two main research questions based upon the theoretical background. The questions are as followed:

Grounded in cultivation theory

1) How do Black female college students describe the influence that continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop has on their perceptions of male/female romantic relationships?

Grounded in Black Feminist Theory

2) How do Black female college students describe the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop?

Data Collection Process

Data was collected via a series of six one-on-one structured interviews with open- ended questions taking place from January 2017 – March 2017. All of the questions centered around viewers interpretation of the relationships displayed on Love and Hip-

Hop, their perception of influence, or lack thereof, the show has on their own life and relationships, and their perception of the Black female image on Love and Hip-Hop. The participants were selected based upon a set of criteria including 1.Identifying as a Black female college student (grad or undergrad) 2. Aged 18-24 and 3. Have seen at least 9 episodes of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, New York, or Hollywood. All of the participants far exceeded the last criteria, having seen at least 4 full seasons of Love and Hip-Hop

Atlanta, New York, or Hollywood.

Participants were recruited via personal and class connections, associations with

Black and cultural organizations on the Campus of the University of Cincinnati, and via word of mouth recruitment.

Analytical Technique

This qualitative study was based in a desire to know the thoughts, ideas, and perceptions of Black college women, and what, if any, influence a reality show depicting women of their same racial background had on their perception of romantic relationships and the depictions of other Black women.

Qualitative content analysis looks at a form of text from one of many avenues including verbal, print, narrative responses, open-ended survey questions, interviews, focus groups, observations, articles, books, or manuals. This research methodology examines the text for the specific purpose of classifying it into thematic categories of

similar meaning. As previously stated, qualitative content analysis seeks to understand a phenomenon and does so by going through a systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes (Elo & Kyngäs 2008). There are three main approaches to qualitative content analysis, conventional, directed, and summative, and their difference lies within the approach to coding (Hsieh & Shannon 2005). A conventional content analysis was determined to be the best method of analysis for this study. In a conventional content analysis coding categories originate straight from the text as opposed to using predetermined categories, and is primarily used when the studies goal is to describe a phenomenon.

This study had a 3-phase analytical process of 1) open coding 2) grouping 3) categorizing 4) member checking and 5) peer review in accordance with Elo et al.,(2014) and Elo & Kyngäs (2008). Each individual interview was recorded and transcribed.

Multiple reviews of the interview content allowed the researcher to identify salient themes and categories that informed the coding process.

After transcription each interview was broken up into individual sentences and coded for their general meaning or idea which was step one within the analytical process, open coding. For example, an interviewee expressed that heavy exposure to Love and

Hip-Hop without exposure to Black women in reality, could subjugate viewers to a negative stereotypical image of Black women. This sentence was coded as “heavy exposure creates skewed view of Black women”. After all interviews were coded fully the researcher then went on to step two, grouping. The process of grouping the data set by placing similar codes together. There were groups of data that reflected themes such as cheating promotion, influence based upon youth, and relatability to the relationships

showcased on Love & Hip-Hop. This led to the third step in the process which was categorizing the data set based upon the emergent themes that came from the data groups.

In this step the coded groups were placed into themes. A total of 7 themes emerged from the data, four from RQ1 and three from RQ2. Categories were then formed to relate the themes to the research questions and the themes which emerged from the participant data.

The two categories which emerged were: Influence on Perception of Romantic

Relationships and Perceptions of Controlling Images, each relating to RQ1 and RQ2 respectively.

Upon completion of the analysis, the researcher then went back and reviewed the interview recordings and transcriptions and performed member checks with interview participants to ensure validity and consensus in what they were saying and how their statements were interpreted. Participant validation, or member checks, entails the process of presenting the emergent themes to participants, who then review and clarify the preliminary research findings (Thomas 2017; Koelsch 2013). Within the context of this study, member checks were conducted through participants’ review of the analysis, which was drawn from their individual interviews. Finally, there was a final review of the data set and findings conducted by the research advisor as a concluding method of validity.

Researcher Bias: Self -Reflexivity and Confirmation

I am a young Black woman with my own personal views on Love & Hip-Hop and how it depicts Black women and Black romantic relationships. Qualitative research requires an endless process of reflection on the research and the ways in which the researcher’s own views and assumptions influence the wording of interview questions,

and the lens in which the results are coded. Berger (2015) suggests that a researcher’s social position (gender, age, race, immigration status, sexual orientation), personal experiences, political and professional beliefs also influence the researchers position within the qualitative research project.

As the researcher I had to review the relationship I had with my participant respondents and how that relationship, or lack thereof, influenced how they responded to my questions. Pezalla, Pettigrew and Miller-Day (2012), stated that when conducting qualitative interviews each individual researcher has the ability to influence the collection of data in the sense that their interview styles create unique conversational spaces for interview participants. Due to the fact that I was within the same age range and shared in both racial and gender identities with the participants interviewed I suspect they felt a sense of comfortability with me and it afforded me a slight advantage in gaining and sustaining trust with my participants.

Throughout the process of completing this project I grew increasingly interested in Black women’s views on relationships, the Black female image and how Love & Hip-

Hop impacted this. In regard to the show itself, my initial thoughts surrounding Love &

Hip- Hop were not severely impacted by this study, although it did provide me with the opportunity to learn more about the show and its characters. As I moved forward in my understanding of the discussion surrounding relationship creation and the influence heavy media consumption plays, I also became interested in how media consumption shapes

Black women’s view of self-worth and expectations of male partners. As a scholar, and most importantly a fellow Black woman, I am invested in seeing Black women in healthy prosperous relationship with a healthy and positive view of themselves.

Chapter 4

Analysis

This chapter presents the results of the present investigation including identification and elaboration of the themes that emerged from the participant interviews.

The goal of this chapter is to present and analyze excerpts directly from conducted participant interviews that reflect participants views on the portrayal of women and romantic relationships in seasons 1-7 of Love and Hip-Hop New York, seasons 1-6 of

Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta, and seasons 1- 3 of Love and Hip-Hop Hollywood.

Using Cultivation Theory, this study sought to determine whether heavy TV viewing of Love and Hip-Hop impacted college-aged Black women’s expectations and ideas surrounding romantic relationships. Black feminist theory was also adopted as a conceptual framework for this study in order to adequately address how these same women understood the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop. This exploration was guided by two research questions:

RQ1: How do Black female college students describe the influence that

continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop has on their perceptions of

male/female romantic relationships?

RQ2: How do Black female college students describe the controlling images of

Black women on Love and Hip-Hop?

The presumption of cultivation theory is that heavy television viewing will lead to what is known as mean world syndrome (Gerbner et al.,1986, Morgan & Shanahan,

2010). Mean world syndrome was first coined by George Gerbner in the 1960’s to describe a situation in which viewers come to believe that what they are viewing on

television is directly correlated to negative real-life occurrences. Where constant viewing of violent content showcased by the mass media causes viewers to believe that the world is a scarier and more dangerous place than it is in actuality. The Mean world syndrome is one of the main conclusions of cultivation theory and often leads viewers to consider how this violent world impacts them personally.

Regarding my study the implication is that African American women, who’re heavy viewers of Love and Hip-Hop, will be influenced by the behaviors and relationships showcased on the reality show. The presumption is that behaviors learned from Love and Hip-Hop have the potential to impact viewer’s self-perception, their expectations regarding dating and romantic relationships, and how they interact with men.

Due to the fact that the vast majority of characters on Love and Hip-Hop are

African American and the show takes place within a Black cultural context (Bennett

2014; Lewis 2014) Black women can see themselves represented, even if it’s merely a physical representation, on this reality show. The researchers hypothesis is that the Black women in this study will see a representation of their gender and race, showcased on

Love and Hip Hop NY, ATL, and Hollywood, as well as representations of romantic relationships, and that these representation will have some influence on their self- perception and by extension their perceptions of dating and romantic relationships.

The participants are all self- identified Black women in undergraduate and graduate school, ages 21-24, and have seen at least 4 seasons of Love and Hip-Hop New

York, Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta, or Love and Hip-Hop Hollywood. Below is a snapshot

of the participants, the number of seasons of Love and Hip Hop they’ve seen so far, and the number of seasons of Love and Hip Hop available, as of February 2019.

