A Narrative Analysis of the Big, Black and Beautiful Body Subjectivity Constituted on Large African American Women
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE FATTENING HOUSE: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BIG, BLACK AND BEAUTIFUL BODY SUBJECTIVITY CONSTITUTED ON LARGE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN Angela Denise Prater A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2008 Committee: John Warren, Ph.D., Advisor Khani Begum, Ph.D. Graduate Faculty Representative Sung-Yeon Park, Ph.D. Thomas Mascaro, Ph.D. © 2008 Angela Prater All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT John T. Warren, Advisor This study examines the ways in which the binaries of a constitutive subjectivity and social reality constrain the identities of large African American women. This constitutive subjectivity is called the Big, Black and Beautiful Body (B4) narrative. The B4 narrative positions large African American women as having high body esteem regardless of current social messages that promote thin body image standards. To explain the operation and power of the B4 narrative, the fattening house, an old Nigerian custom, is used as a metaphor to demonstrate the house’s roots to past racist stereotypes. This dissertation employs narrative analysis to critically access twenty in-depth interviews of large African American women and situate their lived experiences within the metaphorical fattening house. Findings reveal these women simultaneously resist and accept the B4 subjectivity and struggle between the binary of the B4 and their social reality. As such, the constitutive B4 subjectivity constrains their lives through four prominent narratives presented here as rooms within the fattening house. This study suggests large African American females constantly negotiate their identity to fit within the B4 subjectivity, although their social reality is not the same. It offers insight into how the large African American female subjectivity is overlooked and the B4 narrative functions to uphold past racist conceptions of black womanhood. iv This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. William Shakespeare v This is dedicated to my participants, thank you all for sharing your lives with me. I hope you continue on the journey of self love, self acceptance and a healthy lifestyle. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank my director Dr. John T. Warren. Thank you so much for your acceptance of this idea as a worthy project. It is rare to find a dissertation advisor who completely puts the students’ ideas first and helps them shape their own dissertations. For that, I am eternally grateful. I could not have done my dissertation without you, and I cannot say enough about how much this means to me. Thank you for allowing me to take precious moments away from your wonderful family, Elias, Gina and Isaac James. With your busy life, the fact that you were always there for me during this process shows dedication that surpassed any expectation one would have of a professor in this position. BGSU will never be the same without you and SIU students gain a great mentor, teacher and friend. Thanks to my committee members Dr. Mascaro and Dr. Park. I appreciate your guidance, input and advice during my graduate studies, the job hunt and my dissertation. You have both had a great impact on how I approach scholarship and especially teaching, thank you. I’d like to thank my graduate representatives, Dr. Celli and Dr. Begum, I am grateful for your willingness to be a part of my committee and especially for your valuable input. I would like to thank Dr. Leigh Arden Ford, my thesis advisor, without your ongoing support and encouragement for me to pursue doctoral studies I would have never considered it. To my dissertation buddy Andrea, we made it! It was a stressful time, but having someone there to understand is priceless. I look forward to seeing you at future NCAs. To my family and friends, Mom, Yolanda, Anu, Suzy, Abu and my fiancé George, thank you all so much for loving me and supporting me through all of this. I vii believe that I have the best circle of unconditional love any person could hope for. I must say that I could not have finished without the financial support of Judy and Lee Miller who took on the editing costs of this project in my haste to finish well. You have both been great supporters of my body image research. You are both angels, God bless you. I must say thank you to my editor, Rona Klein, thank you so much for being there to edit well with a quick turnaround. And finally, I have to say thank you to my new academic family at Northampton Community College. Elizabeth and Hazel I appreciate your understanding of my committee constraints that prevented me from attending the entire week of training. And to my new colleagues Chris and John for offering your support, I look forward to new beginnings at NCC Monroe. Angela Denise Prater vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION All Old Narratives Are New Again ........................................................................... 1 Chapter Descriptions .................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Narratives Out of Focus ............................................................................................. 13 Focus on Communication and Critical Cultural Studies ............................................ 13 Focus on Race, Class and Gender in the Media ......................................................... 18 Focus on Body Image and Race in Media Studies .................................................... 25 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER III. METHOD Searching for the Master Narratives .......................................................................... 33 Narrative Analysis Key Concepts .............................................................................. 35 Gathering Data: In-Depth Interviews ......................................................................... 40 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS Subjectivity Components of the B4 Master Narrative ............................................... 46 Esteem Narratives ...................................................................................................... 47 Self-Control Narratives .............................................................................................. 58 Community Acceptance Narratives ........................................................................... 65 Objects of Desire Narratives ...................................................................................... 71 The “Fattening House” as Metaphor and Analytical Framework .............................. 83 vii Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 91 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 98 Dissertation Summary ................................................................................................ 99 Implications ............................................................................................................ 101 Implications for Future Research ............................................................................... 105 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 108 APPENDIX A. Recruiting Ad .............................................................................................. 121 APPENDIX B. Recruiting Questionnaire ............................................................................. 122 APPENDIX C. Participant Chart .......................................................................................... 123 APPENDIX D. Interview Protocol ....................................................................................... 124 APPENDIX E. Consent Form............................................................................................... 129 1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION All Old Narratives are New Again The creation and re-creation of racist and sexist narratives surrounding the stereotypical icons of Hottentot Venus, Mammy and Jezebel help sustain and reinforce the oppression of large African American women. As a result of these structural pressures aligned against individual agency, large African American women must choose which features of their fractured identity to emphasize and/or to deny (Ault, 1996). Their choice is between the binary oppositional structures of either historical stereotype (i.e., the Hottentot, Mammy, and Jezebel) or social reality, which is their lived experience. Critical cultural communication researchers and body image scholars agree that these constitutive subjectivities are based upon dominant race, gender, and class ideologies the media perpetuate (hooks, 1996; Hudson, 1998; Jewell, 1993; Kellner, 2003; Williamson, 1998). Not only have these images been re-created and sustained over time, but they constrain and limit the identities of large African American women. The big, black and beautiful body (B4) myth has become a present day re-creation of old stereotypes, restricting ways in which large African American females can