Mean Girls Or Bad Girls: Expressions of Conflict and Aggression by Black and White

Home , Bad Girls (series 3), Bad Girls (series 4), Black sitcom, Clarissa Explains It All, Cliff Huxtable, Denise Huxtable

Mean Girls or Bad Girls: Expressions of Conflict and Aggression by Black and White

Female Siblings on Family Sitcoms

Akilah Sharifa Somersall

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL

May 2018

Acknowledgements

I would like to express sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Laura Backstrom, for the continuous support of my MA study. Her enthusiasm, motivation, and patience helped me tremendously while writing this thesis. I am most grateful for her encouragement, for without it, I would not have considered writing a thesis. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my MA study. Besides my advisor,

I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Dr. Mark Harvey and Dr. Patricia

St. E Darlington. Their insightful comments and encouragement during this project was invaluable. Last but not least, I would like to thank my cohort, my fellow graduate students, my friends, and the members of the Sociology department who supported me during this project.

iv Abstract

Author: Akilah Sharifa Somersall

Title: Mean Girls or Bad Girls: Expressions of Conflict and Aggression by Black and White Female Siblings on Family Sitcoms

Institution: Florida Atlantic University

Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Laura Backstrom

Degree: Master of Arts

Year: 2018

This thesis examines the expression of anger and aggression in interactions of 6 black and 4 white female siblings on family sitcoms from the 1980s, 1990s and the

2010s. The interactions were examined to determine whether black girls on TV sitcoms were depicted as more conflictual than their white counterparts, whether the content of the portrayals of black girls differed from white girls based on racialized gender stereotypes related to female anger and aggression, whether these depictions changed over three eras of television ranging from the 1980s-2010s, and finally, whether birth order and relationship to the girl (family vs. non-family) determined whether relationship context influenced conflict. The findings revealed that by race and across time black girls are less conflictual than their white counterparts. This contradicts the acceptance of solely black girls as representations of the violent and aggressive “bad girl.”

DEDICATION

I dedicate this manuscript first to God, who equipped me to complete this project through His strength. I would also like to dedicate this manuscript to my mother, Jillian, and my sisters, Ashtine and Onieka, for their constant support throughout this project.

Lastly, I dedicate this manuscript to the late Dr. Arthur Evans, whose presence on this project was truly missed. Thank you.

Mean Girls or Bad Girls: Expressions of Conflict and Aggression by Black And White

Female Siblings on Family Sitcoms

LIST OF TABLES ...... x

LIST OF FIGURES ...... xi

INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Family Sitcoms as Racial Projects Across Time...... 6

The 1980s: Classic Conservativism on Family Sitcoms ...... 6

Middle Class Comforts, Lower Class Culture: 1990s, The Era of ‘Cool’ ...... 9

Minorities in the Spotlight: 2010s, the Post-Obama Era ...... 12

Sibling Conflict on Television Family Sitcoms ...... 14

Organization of the Thesis ...... 15

LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 17

Racial Stereotypes in the Media ...... 18

Siblings on Family Sitcoms ...... 24

Sibling Relationships and Violence ...... 26

DATA AND METHODS ...... 30

Case Selection ...... 30

Coding ...... 31

vii

Show and Character Guide ...... 33

Cosby Show ...... 33

Growing Pains ...... 34

Moesha ...... 35

Clarissa Explains It All ...... 36

Modern Family...... 36

Black-ish ...... 37

FINDINGS ...... 42

Occurrence of Conflict ...... 42

Across Race ...... 42

Across Era ...... 46

Representation of the mean girl and bad girl ...... 50

Raising Voice/Yelling Angrily ...... 51

Defiance ...... 53

Intimidation ...... 54

Verbal Intimidation/Threats...... 55

Mean Teasing and Verbal Put Downs ...... 56

Physical Intimidation/Assault ...... 57

Brashness and Rudeness ...... 58

Manipulation ...... 59

viii

Dyadic Relationships ...... 61

Interactions with parents ...... 63

Interactions with Siblings: Older and Younger Siblings ...... 64

Interaction with Siblings: Middle Siblings ...... 66

Interactions with non-family ...... 68

CONCLUSION ...... 71

Discussion ...... 72

Limitations ...... 76

Direction of Future Research ...... 77

REFERENCES ...... 79

List of Tables

Table 1: Greenberg's Modified Behavior Definitions ...... 32

Table 2: Bad Girl and Mean Girl Indicators ...... 33

Table 3: Description of Female Siblings ...... 39

Table 4: Representation of the Mean Girl/Bad Girl- Black Female Siblings ...... 51