Table 1 Snapshot of participants

Name: Age Year in School Race Relationship Status

Tyra 23 college sophomore - Black/African Single early childhood American education major

Sidney 21 college junior - sports Black/African Single management major American

Tia 23 college senior - Black/African Single communications major American

Sara 21 college junior - criminal Black/African Single justice major American

Kia 24 graduate student - social Black/African In a work American relationship

Laren 24 graduate student - social Black/African Single work American

Table 2 Participant viewing of Love and Hip-Hop

Participant Love and Hip-Hop Shows Number of watched seasons watched

Tyra L&HH NY, ATL 14

Sidney L&HH NY, ATL, 9 Hollywood

Tia L&HH NY, ATL, 4 Hollywood

Sara L&HH NY, ATL, 8 Hollywood

Kia L&HH NY, ATL, 13 Hollywood

Laren L&HH NY, ATL, 12 Hollywood

Table 3 Seasons of Love and Hip-Hop

Show Seasons Aired (as of February 2019)

L&HH New York 9 (2011 - present)

L&HH ATL 7 (2012 - present)

L&HH Hollywood 5 (2014 - present)

As referenced in chapter 3 the data was gathered through the process of one on one interviews with six participants. A copy of the interview questions can be found in the appendix section. The analysis is formulated according to the seven themes that emerged from the responses given by the participants to the interview questions. The following table shows the emergent themes that came from the participant interviews.

Table 4 Emergent Themes and Categories

RQ # Research Question Category Themes

1 How do Black female college Influence on 1. Normalized Infidelity students describe the Perception of 2. Realistic romantic depictions influence that continuous Romantic 3.Non-comparable relational experiences exposure to Love and Hip- Relationships 4. Life inexperience skews romantic Hop has on their perceptions acceptability of male/female romantic relationships?

2 How do Black female college Perceptions of 5. Promoting Stereotypes students describe Controlling 6. Exploitation of Black womanhood the controlling images of Images 7. Discrepant racial attribution Black women on Love and Hip-Hop?

Influence on Perception of Romantic Relationships

As shown in table 4, RQ1: ‘How do Black female college students describe the

influence that continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop has on their perceptions of

male/female romantic relationships?’ correlates to Category 1, Influence on Perception of

Romantic Relationships. Cultivation Theory attests that the more time someone spends

consuming a televised reality the more likely they are to believe the depictions on the

screen align with social reality. The participants described an overwhelming majority of

images depicted on Love and Hip-Hop showcase relationships in a negative light and

communicate a message to viewers to either accept or be complacent with cheating, lying

and disrespect in relationships which lead to the theme of “Normalized Infidelity”.

Although all participants said that cheating was normalized in L&HH relationships only one participant specifically said she would stay with a romantic partner who’s cheated, and she made it clear that was on a very conditional basis. The majority of the interviewees highlighted that cheating was something that was showcased and normalized on L&HH but not something they currently deemed as acceptable for their own romantic relationships.

The second theme, “Realistic Romantic Depictions” came from participant’s comments throughout the interview process that although Love and Hip-Hop is a television program it showcased romantic relationships in a realistic manner. The participants pointed out that while relationships highlighted on L&HH were realistic, many of the behaviors showcased were applicable to their friend’s relationships or others in their social circle but not always personally applicable to them in their individual relationships currently or in the past. While some participants freely admitted to being influenced by Love and Hip-Hop and believing the behaviors showcased on the show were acceptable, others rejected the images L&HH promoted and separated the show’s projections from what they personally decided to accept in their current or future romantic relationships. Participant’s denial of the show’s influence on them and adamant stance that they could separate the images of the show from their individual lives lead to the creation of the third theme, “Non- comparable Relational Experiences”. Participants viewed Love and Hip-Hop relationship behaviors as realistic but not comparable to their current relationships or what the behavior they would tolerate from a male partner if they were in a relationship. Lastly, the fourth theme “Life Inexperience Skews Romantic

Acceptability” came directly from participants crediting their Love and Hip-Hop

influence to being young and naive in the dating arena. Some participants admitted to accepting poor treatment from men in relationships when they were younger due to seeing women on the television screen going through similar situations and not having the experience or knowledge to know that they could and should be demanding and expecting more from male partners.

Theme #1: Normalized Infidelity

The mention of cheating was a constant across all participant interviews. Cheating appears as almost synonymous with Love and Hip-Hop as it is a storyline within multiple relationships on all the renditions of L&HH including NY, ATL, and Hollywood (Michel

2017, Edwards 2016, Lemoncelli 2016). When discussing behaviors women on Love and

Hip-Hop tolerate from their male romantic partners Tia commented that cheating was number one, accompanied by lying and various forms of disloyalty.

Cheating, that’s the number one thing, and everything that comes with cheating, lying, betrayal, ‘cause you gotta keep up your story to cheat, but yea, a lot of them tolerate cheating, the person that they’re with went to have babies on them... um what else do I see on Love and Hip Hop? Um bringin’ their ‘artists’ but with intentions of like a relationship with them but they already have like a significant other so it’s just a whole bunch of mess, like it’s just all messy. - Tia

The presence of cheating and disrespectful behaviors on Love and Hip Hop was the only point that was congruent amongst all of the participants. In one form or another each interviewee addressed the issue of cheating and lying being a behavior accepted and normalized by women on Love and Hip-Hop and told their own rendition of how they would deal or have dealt with cheating and or disrespectful partners of their own.

I see a lot of cheating, um, just disrespectful behaviors, just talking to other women that their woman does not appreciate them talking to, different things like that, and that’s something that I deem as disrespectful. - Kia

They (women of L&HH) accept verbal and physical abuse, infidelity, and just that the man doesn’t even treat them as the woman, they treat them as an object instead of glorifying them being a woman – Sara

Wilkins & Dalessandro (2013) cited that college women define real relationships as ones that are exclusive and condemn cheaters as bad people, while also acknowledging cheating as a regular and expected element found in college relationships. Wilkins &

Dalessandro (2013) also found that college women describe cheating within relationships as routine for college relationships noting that both men and women are likely to cheat and be cheated on. While all of the participants condemn cheating, some admitted to accepting unfaithfulness in the past. Due to the fact that they had experienced infidelity in previous relationships cheating was an absolute no go for them moving forward.

I’ve been cheated on and it was like an absolute no go for me. I mean I feel like when I was younger I definitely accepted more than I should have because I didn’t know myself worth at the time or just didn’t have any self-esteem at the time to be honest so I think I accepted less at that time but I still put my foot down when I knew, you know wrong was wrong. – Tyra

After the experience of being cheated on Tyra said she was steadfast in her view of self-worth and not accepting disrespect from male partners or playing the side chick role even though it is something she sees showcased often on Love and Hip-Hop.

Being side chicks is like a really big thing. I don’t know it’s like a thing for them, or you know its men on there who have multiple like baby mothers and it’s just like they’re all fighting over this one guy who played all of them. I just don’t get it, women need to know that they’re the prize, and they’re a catch and you don’t have to settle for being a side chick – Tyra

According to the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1975; 1980), we can predict a behavior prior to it happening based upon the attitudes and subjective norms surrounding that behavior. Subjective norms include the opinions and perceptions of people close to the individual making the decision, and in adolescence the opinions of

peers and the normative behavior established by teen culture plays a heavy role in understanding and predicting behavior of the teen (Furman et al., 2008, Williams, &

Hickle 2011). Montano & Kasprzyk (2015) stated that the best predictor of behavior is intention and intention is determined by the attitudes and social norms surrounding the behavior.

Despite multiple cheating allegations and allegations of sex tapes being released,

Love and Hip-Hop star Cardi B, explained sticking by her husband. Her comments addressed her attitude towards infidelity and the social normalcy that cheating has become a part of modern-day relationships, writing on Instagram, "well if people are talking about it and keep asking me how I feel about the situation why not let them know? Right or wrong? No, it's not right for a n---a to cheat... But what you want me to do? Go f--k me another n---a? Start all over again and get cheated on again? This s--t happens to everyone and I(it) be to you too. People handle their relationship different sooo…" (Aiello 2018, Uwumarogie 2018).

The participants admitted that the social norms surrounding cheating as acceptable, and at times inevitable, may have influenced them to accept disrespect from male partners, especially in their younger years.

