A Critical Discourse Analysis of Influencer-Edutainer Jackie Aina’S “Unpopular Opinions”
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BEAUTY, BRAINS, AND BOLDNESS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF INFLUENCER-EDUTAINER JACKIE AINA’S “UNPOPULAR OPINIONS” A Thesis Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree OF MASTER OF ARTS by Christiana R. Dillard Diploma Date: May 2021 Examining Committee Members: Andrew Iliadis, Media Studies and Production Jan Fernback, Media Studies and Production Barry Vacker, Media Studies and Production ABSTRACT Jackie Aina, a popular Nigerian American beauty vlogger and influencer- edutainer, has received attention for her candid stances on the beauty, fashion, and social media industries, along with her outspokenness about social justice issues. Notably, several of the videos on her YouTube channel contain “Unpopular Opinions” in their titles. In these videos, Aina conducts makeup tutorials while voicing viewpoints that she deems controversial. This thesis uses Aina’s “Unpopular Opinions” videos as a case study of Black women influencer-edutainers’ use of critical discourse in their content. It utilizes critical discourse analysis (CDA) with elements of multimodality and other critical disciplines such as critical race theory and feminist studies to examine how Black women vloggers and influencer-edutainers balance their dual responsibilities as influencers and educational entertainers. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ v CHAPTERS ........................................................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 6 Dominant Ideologies ................................................................................... 6 Black Culture in Digital Spaces .................................................................. 8 Multimodality in Black Digital Content ................................................... 11 Critical Race Theory ................................................................................. 13 Black Women Influencer-Edutainers and their Work .............................. 16 Influencer-Edutainers and Feminism ........................................................ 18 Economic Hierarchies in Online Spaces ................................................... 20 3. RESEARCH QUESTION ................................................................................. 22 4. METHODOLOGICAL DESIGN ..................................................................... 25 5. ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 29 Multimodality & Unconventionality in Discourse ................................... 29 Discursive Practice of Note: Inclusion of Meme Videos .......................... 33 Critiques of Industries ............................................................................... 35 6. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................... 66 7. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 74 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................................... 76 iii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Unpopular Opinions: Beauty Guru Edition | Jackie Aina……………………………………….……………......................... 27 2. Unpopular Opinions: Beauty Brands That Fell OFF | Jackie Aina…………….………………………….……………......................... 27 3. UNPOPULAR OPINIONS: Your Fave IG Fashion Brands!! | Jackie Aina…………………………………………….………..........................28 4. Unpopular Opinions: Marrying Young and Societal Pressures | Jackie Aina…………………………………………….……………..................28 5. Unpopular Opinions About INSTAGRAM | Jackie Aina…………………………………………….………........................ 28 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Video with “English - Default” transcript opened for the purposes of better understanding Aina’s discourse. Every video was analyzed in this way. ………………………………………….25 2. Aina gobbling popcorn after an opinion. ………………………………………..31 3. Aina chewing her popcorn. ……………………………………………………...31 4. Andrew Caldwell yelling and singing “I’m tired” in Instagram Live meme video. Background blur is an original effect from Aina’s video. ……………………………………………….34 5. Aina with screenshots of Twitter handles of the creators behind #ColourPopMeBlack. …………………………………………………....40 6. Aina displaying the KISS Lash Couture Triple Push-Up Collection for sponsorship. ……………………………………………………....42 7. Screenshot of fashion brand’s main page. …………………………………….....50 8. Screenshot of Fashion Nova’s Instagram page, taken by the researcher of this thesis. ………………………………………………….......50 9. Screenshot of fashion brand’s “curvier” page. .......................................................51 10. Screenshot of Fashion Nova Curve’s Instagram page, taken by the researcher of this thesis. ....................................................................................51 v CHAPTERS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION YouTube, one of the web’s most active websites (Alexa, 2020), allows users to express themselves through videos and virtual community-building features. Video bloggers or “vloggers” use the platform to share their thoughts, opinions, and information with their audiences, including many Black women vloggers who have gained followings for their unique perspectives about world events. Black women vloggers often provide informal education to viewers, using both anecdotal and factual information about various topics, situating their content among what is broadly known as “educational entertainment” on the platform (Sobande, 2017; López-Carril, Añó, & González-Serrano, 2020). According to social media industry experts, few content creators gain enough viewership and subsequent advertisement revenue and/or sponsorships that they can monetize their talents (Lieber, 2018). Jackie Aina is one of the most well-known of Black women vloggers with a high reach (more than 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube as of this writing) and is known for her makeup tutorials, although she also vlogs about fashion and her day-to-day life. Aina has constantly received attention for her bold stances on the beauty, fashion, and social media industries, along with her outspokenness about social justice issues (Payne, 2018). Notably, several of the videos on her YouTube channel contain “Unpopular Opinions” in their titles. In these videos, Aina conducts makeup tutorials while voicing viewpoints that she deems controversial. 1 This thesis asserts that the digital critical discourse that Black women content creators and influencers employ in their educational entertainment is valuable in examining how critical discourse interacts with hegemonic interests like influencer deals. In this thesis, the descriptor "content creator" is used as a catch-all term to describe someone who creates content on social media, regardless of whether they receive compensation for that work. The descriptor "influencer" is used when that creator receives compensation as a result of their online content creation: even further, the term “influencer-edutainer” describes a genre of influencer who incorporates educational entertainment — also known as “edutainment” (Johnson & McElroy, 2010) into their content. Because Black women influencer-edutainers bring their experiences to the forefront visibly and discursively, their visibility is a representative presence that Black people, particularly Black women, may use as an example of how to both learn from and express ideas in digital spaces. Using Aina as a case study, this thesis explores how Black women influencer-edutainers perform a multitude of roles for their audiences: storyteller, educator, entertainer, and, unavoidably, endorser. The multifaceted responsibilities of influencer-edutainers are more complex, and that is why it is important to consider how financial and educational interests intersect. Such an intersection is especially timely to examine in scholarship as both educational entertainment and influencer marketing continue to occur in digital spaces. This thesis uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) (Fairclough, 1985; van Dijk, 1993) with elements of multimodality (Machin, 2013; van Leeuwen, 2013; Brock, 2018; Brock, 2020) to analyze how Aina uses language and audiovisual techniques while conducting beauty tutorials in her vlogs to express her critical opinions on topics that 2 primarily pertain to the beauty, fashion, and social media industries. The thesis further utilizes additional critical disciplines such as feminist studies (hooks, 2000; Lazar, 2007; Duffy, 2015; Duffy & Hund, 2015) and critical race theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017) to highlight some of the underrepresented and critical outlooks that Black women share with others using social media, especially YouTube. Aina’s opinions hold weight for the social media users who view and engage with her content. Because her opinions about particular companies and