Table 5: Representation of the Mean Girl/Bad Girl- White Female Siblings ...... 51

Table 6: Dyadic Relationships of Black Girls ...... 62

Table 7: Dyadic Relationships of White Girls ...... 62

List of Figures

Figure 1: Average Conflictual Interactions By Race ...... 43

Figure 2: Conflictual Interactions of Black Female Siblings...... 44

Figure 3: Conflictual Interactions of White Female Siblings ...... 45

Figure 4: Conflictual Interactions of Each Female Sibling ...... 46

Figure 5: Average Conflictual Interactions Sent and Received Across Era ...... 47

Figure 6: Average Conflictual Interactions By Race Across Time ...... 50

INTRODUCTION

Sapphire: George Stevens!

George: Sapphire?! Mamma?!

Sapphire: George, what is the meaning of this?!

George: Well uh, honey uh, you see, uh, the thing is, uh…Sapphire, I’d like you to meet my secretary; this is Ms. Yaunchers.

Ms Yaunchers: How do ya do?

Mamma (Sapphire’s Mother): Oh, it only happens in the movies, huh? Well right now you’re looking at the Academy Award!

George: Now listen here Mamma, don’t get no wrong ideas, ‘hear?

Ms. Yaunchers: Yes Mrs. Stevens, I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression. We were only just working in the office.

Sapphire: You keep outta this! You little…little, secretary!

Ms. Yaunchers: Mr. Stevens, I think I better be running along.

George: Yeah, I’ll see you in the morning Ms. Yaunchers. (To Sapphire) Now, look

Sapphire—

Sapphire: Look nothing! I’ve seen everything I want to see. Working. Ha! George it’s strange you didn’t find time to tell me about this secretary.

George: Well, honey, it just slipped my mind. She just started to work today.

Mamma: Sapphire, don’t you believe him! He’s lying just like that man did in the picture! Tellin’ his wife he’s going to a board meeting. He didn’t look BORED to me

Sapphire: George, I’ve given you the best years of my life! Is this the thanks I get?

George: I tell ya honey, I’m innocent! She’s just my secretary!

Sapphire: You should have told me about this secretary! You didn’t tell me about her because you didn’t want me to know about her!

George: Mamma, you believe me, don’t ya?

Mamma: Don’t look to me for no sympathy! I didn’t want Sapphire to marry you in the first place! (Amos ‘n Andy Show 1951)

The image of the black woman as the “sapphire” is one of the earliest incidents of the “Angry Black Woman stereotype” or simply the ABW. The term “sapphire” is based on the character Sapphire Stevens, the confrontational wife of Andy “Kingfish” Stevens from the first black sitcom Amos n’ Andy (1951). Sapphire’s short-tempered outbursts and direct challenges to her husband’s authority starkly contrast with the cult of true womanhood “which imposed a highly restrictive set of gender norm expectations on women (primarily white middle-class women)” (Ford 2008). Under this doctrine, “true womanhood” was based on a woman’s passivity, submission to her husband, and devotion to tending to the home (Welter 1961; Epstein et al. 2017). By contrast, black women were socially constructed as more aggressive and conflictual than their nonblack counterparts. As an updated version of the 1950s sapphire, the ABW is still prevalent in more recent depictions of black women on television (Wesley-Jean 2011). However, recent literature addresses the presence of the ABW stereotype on reality television but not on scripted television sitcoms (Stephens and Phillips 2003; Washington 2012; Ward

2015).

As opposed to reality television shows, sitcoms are more formulaic and structured. The presence of recognizable characters is essential “for audiences to find them funny at all” (Miller 2005) Further Mills (2005:102) explains that:

…[the] sitcom is commonly seen as a [genre] form with less social significance than ‘factual’ television and ‘serious’ fiction…however, the genre has been read as a useful reflection of general social attitudes, with the growth and reduction of certain character types over time mirroring the broader attitudes in society (or, perhaps more accurately, within the television industry which produces the series and the institutional bodies which regulate them). (Mills 2005:102)

Television contributes to the reproduction of stereotypes (Ellithorpe and Bleakely 2015;

Mastro and Greenberg 2000; Ramasubramanian 2010, Mills 2005). In the case of the sitcom, media portrayals “conform to limiting and outdated assumptions about people, based on such characteristics as race, age, gender…This is the process known as stereotyping” (Mills 2005). Dominant groups may use stereotypes portrayed in the media to make conclusions about out group members with whom they have few personal relationships (Mills 2005, Ramasubramanian 2010).