Kia explained the behaviors showcased on L&HH relationships were similar to her previous relationship, but the older she gets the clearer she is about what she is willing, and not willing, to accept in a relationship.

Men on that show treat their women kind of how it was my past experience…. I think it has (influenced me) to a certain extent, you know when the show first started I was younger so I would look at those things and view it as not necessarily ok but like acceptable in this society, but now that I’m older and have had more experiences I don’t view it as something that I would particularly want in a relationship. - Kia

Sidney originally commented that she would never accept cheating in relationship as she highlighted a specific relationship on Love and Hip-Hop that showcased the cycle of cheating, forgiveness, and acceptance.

I mean if we’re looking at the Peter, Tara, Amina, love triangle, dealing with someone who you’ve been with for over 13 years cheat on you multiple times and have relationships, marriages, other children with another woman you know and wants you to accept that and live in the same apartment building with her, I think that’s a little ridiculous. Um I think all of the women on the show put up with a lot of unfaithfulness and disrespect from the males that they are in relationships with on this show. – Sidney

Sidney later acknowledged that she may give someone another chance after they’ve cheated, but it would have to be someone she “really likes” and she still would not tolerate the behaviors to the degree that women on the L&HH tolerate it.

I mean I may, if it’s on a good day, I’d give you one more opportunity after you cheat, maybe. I’d have to really think about it and really like you, but no, especially not to the degree that we see on this show as far as just blatant disrespect and um children coming from everywhere. No, I don’t think I could stand by that or stand with that, especially if you’re not my husband. - Sidney

When asked if cheating or lying was something they could deal with in a relationship the participants all answered no initially. Unlike Wilkins & Dalessandro

(2013) none of the participants expressed that they were expecting or would tolerate infidelity in their college relationships. Three out of six participants acknowledged that they did allow some forms of cheating or disrespect from men they were in relationships with in the past. Sara commented that on L&HH she sees women being subjected to verbal and physical abuse and infidelity and these are behaviors she would not accept from a romantic partner. In the next question she did acknowledge that some of the disrespectful behaviors highlighted on L&HH were present in her previous relationship, and that she was influenced by L&HH while in High School.

I would say that is was influenced by what I saw on Love and Hip Hop especially when I was in high school. Like I thought that was the right way to handle a relationship or to be in a romantic relationship but I was also younger so I needed time to mature to realize that’s not how it should be. – Sara

Although participant Tia was the heaviest viewer of Love and Hip-Hop, she remained very steadfast about not accepting cheating or lying of any form in relationships. When asked if the behaviors displayed on L&HH were ones that she could tolerate or has tolerated in the past she replied the following:

Oh no absolutely not, but that could be one of the reasons why I’m single now, but that’s ok with me because I’m not the one, I can’t tolerate that. Not at all, oh no. - Tia

Tia also commented that she didn’t internalize the behaviors she saw showcased on the VH1 reality show and she has no desire for her future relationships to come close to relationships showcased on the reality program.

It was clear throughout the interviews that participants saw infidelity as synonymous with Love and Hip-Hop relationships. While speaking with the participants it became clear that cheating, lying and forms of infidelity were seen as common and tolerable, if not expected, in the relationships the reality program showcases. Morgan et al. (2017) suggests that heavy viewers of L&HH would hold beliefs regarding infidelity that align with the beliefs of the reality program stars. Namely that infidelity is an allowable offense and a regular feature of relationships that one must deal with. Half of the participants admitted to accepting forms of infidelity or disrespect from male romantic partners in the past and noted that the relationships seen on L&HH may have influenced them to deem that sort of behavior as acceptable. The participant’s responses partially aligned with the idea proposed by cultivation theory, that heavy viewers of

L&HH would deem the messages promoted by the reality program to be valid. While half the participants did admit to being somewhat influenced by the media messages of the reality program, they were quick to make it clear that their tolerance of this behavior was in the past and they have since evolved in their perceptions of what is acceptable from a romantic partner.

Theme #2: Realistic romantic depictions

As mentioned in Chapter 2 cultivation theory proposes that heavy viewing over time creates a viewer’s perception of reality (Riddle, 2009). This appeared to be mostly true for the participants. While they did not always find the relationship depictions displayed on L&HH as realistic for their individual relationships, they did feel that the relationships depicted on the show were realistic and applicable to others. Some participants said that the relationships showcased on Love and Hip-Hop reflected aspects

of their previous relationships or their expectations of what a romantic relationship entails, especially at a younger age.

Due to the fact that the reality show is crafted for entertainment purposes and tends to exaggerate real life situations, some of the participants were able to acknowledge the influence of L&HH while also rejecting the images the show depicts for their own relationships. The ability of the participants to see the duality within their own interpretation of the reality program and their conceptualization of it showcased viewers ability to recognize that reality television is created for entertainment purposes, while still acknowledging that it is simultaneously influencing them.

Realistic images refer to heavy viewers capacity to identify and relate, either for themselves or for others in their lives, with the experiences that L&HH characters are facing within their romantic relationships. Some participants reflected that Love and

Hip-Hop portrays relationships in a realistic way based upon going through similar situations in their own lives that the women on L&HH face.

Kia expressed that although she wasn’t dating a celebrity of sorts, like the women on L&HH are, she still found the relationships on the show relatable to the way her previous boyfriend treated her, and in a similar way to the women on Love and Hip-Hop, she too stood for poor treatment for a period of time.

Men on that show treat their women kind of how it was my past experience. So I would say I can relate it to my past situation yea but it’s not my current situation, but I would say yea it does impact how I see relationships a little. – Kia

Kia also alluded to the desire for attention, fame and celebrity as an influential factor in men mistreating women. Throughout the interview she hinted to the fact that her ex-boyfriend was seeking a certain level of admiration and notoriety for having

multiple women in his rotation. She went on to discuss how this had a direct correlation to L&HH, with the men on the show being seen as cool and dominant when they lie and disrespect the woman, or multiple women, they are with.

Like I said, in the past yeah, I’ve had relationships where guys, they weren’t necessarily celebrities, but they you know wanted that status of like people admiring them, so I think it does kinda have a correlation. I think it (L&HH) does (relate). – Kia

Other participants expressed that Love and Hip-Hop is realistic based upon individuals in their lives going through comparable situations as the women on the reality show. Four out of six of the participants expressed that while the show wasn’t directly relatable to their own dating lives, they still found the show to be relatable in the lives of others.

I definitely think they’re realistic, I definitely know. I have people that are in my life that you know go through some of the things that the women on that show go through as far as their relationships. – Tia Um they’re not realistic to me but I know of people my age actually go through the same things that those people on there go through so it is kinda relatable just because in our generation there are a lot of relationships that take a turn for the worst like those relationships on there. - Sara

Ward and Rivadenrya (1999) suggest that television provides youth with knowledge and guidance they would not receive elsewhere and is associated with teen’s own attitudes and expectations for sexual relationships and dating. While admitting that the relationship situations highlighted on Love and Hip-Hop are not realistic to her personally Sara stated that in “our generation there are a lot of relationships that take a turn for the worst” like the Love and Hip-Hop relationships. This could lead to agreement with Ward and Rivadenrya’s (1999) assertion that while nothing personally has happened in Sara’s life to conclude that relationships take a turn for the worst, the relationships

displayed on Love and Hip-Hop aligning with relationships she’s seen showcased with others in her age group, have caused her to have an attitude that “in our generation a lot of relationships take a turn for the worst”, therefore guiding her expectations surrounding dating and relationships.

Other participants, such as Sidney, commented that viewing Love and Hip-Hop influenced them to be less trustworthy, more likely to be suspicious, and investigatory of a potential mate. Seeing how women were consistently lied to and mislead caused some participants to take an air of caution and starting new relationships off being distrustful and suspicious of potential mates to avoid the pain caused by men lying, cheating, or disrespecting them, habits they viewed the women on Love and Hip-Hop facing. This showcased L&HH influence in warning participants of potential dating hazards and what traits to avoid in romantic partners, as Laren expressed.

“I think that it has definitely shown me what I don't want and certain behaviors to look for because I don’t want to be in that situation. So in a way I think it has influenced me and shown me what I don’t want and what I should expect from a partner.” – Laren

“Sadly I think it makes me be more investigative then I was before. I can’t really, I’ve always been very ‘Inspector Gadget’ like, but after seeing some of the things on this show, knowing that they are realistic to some people, you just never know and so yea it’s going to make me look into you more than I would have in the past and to just make sure that someone is genuine and does respect me. I think I’m a lot more keen to that now than I was before because I do see so much disrespect on this show.” – Sidney

Gerbner, Morgan, and Signorelli (1986) found that the process of cultivation creates a situation in which television doesn’t naturally create or simply reflect images found in real life, instead television creates and displays images and opinions held by the general public. The idea that men lie or cheat is not something that exists within a bubble

of reality show programming. Popular blog sites such as The Root, and Digital Daze are riddled with articles of women expressing their grievances with men, whether it be for cheating, being disrespectful, or even sexual harassment. While the sample size was not nearly large enough to suggest that that the idea of men being liars and cheaters was pervasive in reality and therefore was reflected on Love and Hip-Hop, participants did provide significant evidence in their interviews of situations outside of the show impacting their suspicion and distrust of men in potential romantic situations. Many of the participants spoke about seeing their female friends and family members experiencing hurt due to men cheating, lying, or being disrespectful. Seeing the real-life situations of disrespectful behaviors coupled with the incessant disrespectful behaviors displayed by the men on Love and Hip-Hop appeared to create an idea of suspicion and distrust of men for the participants.

It appeared that participants saw the relationships displayed on Love and Hip-

Hop as realistic exemplifications of romantic relationships either for themselves or for others. Some participants acknowledged their prior relationships mirrored actions displayed on L&HH relationships and acknowledged that the reality program did have some impact on the way they viewed relationships in the past.

Non-comparable relational experiences

Throughout the interviews participants were adamant that while admitting that

Love and Hip-Hop is objectively influential to viewers, they rejected the shows influence on them personally. Participants wanted to make it clear that they understood and could separate the ‘reality’ coming from the VH1 show and the social reality context they exist in. The third theme is non-comparable relational experiences.

Participants attested that although they are heavy viewers of L&HH they reject the negative images the show promotes and do not currently ascribe to the relationships standards showcased on L&HH. In multiple responses participants would contradict themselves admitting that Love and Hip-Hop is influential, more so objectively, but say they themselves are not directly influenced by it. In this theme participants expressed that they were able to be heavy viewers of Love & Hip-Hop and view the show as simply an entertainment factor and not as a source for relationship advice or an avenue to model their own relationships after.

The idea of celebrity appeared to be a determining factor in the participants separating themselves from the images displayed on L&HH. Some participants felt that because the couples on the show have some form of celebrity their lives, and subsequently their relationship, were not relatable or comparable to the participants romantic relationships. The access to a different lifestyle, one afforded by money and fame, coupled with the constant exposure of being reality television stars, placed the participants at a disconnect from the L&HH couples.

They're definitely not relatable to me because I'm not a celebrity so I don't know, I don't think they are. I mean some of them but I feel like they're paid actors almost, they're being paid to get certain ratings. - Laren

I don’t feel like it’s relatable to my life because I don’t know, I’m just the average Joe like everybody else. - Tia

Tyra pointed out that she felt the show wasn’t relatable due to the images that the women on L&HH display, and the way they allow themselves to be treated, not aligning with how she viewed herself or wanted others to view her.

...and it’s not relatable because the way like these women are treated, or the way they put themselves out there to be treated, or the image that they’re portraying,

it’s not something that I would even wanna be looked at like. Like it’s just not a positive image - Tyra

Similarly Sidney commented that she didn’t find the show comparable to her due to the fact that the relationships displayed on Love and Hip-Hop lacked a morality standard she held for herself. This was the only time a participant mentioned morality and rejecting the show’s imagery for themselves due to a moral clause. While Sidney did not say she would stop watching Love and Hip-Hop she did say that she didn’t intend to model her relationships based upon the relationships displayed on the reality show.

Umm I don’t think it has any impact on how I personally view romantic relationship just because that’s not what I’ve been told or seen in my life. Like those relationships aren’t realistic to me and I don’t think that, that’s just not morally correct in my eyes. - Sidney

The fact that Love and Hip-Hop cast members get paid to have their dramatic relationships showcased to viewers every week (Clarendon, 2018) also appeared to create a disconnect with my participants. Laren perceived that the greater and more dramatic the antics displayed on the show the higher the ratings would be and the same is not typically the case for real life couples. Real life couples receive no financial compensation for getting into dramatic fights over cheating or having grandiose wedding proposals and massive breakups, which are all showcased on L&HH (Edwards & Esposito 2016).

Getting compensated to have dramatic scandalous relationships riddled with fighting and cheating to drive up ratings communicated to the participants that the antics of the people on the show were staged and therefore not relatable nor comparable to their real-life relationships.

No I don't think they influenced me really because I feel like they're almost just for show you know, like it's just for TV. - Laren

I know it’s like reality TV, but it’s not really my reality and I feel like a lot of things on that show are like staged. - Tia

Absolutely not for me just because I feel like you know this is TV like reality TV, so I definitely wouldn’t think to get caught up in Love and Hip-Hop for what I feel like relationships should be because I know for one it’s like scripted, they’re putting on and this isn’t really how people like work in relationships – Tyra

While cultivation theory attest that heavy viewers are influenced by media messages and are susceptible to believing televised depictions of reality, the participants made a distinction in their separation of the reality L&HH promotes and their conceptualization of the real world they exist in. Although the participants did admit to being influenced by relationship ideals set forth by L&HH in the past they stayed steadfast that currently they do not identify with the relationship examples set forth by the

VH1 program. This was primarily due to the show being viewed as overly dramatized in an effort to increase ratings. The participants acknowledged the paradox of ‘reality’ that

L&HH promotes as essentially being a performance with the goal to drive ratings, views, and social commentary. The women noted that the actions and behaviors of L&HH stars were non-comparable to their lives or romantic relationships currently. It appeared that acknowledging the performance factor that exists on L&HH made it easier for participants to separate the behaviors of the reality stars as simply an entertainment factor rather than a relationship example or goal.

Life inexperience skews romantic acceptability

Gerbner, Gross and Signorelli (1986), concluded that television is influential because it provides the medium for individuals to become socialized into the standard roles and behaviors of their surrounding culture. Bandura (1986) proposes that television

viewers are conscious consumers who reflect on, regulate, and vicariously learn from the

TV media they consume.

Participants rationalized the idea of relatability with L&HH more so with them being young, immature and easily impressionable, and did not correlate L&HH influence to heavy viewing. They expressed that while the show was influential, their youth played a major factor in their impressionability.

I think it has to a certain extent, you know when the show first started I was younger so I would look at those things and view it as not necessarily ok but like acceptable and expected in this society, but now that I’m older and have had more experiences I don’t view it as something that I would particularly want in a relationship. – Kia

I would say that I was influenced by what I saw on Love and Hip Hop especially when I was in high school. Like I thought that was the right way to handle a relationship or to be in a romantic relationship but I was also younger so I needed time to mature to realize that’s not how it should be. – Sara Tyra admitted to going through negative relationships that in some ways mirrored

L&HH relationships. She made it clear that while she was continually viewing the mistreatment of women on L&HH and recognized its relatability within her own prior romantic relationships, her acceptance of mistreatment in relationships was due to being young and immature. As she grew and matured her love of self wouldn’t allow for her to be mistreated as she was in past situations.

I’ve been like cheated on and it was like an absolute no go for me. I mean I feel like when I was younger I definitely accepted more than I should have because I didn’t know my self worth at the time or just didn’t have any self-esteem at the time to be honest so I think I accepted less at that time but I still put my foot down when I knew, you know, wrong was wrong. – Tyra

Juvenile maturity and lack of life experience was a common reasoning participants gave for accepting poor treatment from romantic partners in the past. It appeared that at times the women’s opinion on the influence of Love and Hip Hop 70

contradicted itself. They admitted to being influenced by the reality show’s projections of relationships, but only in the past. They made comments of the show being objectively influential but non comparable for their current individual relationships or future relationships

Perceptions of Controlling Images

Category 2, Perceptions of Controlling Images, aligns with RQ2: How do Black female college students describe the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop?

All of the participants acknowledged that Love and Hip-Hop promoted some form of negative imagery in their depiction of Black women, Promoting Stereotypes, Exploitation of Black Womanhood, and Discrepant Racial Attribution were the themes that emerged.

Promoting Stereotypes

A stereotype refers to an oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person. The participants spoke about how Love and Hip-Hop both confirmed and promoted negative stereotypes of Black women such as being loud, pushy, argumentative, irrationally angry, and quick to fight (Harris-Perry 2011 Lewis; et all.,

2016).

I think it definitely confirms the stereotypes that people set for Black women, just because those shows don’t show anything good about Black women. It shows that they can be very loud, ratchet, ghetto, and they tolerate a whole lot on that show that a lot of Black women in real life don’t even tolerate that. - Sara

Um I would definitely say negative. I just feel like it’s just too much, like the way they dress is provocative, the way they speak is ‘B this and B that’ and always cursing each other out, and it’s always like a big competition. To me like regardless of your race you should be like empowering one another instead of always competition or fighting or you know whatever or fighting over the same man. - Tyra

Sidney spoke about how Love and Hip-Hop is not the only show promoting Black stereotypes, she mentioned ABC’s Blackish as another program that promoted Black stereotypes but in a wider and seemingly more positive way. Tia spoke to the positive portrayals of L&HH characters but contended that the majority was negative. Although

Tia was the largest consumer of Love and Hip-Hop in the study, she was one of the few that directly commented on the hypocrisy between the actions and words displayed by women on the reality show, saying that she considered herself to be her “sisters keeper” and could not engage in the type of behavior that is displayed on L&HH.

Um mostly negative I would say, um like I do have a favorite character, or like a couple women that are admirable women I guess. Because they’re on there more so for business, you know like managers or things like that. So I guess that’s kinda the positive but overall it’s pretty negative because it’s just… it’s messy. Everyone’s talking about everyone, everyone’s you know throwing shade and just you know, selling their friends out. Cause you know like they’ll say they’re their friend and then turn around and they’re talking about them. So it’s just like I don’t know I come from a place where I try to be my sisters keepers so I would never use that type of language or act that way around people that I’m supposed to you know love and have this you know affection towards so yea it’s mostly negative. They always fighting and throwing they wigs, I just, no, not all Black women are like that. - Tia

While most participants agreed that the images of Black women portrayed on

L&HH were overwhelmingly riddled in negative stereotypes, they also identified some positive aspects of women on L&HH, such as the women being educated or putting themselves in a position to advance their career or their families economic position.

Recognizing that the women on L&HH display an overwhelming majority of negative depictions, some participants also acknowledged that perpetuating negative imagery was a choice. Although most of the L&HH women chose to depict themselves in a negative manner, some L&HH women used the show’s platform to bring them increased notoriety with the intention to further their own career endeavors and Black entrepreneurship, 72

which participants viewed as a positive. This is mostly shown with the cast member

Rasheeda who has her own makeup line, an apparel and accessory website called

Imbossy.com, and her own boutique in Phipps Plaza in Atlanta that opened in June of

2015.

97% of it is negative and only 3% of it is positive. The only positive aspects I’ve seen has been you know, K. Michelle rebooting her career, Rasheeda opening her store, and that’s pretty much about it. Everything else with the fighting, and the name calling, and the bashing of other women and the fact that they are taking just so much crap from the men in their lives, it’s just all negative. - Sidney

I feel like majority of characters on there are not positive depictions of Black women because they show them as always loud and confrontational and things like that. They just always wanna fight or just always looking for the man with the most money or things like that. But then there are some characters on there that are really levelheaded business women that are, you know, trying to do positive things for themselves and their families. So I think you get a little of both. - Laren

There are some women on there who are educated and you know have their own businesses and are doing really well for themselves and then there are other women who aren’t your typical business women but they still do what they have to do to make money. - Kia

Sara spoke on the women of L&HH allowing men to disrespect them as a negative portrayal of Black women, and the way in which the women carry themselves as being derogatory as well. The image of the women of L&HH fighting, physically or simply arguing with words, was pointed out as a constant negative amongst my participants.

I think it provides a negative (image), just because they let the men on the show degrade them and belittle them as women and they don’t carry themselves in a positive way to uplift each other or just to be a positive role model for their children or other Black women - Sara

The participants viewed the majority of L&HH content to be promoting negative stereotypical images of Black women. The participants did not say this caused them to have a negative view of self as they were able to separate themselves from the projections of the women on the VH1 show. Participants also noted that the negative images depicted on Love and Hip-Hop did not align with their own personal views of Black women in real life, but some participants did recognize that the images displayed on Love and Hip-Hop could influence how other viewers perceive Black women.

Exploitation of Black womanhood

Dictionary.com defines Blaxploitation as the exploitation of Black people especially in terms of media depictions. The Blaxploitation film genre emerged in the

1970s and targeted an urban African-American audience using a majority Black cast and incorporated funk and soul music throughout the production. These movies exploited the urban Black experience and highlight a warped view of expectations and desires for a

Black audience (Boyd, 2018).

While the Blaxploitation movie style seemed to appeal to Black audiences due to its incorporation of Black lead characters, a majority Black cast, and use of funk and soul music throughout the films, these films also came with an abundance of drugs, sex, prostitutes, pimps, and violence being presented (Koven, 2010, Lawrence 2007, Sieving

2011). Although initially popular within the African American community the

Blaxploitation films soon became a film genre criticized for its frequent use of stereotypes and exaggerated representations of the Black experience (Koven, 2010).

Present day Hip-Hop culture and expression has been commoditized, being used everywhere from the classroom to the TV screen, with representations of the Black

experience becoming exaggerated and stereotypical depictions of the mass society’s perceptions of Black Urban culture being exploited for monetary gain (Palmer-Mehta &

Haliliuc 2009; Patterson, 2015).

Love and Hip-Hop producer Mona Scott Young has been called out on social media, blogs and opinion piece articles for exploiting the young women on Love and

Hip-Hop with over dramatizations and stereotypical displays of Blackness (Lewis, 2016,

Mona Scott-Young, 2014; Walloe ,2017). Tia expressed her feeling that the cast of Love and Hip-Hop confirms negative stereotypes of Black women and exploits their negative images for financial gain.

Oh yea definitely, stereotypes that we’re loud and boisterous, and ghetto, definitely. They feed into it and I’ve actually heard of this genre it’s called Black exploitation, so I definitely think that that show is Black exploitation for sure, um just exploiting. I mean you know don’t get me wrong I got a little ratchet in me but I don’t want that exploited. I don’t want people you know, white people especially, to see that and just think that we’re all like that. I actually learned about Black exploitation in Dr. Jackson's class so yea - Tia

Some of my participants voiced the portrayal of Black women on Love and Hip-

Hop as being demeaning and only perpetuating the negative stereotypes of Black women in reality. Participants, such as Tia and Sidney, rejected these negative portrayals pointing out the positive things Black women are doing such as going to school and being good mothers.

Yea so I mean as a Black woman, as well, we are often the second class citizens and I feel like with these images and these portrayals of Black women in the media we’re still gonna, well not still, but were always gonna kinda be the second class citizens because we can’t rise past this ratchetness or classlessness in the media. But it’s like the media, I don’t know like, that is not the best way to you know portray Black women, ‘cause Black women are you know are, we doin’ stuff, in school, or if we not in school we being good mothers, it’s so much more to Black women, we’re so much more complex. So I guess they are pretty one dimensional in comparison to how Black women are that I know - Tia

At some point all of the participants expressed that Love and Hip-Hop perpetuated and exploited negative stereotypes and character tropes for Black women. Being ratchet, loud, and combative were some of the main traits that were expressed as being attributed to the portrayal of women on Love and Hip-Hop and that the Love and Hip-Hop franchise encouraged this behavior for ratings.

I absolutely think they like confirm what society views like badly of us. I don’t feel like it’s the good things they’re viewing. They’re not taking the good out of the show and saying ‘this is what all Black women are like’ it’s just all negativity. So I feel like what society looks at us as like ghetto, or ignorant, or loud, or whatever they’re giving them a reason to say this just by the way they carry themselves. I mean I don’t agree with what people have to say, like categorizing us all in one thing. - Tyra

I think it definitely it (L&HH) confirms the stereotypes that people set for Black women. Just because it doesn’t show, those shows don’t show anything good about Black women. It shows that they can be very loud, ratchet, ghetto, and they tolerate a whole lot on that show that a lot of Black women in real life don’t even tolerate that. – Sara

Participants determine that the projection of negative imagery was to drive rating and exposure for Love & Hip Hop, which in turn brought in more money for show creators, producers and the VH1 network.

Discrepant racial attribution

Racialized media portrayals are nothing new. The stereotypes of Black women as the jezebel, being hyper-sexualized and willing to use sex to manipulate and deceive men, and the sapphire, being aggressive, angry, and vulgar (Campbell et al., 2008) are pervasive within reality TV depictions of Black women (Reid 2013). Regarding racialized disparities in media portrayals, the participants pointed out that white women are allowed to be upset, allowed to show negative emotions, allowed to be passionate,

and allowed to be loud without a negative stereotype being cast upon their entire race or gender, whereas Black women are not allotted the same privilege.

I definitely think that white women are allowed to get away with a lot more than Black women are, because if a Black woman was to express her disagreement with something she’s gonna be labeled the angry Black woman, but if a white women was to do the same thing, she’s just voicing her opinion or letting her point be known, but it’s a double standard for Black women. - Laren

It's definitely disparities, cause a Black woman is loud she’s you know just a Black woman, she’s ratchet, but if a white woman is to get loud or you know aggressive she’s strong or powerful or empowering, so yea not even just on TV shows just period how the media depicts things differently. – Tia

Tyra noted how there are some images that are undoubtedly negative, like fighting or disrespecting a parent, but on the face of white children it is excused as being a phase, or a moment of ill thinking, whereas when Black children engage in similar behavior they are categorized as bad children, inherently disrespectful and unruly. Tyra also discussed an aspect of cultural appropriation where certain features or personality traits seen as negative when associated with Black women are seen as unique, cool, and marketable when associated with white women.

...Like when people use the term ghetto, like ghetto could be done by any race but I feel like when it’s another race it’s not shunned upon so much or looked a little bit appropriate. Like the little ‘catch me outside girl’ is literally like a little white girl who disrespected her mother and was tryna fight her on national TV and fight people in the audience but she’s being praised for like trying to do Black appropriation. Like society just doesn’t make it seem like as bad, or ‘they’re still good people they just lost their way’ when it’s like a different race, but when it’s Black it’s all bad. – Tyra

Sara noted that she believed the women on Love and Hip-Hop would be treated differently if they were not Black and would have excuses made for their negative behavior rather than it being attributed to an inherent characteristic flaw. She also noted that the Black women on L&HH play into the negative stereotypical tropes associated 77

with their race and gender, and they in turn assist others in making and perpetuating negative views of Black women.

I do think if they weren’t Black they would be perceived differently. Just because of how society is, society is always looking to put the Black woman down and if she’s not carrying herself well either that doesn’t help. So I think that if they were a different race they wouldn’t put them down as much, instead try to find a reason why they act like that. - Sara

Sidney commented on Mariahlynn, the only physically white appearing cast member on Love and Hip-Hop NY, who’s half Italian and half Puerto Rican. Mariahlynn, according to Sidney, is seen as “acting” when she’s loud, argumentative, gossips, and is disrespectful, on the other hand Sidney points out how no one questions the authenticity of Black women’s ability to display these negative character traits. Sidney commented that negative tropes were associated with the character of Black women, and it being unlikely for a white woman to inherently possess these same negative traits, the logical solution being that she is acting ‘Black’.

... There’s an idea of what Black women are, especially for people who don’t know a variety of Black women, and I think if they were not Black these behaviors wouldn’t be as expected. I think that many people they expect what they get from Love and Hip-Hop to be that and I think that if they were not, they’re shocked by it. I mean if you look at MariahLynn who was on Love and Hip Hop NY, when people see the way she acts it’s ‘oh she’s trying to act Black or that’s not really how she is, she’s putting on an act’ whereas if she’s acting the same way that some of the other cast members are, the Black female cast members, they just are being themselves that’s just who they are, meanwhile Mariahlynn is trying to be them or be someone that she’s not. - Sidney

Monetarily capitalizing on negative & stereotypical images isn’t something that is unique to Love and Hip-Hop. The participants pointed out that there are times when other racial and gendered demographics get upset, loud, or find themselves in drama filled situations, and these are not traits that are solely inherent to Black women. They also

noted the difference in the representation other groups receive when found in negative situations as opposed to the label Black women receive when they find themselves in similar negative positions. The participants acknowledged that other groups are allowed to get upset, vocalize their opinions, without negative stereotypes being placed on their entire racial and gendered group.

All of the women expressed in some form that exposure to Love and Hip- Hop influenced viewers perceptions of what is acceptable and expected in romantic relationships. Cultivation Theory refers to heavy viewers being influenced by what they see on television and starting to believe that the televised world is a reflection of social reality. The participants associated heavy viewing of Love and Hip- Hop influencing their view on relationships as being attributed to their youth and the ability to be heavy influenced within their teen and younger adult years. The women acknowledged that the

Black women on Love and Hip-Hop are interpreted as negative for expressing the same character traits that other women on reality shows do, the only difference being that the negative behaviors other characters express, namely white characters, are not used to categorize their entire racial and gender group. They interpreted the controlling images of

Black women projected on Love and Hip- Hop to be overwhelmingly negative and stereotypical.

Chapter 5

Results

This chapter serves as a conclusion for the analysis of this research study. It includes a summary discussion of each category presenting the major findings as they relate to the research questions. This chapter also acknowledges the limitations of the study and proposes recommendations for future research as well as addressing the theoretical and practical implications of the current study.

Review of conceptual framework

This study used cultivation theory to examine how Black college-aged women viewed romantic relationships and their expectations while in romantic relationships based upon heavy viewing of the reality show Love and Hip-Hop. Black Feminist theory was also used to review how Black college aged women viewed the controlling images of

Black women on Love & Hip Hop and if those images impacted their view of Black women in reality.

This study sought to answer the following research questions:

RQ # Research Question

1 How do Black female college students describe the influence that continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop has on their perceptions of male/female romantic relationships?

2 How do Black female college students describe the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop?

Discussion of RQ 1 How do Black female college students describe the influence that continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop has on their perceptions of male/female romantic relationships?

The analysis showed that Black female college students described continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop as giving them an overall negative perception of male/female romantic relationships. The results showcased that the participants viewed

Love and Hip-Hop as a platform that normalized disrespect in relationships, especially men disrespecting their female partners. The participants noted that some of them internalized this message from the images they were viewing on Love and Hip- Hop, especially in their younger years, and accepted more disrespect from men than they believe they should have.

The participants responses, in some ways aligned with the ideas proposed in

George Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory, suggesting that heavy viewers believe what they see on televised reality is a true depiction of reality itself. While some did say that constant exposure to Love and Hip-Hop caused them to become complacent with and tolerating of disrespect in relationships, others rejected that notion and stood fast in separating the reality showcased on Love and Hip-Hop from the reality of their lives.

Two participants in particular, Tia and Tyra, were adamant in their rejection of the VH1 show influencing them, although they did admit that objectively the show was influential and influenced how their peers saw relationships.

The data gathered from the participant’s responses showcased somewhat of a discord between how some participants conceptualized the influence of Love and Hip-

Hop for themselves and for others. All of the participants admitted to Love and Hip-Hop being an influential factor in how heavy viewers interpret romantic relationships and

what they are willing to accept from romantic relationships. In this sense Gerbner’s

Cultivation Theory aligned with the participants’ assessment of influence garnered by televised depictions of reality. In another sense not all the participants could acknowledge that this influence impacted them personally as a heavy viewer. Some participants such as

Sara, Sidney, and Kia, admitted that their heavy viewing of Love and Hip-Hop did influence how they saw and interpreted romantic relationships and even admitted to previously dating men that replicated some of the disrespectful behaviors men on L&HH displayed. Other participants such as Tia and acknowledged that the show had the power to influence and was influential for other heavy viewers, just not personally for them and their relationships.

Discussion of RQ 2 How do Black female college students describe the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop?

The analysis of the participants responses showed that they viewed the controlling images of Black women on L&HH as stereotypical negative depictions. All of the participants were in agreement that Love & Hip Hop emitted negative depictions that both confirmed and promoted negative stereotypes of Black women such as being loud, pushy, argumentative, irrationally angry, and quick to fight (Harris-Perry 2011; Lewis,

Mendenhall, Harwood & Browne Huntt 2016) as mentioned in chapter 4. Black

Feminists Theory looks at the intersectional oppressions that come from being a part of two marginalized groups, being both Black and female, and the controlling image of the

Black female body.

While the interviewees did admit an overwhelming majority of negative depictions of the

Black Female on L&HH some acknowledged positive depictions as well, such as one cast

member having her own business. It is important to note that this was the only positive comment concerning the depiction of Black women on L&HH, but the comment came from multiple participants

The interviewed participants overwhelmingly rejected the negative depictions showcased by L&HH for their own lives and admitted that Black women they knew did not solely embody these negative portrayals. This could be interpreted as them seeking an oppositional gaze, a concept described by bell hooks (2003). Tia highlighted that Black women in reality are in school, raising families, and overall more complex beings that the one-dimensional character tropes showcased on L&HH. The Black female gaze has viewers challenge, critically examine, and deconstruct the negative images of Black women found in the media, to reflect a more positive and accurate representation. hooks discusses how there is power in gazing and looking up. Michael Foucault addressed how a possibility of resistance needs to exist in all power relations and hooks alludes to the oppositional gaze being that form of resistance to redirect the power in control of the

Black female image (Ahonen, et. al 2014; Foucault 1982; hooks 2003,). While the interviewees admitted to negative controlling images showcased on L&HH they did not appear to allow those images to dictate to them how to view Black women in reality.

The participants, all heavy viewers of Love and Hip-Hop, admitted to the reality program showcasing negative depictions of Black women, yet they still watched. When asked why she continues to watch L&HH Tia, the heaviest viewer replied:

“Um, the drama, I’m not gonna lie. I call it ratchet TV Mondays, cause Love and

Hip-Hop comes on, Stevie J has his own show and K Michelle has her own show and it’s just all ratchet. And I don’t know, my friends are kinda dry so I need a lil’ drama in my

life cause I don’t really have none personally even if it’s made up, I mean it’s interesting.

But I definitely see like how it’s problematic too but you know I don’t use it to internalize it, I know who I am, I know the difference so I just use it for entertainment.”

It appeared that the participants, Tia in particular, were grappling with the understanding that the VH1 reality show does promote negative stereotypes of Black women and

‘ratchet behavior’, yet still desiring to see some form of drama to avoid the monotony of their own lives. Their desire to see dramatic depictions, and the show filling that desire, did not leave L&HH free from critique. Boylorn (2008) also found that she could be a fan of and fascinated by the dramatic depictions of Black women on reality television, while also critical of the depictions those same Black women projected.

The data collected via the participant interviews suggest that heavy viewers can deconstruct the perceived negative images presented on Love and Hip Hop, supporting hooks oppositional gaze. Boylorn (2008) suggested that it’s possible to be both fascinated and disgusted by derogatory images of Black women showcased in the media, that the two can co-exist. The participant’s criticism and acknowledgement of the negative images projected by L&HH coupled with their own participation in viewing the reality program showcased the role of the oppositional gaze.

Implications

An implication of this study is for television producers and media content creators to considers their Black female audience, the implications of them seeing negative portrayals of Black women and Black romantic relationships within the media and how that may impact their self-image or image of relationships. This study showcases that

Black female viewers are being impacted and influenced by the images seen on Love &

Hip Hop, and this could have an adverse impact when they are choosing male partners and choosing what to tolerate while in relationships.

Another implication could be that VH1 is cutting off a large potential viewing audience from their programming by not showcasing more positive portrayals and therefore losing out on money for the network. Abrams & Giles (2007) noted that Black college students with high racial identity were more likely to watch media content showcasing positive images of Black people and were more likely to avoid television content that did not foster a positive depiction of Black culture. If VH1 incorporated more positive programming showcasing Black womanhood and romantic relationships they could reach a broader audience. It is important to note that in March 2018 VH1 launched a new reality show entitled Teyana and Iman, about rapper and dancer Teyana

Taylor and Sacramento Kings basketball player Iman Shumpert. This show displays their love and raising their daughter while both having busy schedules. The show has been described as depicting a ‘positive view of Black Love and Black family in Hollywood”

(Saric, 2018). Teyana and Iman could be VH1’s response to the drama filled relationships showcased on Love and Hip Hop, providing viewers with another, presumably positive aspect of Black relationships within the Hip- Hop arena.

Limitations

It is important to note the researcher was working with a limited participant population and with only 2 main research questions. Due to time constraints and lack of access to a high population of Black students, the researcher utilized convenience sampling from students who access the African American Cultural Resource Center at the

University of Cincinnati and through personal connections with the Black Graduate and

Professional Association. The convenience sampling of this study decreases the generalizability of results from those outside of the college and university system, although generalizability is not the focus of a qualitative study. This research was very specific to Love & Hip Hop and no questions were directly asked about engagement with other forms of Reality Television, so the derived results are not applicable to a broader generalizable population.

Recommendations for Future Research

In the current analysis the participants showcased what Gerbner proposed in his

Cultivation Theory, that heavy viewers are influenced by televised depictions of the reality they are viewing. Seeing the influential role that television plays in the way viewers construct and interpret reality it would behoove VH1 and the producers to consider promoting a broader depiction of images and relationships. According to the participants the majority of the current content on Love and Hip Hop showcases troubled relationships riddled in lying and disrespect along with negative depictions of Black women. For a more accurate depiction it may be beneficial to incorporate varied story lines that don’t solely focus on the negative aspects of relationships but also showcase healthy relationships as well. The same is applicable for the portrayal of Black women on

Love and Hip Hop, it may be advantageous for VH1 producers not to get rid of the

‘ratchet portrayals’ altogether, but also incorporate more programs that showcase positive aspects of Black womanhood with less ratchet behavior. It’s clear that there is an audience for and appreciation of the drama that Love and Hip Hop provides, so it would be unfair to do away with the program altogether.

Based upon the research conducted and research findings, future research could be aided in the following ways:

1) Interview a population encompassing a larger sample size.

2) Repeat this study using a mixed racial sample pool

3) Repeat this study using focus groups instead of one on one interviews

4) Explore how the current social climate of Black people in the media has had an effect on racial identity

5) Account for Response Bias

Interview a population encompassing a larger sample size

Creswell (1998) recommends a sample size ranging anywhere from 5 to 25 participants, while and Morse (1994) suggests at least six. There are no specific rules when determining an appropriate sample size in qualitative research. Patton (1990) argued that qualitative sample size may best be determined by the time allotted, resources available, and study objectives. Saunders et all., (2017) concluded that saturation should be consistent with the research questions, theoretical position and analytical framework of the study. Malterud et all., (2016) claimed that sample size should be determined by the aim of the study, sample specificity, use of established theory, quality of interviews, and strategy of analysis. These all provide different recommendations as to how large a sample size should be with no definitive answer. Future research could be aided by having a larger sample size to make the data more generalizable and incorporate a broader variety of participant responses.

Repeat this study using a mixed racial sample pool

This study was Black female specific, due to using Black Feminist Theory as a theoretical framework and its focus on the Black female experience from the standpoint of the Black Female. For future research, expanding the sample pool to include heavy viewers whom encompass women of other races, or bi-racial, may provide interesting differences in the ways in which viewers identify with the show and the influence it has on their views of relationships. Due to the fact that all of the participants were Black women they could be seen as more aware and critical of discrimination, stereotypes, and general social plight of Black people and Black women specifically. Many of the participants commented that Love & Hip-Hop promoted negative stereotypical images of

Black women and touched on the concept that women of other races, white women specifically, do not come under the same criticism when they are behaving in traditional

‘ratchet’, ‘classless’ or ‘wild’ ways. Participants Sydney and Kia specifically mentioned that white women are not judged the same and have excuses made for them when they behave in similar ways as the women on L&HH. This acute awareness of perceived disparities between the way Black and white women are judged could be seen as more prominent in this study due to the population being made up of all Black female college students. Broadening the study to include female college students of all races could be significant in determining differences from other ethnicities in regard to how Black women are perceived and view of romantic relationships, and therefore should be explored in the future research of this study.

Repeat this study using focus groups instead of one on one interviews

Guest et all. (2017) found that while in focus groups participants were more apt to share personal or sensitive information, as compared to during individual interviews.

Guest et all. (2017) also found that focus groups were more effective in generating a broader and more open discussion. Interviewing participants in a focus group format may allow for more and or different information to be shared. Guest et all., (2017) found that in the focus group format one participant could be talking about a subject and that triggers another participant to share on something, and the cycle continues.

Explore how the current social climate of Black people has had an effect on racial identity

The controversial 2012 Treyvon Martin case, the untimely deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in 2014, Sandra Bland in 2015, and Alton Sterling and Philando

Castle in 2016, have all led to nationwide protests surrounding police killing unarmed

Black people. This information, while many Black and Brown people would argue is nothing new, has saturated the American news cycle the past few years. For future research it may be advantageous to consider how exposure to pro Black sentiments due to an increased awareness of unarmed killings of Black people at the hands of the police, has had an effect on racial identity levels and views of Black depictions on reality programs. It may also be interesting to see how Black women’s views on the Black men they are, or could be, in romantic relationships with, is impacted by the saturation of

Black men being killed by police.

Account for Response Bias

Paige et all., (2017) found that cross-cultural differences in response bias could account for cultural differences in memory specificity across racial groups. Lloyd, et all.,

(2017) determined that in measuring Blacks and whites telling truths and lies about interpersonal relationships, white participants concluded that Black targets were telling the truth more often than they judged that White targets were telling the truth.

Interestingly enough Lloyd et all., (2017) also found that white participants had a truth bias towards Blacks predicated by their motivation to respond without prejudice and to actively reject the stereotype of seeing Blacks as liars, untrustworthy, etc. But, while using eye tracking measures the researchers found that white participants were faster to visually fixate on the on-screen “lie” response box when targets were Black than when targets were white, despite ultimately determining that Black targets were telling the truth more often than white targets. These examples showcase the presence of response bias even when the participant is actively trying to go against their bias judgments.

According to Gandy (2001), response bias has the potential to be introduced whenever the researchers questions cue the respondent to the underlying racial tone of the question. Gandy (2001) also suggested that participants racially identification with the interviewer may create some form of response bias. For this study the researcher was very close in age to the participants, and also shared their race and gender identity.

Identifying with and having the physical characteristics of a Black woman, could have accounted for response bias from the participants seeing as they were also all Black women speaking on a subject that centered Black women.

Summary

This study adds to the literature on Black Reality Television and the study of television influence on heavy viewers. The study sought to determine if heavy viewers of

Love and Hip-Hop were influenced in their expectations for romantic relationships based upon the examples they saw on Love and Hip-Hop. It also sought to understand how

Black women interpret the controlling images of the Black female body that is projected on Love and Hip-Hop. The two general conclusions that came about from the research questions are as followed:

RQ1) How do Black female college students describe the influence that continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop has on their perceptions of male/female romantic relationships?

Love and Hip-Hop projects a negative image of romantic relationships and influences heavy viewers to see negative treatment as an aspect of being in a relationship.

Many participants acknowledged that while Love & Hip Hop was objectively influential for heavy viewers some were able to separate themselves from the projections of the show as they increased in their age, relationship experience and maturity.

RQ2) How do Black female college students describe the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop?

Interviewees described Love and Hip-Hop as projecting negative stereotypical images of Black women across all three L&HH platforms.

Final Thoughts

This study examined if heavy viewers of Love and Hip Hop were influenced by the reality show in their ideas of what to accept and expect from a romantic relationship.

The primary themes that emerged from this study were

(1) Normalized Infidelity, (2) Realistic romantic depictions, (3) Non-comparable relational experiences, (4) Life inexperience skews romantic acceptability,

(5) Promoting Stereotypes, (6) Exploitation of Black womanhood, and

(7) Discrepant racial attribution. While the women interviewed reflected that the reality show Love and Hip-Hop did influence viewers and had realistic portrayals of romantic relationships, they separated themselves from the general viewing population who were greatly influenced. The participants expressed that the older they got the less influence the reality program played in their view of what to tolerate and expect from a romantic partner. The women who did admit to being influenced by the images displayed on Love and Hip-Hop credited their influence to youth and a lack of experience in dealing with romantic relationships. All of the women indicated that their current expectations from a romantic partner are in no way modeled after relationships portrayed on Love and Hip-

Hop, although they did acknowledge that previously the reality show did somewhat inform their behavior in a relationship. The literature suggested that Black girls, teens, and young adults, look to media sources to identify role models and develop understandings of Black womanhood and relationships (Stevens, 2018; Nunnally, 2012;

Stevens, 2002). The participants expressed that as they increased in age and experience, media, specifically Love and Hip Hop, was less of an influence on them and how they function while in a romantic relationship.

All of the participants started watching Love & Hip-Hop at the age of 17 or younger and some explained that they were influenced by the show due to being young and easily impressionable. Although most of the participants admitted the reality program promotes negative stereotypes of Black Women and was problematic in ways, they still

found the program entertaining and enjoyed the drama factor the program provided. The women justified this complexity by saying they participated in viewing the program but didn’t internalize the messages it provided.

Love and Hip –Hop is a reality program that showcases an aspect of Blackness,

Black womanhood and Black romantic relationships. Love and Hip Hop provides an avenue of relatability for some Black women through its projection of the Black female experience in friendship, dating and career building. It is important to showcase different depictions of Blackness, Black love and Black friendships in the media, which is why programs like Scandal, Insecure, How To Get Away With Murder, and Blackish are necessary. All with Black female lead characters, these programs showcase a varied

Black female experience in relationship negotiation, career building and sustaining friendships. While both reality and scripted programing exists to provide an entertainment factor it is important for us to be aware, as media consumers, of what we are taking in and allowing to influence us whether it be consciously or unconsciously.

Black women are complex, divine, individuals who deserve media representation in all forms and capacities of their existence. I am thankful for the varied expressions of Black women who are in the entertainment, political and activist media realms such as

Beyoncé, Issa Rae, Viola Davis, Angela Rye, Symone Sanders, Tarana Burke and countless others. I hope to continue to see more and more Black female media representation as we move forward as a society.

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Appendix I

Individual Interview Questions:

RQ1: How do Black female college students describe the influence that continuous exposure to Love and Hip-Hop has on their perceptions of male/female romantic relationships? Framed by Cultivation Theory

1. Do you think the way in which romantic relationships are displayed on Love and Hip

Hop has any impact on how you personally view romantic relationships?

2. Do you think the images of male/female romantic relationships portrayed on Love and

Hip-Hop are realistic or relatable to you?

3. What are some of the behaviors you see that the women on Love and Hip Hop accept from their male romantic partners?

a. Are these behaviors that you would accept from a male romantic partner?

4. Has your perception of romantic relationships (regarding what to expect, how to behave, and what to ask for in a romantic relationship) changed since watching Love and

Hip Hop?

5. Do you feel that your own romantic relationships (past or present) aligns with the image of romantic relationships depicted on Love and Hip Hop?

6. Do you think that an individual who’s never seen Love and Hip Hop would have a different perception of male/female romantic relationships than an individual who’s seen a whole season of the show?

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RQ2: How do Black female college students understand the controlling images of Black women on Love and Hip-Hop? Framed by Black Feminist Theory

7. Do you think the images of Black women on Love and Hip Hop provide a positive or negative depiction of Black women?

8.When considering other mainstream reality TV shows, do you think the cast of Love and Hip Hop confirm or reinforce stereotypes of black women ?

9. Do you think the images of Black women on Love and Hip Hop are diverse (or complex) or one-dimensional character portrayals?

10. Do you think the intersectionality of being both female and Black plays into the way the women on Love and Hip Hop are seen by viewers?

11. Do you think the intersectionality of being both female and Black plays into the way the women on Love and Hip Hop are treated by males on the show?

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Appendix II

Student Participant Questionnaire:

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Ethnicity/Nationality:

Major:

Academic Year of Study:

College/University Name:

Seasons of Love and Hip- Hop viewed:

Relationship Status:

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