Based on this research regarding the formulaic nature of television sitcoms and the prevalence of racial stereotypes on contemporary reality television, one might expect that family sitcoms would perpetuate the ABW stereotype in their portrayal of female characters. On the other hand, some scholars suggest that television portrayals of all families, black and white, are closer to fantasy than reality; the images are likely sanitized of many behaviors, experiences, and stereotypes that take place in real life. (Cantor

1991). With this in mind, family sitcoms may be less likely than reality television shows to portray their female characters as angry or conflictual. This tension in the literature regarding racial stereotypes in family sitcoms leads to my first research question: Are black girls on TV sitcoms depicted as more conflictual than their white counterparts?

In addition to measuring the prevalence of conflict among black and white girl characters on sitcoms, I also ask whether the content of the portrayals differs based on racialized gender stereotypes related to female anger and aggression. Anger is an emotion that has long been restricted from being expressed by oppressed and marginalized populations (Collins 2000, Brown 2011, Homes 2004, Stets 2012). The limited social power allotted to females in general is further diminished for black females. White, middle class girls who engage in aggressive acts are described as “backstabbing, sneaky, and manipulative” and are considered to be “mean girls” rather than “bad girls” (Brown

2011:33). These mean girls are characterized by being relationally aggressive, which refers “specifically to non-physical and covert aggression” (Brown 2011:114). Relational aggression allows for the mean white girl to still be within the standards of “conventional femininity.”

By contrast, when black and Latina girls express anger, they are classified as the

“bad girl” which is described as the girl who “commits violence, ranging on a continuum from indirect and verbal aggression, to direct and physical expressions. She is nasty, and she is rough” (Brown 2011:113). In real life, recent studies have shown that young black girls are often seen as older than they are and are denied the childhood innocence afforded to their non-black counterparts (Wesley-Jean 2011; Epstein et al. 2017). Black girls are seen as “more adult” than their white peers at almost all stages of childhood beginning at the age of 5, peaking during the ages of 10 to 14, and continuing during the ages of 15-19 (Epstein et al. 2017). Thus, age does not exempt nor protect black girls from stereotypes that disqualify them from the image of the ideal girl.

Stereotypes of Black girls easily fall within the criteria of the “bad girl” and most scholars acknowledge the inability of black girls to meet ‘true’ womanhood (Reid-

Brinkley 2008:239). Much as Collins noted, stereotypes like the mammy and matriarch, are used to justify the violence and treatment of Black women and girls. Though there is evidence that the Angry Black Woman stereotype is not grounded in truth, the belief continues to be perpetuated by the media. Yet, most research that examines the ABW stereotype focuses on depictions of black adult women, and little is known about television depictions of black girls and adolescents. This gap in the literature leads to my second set of research questions: Do the portrayals of black girls on family sitcoms correspond with media representations of the “bad girl?” Do portrayals of white girls on family sitcoms correspond with media representations of the “mean girl?”

To answer the three research questions posed thus far, I analyzed 500 interactions involving the ten female children on six sitcoms: three black family sitcoms (The Cosby

Show, Moesha, and Black-ish) and three white family sitcoms (Growing Pains, Clarissa

Explains It All, and Modern Family). I recorded the context of the first 50 interactions the girls participated in, with whom the interactions took place, and whether the interactions were conflictual, affiliative, verbal, or nonverbal. In order to analyze whether the behaviors reflected racialized gender stereotypes, I measured girls’ negative behaviors ranging from those associated with the “mean girl” representation (e.g., manipulative, rude and disrespectful, gossip, verbal teasing) or the “bad girl” (e.g,, yells, defiant, brash, physical intimidation/assault, verbal intimidation).

I found that black girls were less conflictual than their white counterparts. Black girls were the sender and receiver of fewer conflictual interactions than white girls on

family sitcoms. Furthermore, white girls on the sitcoms not only participated in interactions that conformed to the “mean girl” representation in line with their racialized gender stereotype, but white girls also exhibited behaviors associated with the “bad girl” more often than black girls on television sitcoms.

Family Sitcoms as Racial Projects Across Time

Given the surprising findings that black female girls on television sitcoms were overall less likely to be portrayed as conflictual and aggressive and therefore defied the

ABW stereotype, I next turned to the question of whether these portrayals changed across time. Drawing on Racial Formation Theory, I examine how black family sitcoms and the representations of the African American girls on them serve as racial projects. The meanings and understandings of race, based on what society has accepted (at that time) to be symbolic of specific racial/ethnic groups, fluctuate due to racial projects. Racial projects are "simultaneously an interpretation, representation, or explanation, of racial identities and meanings, and an effort to organize and distribute resources along particular racial lines. Over time, racial projects illuminate new links between meanings of race and how that meaning has influenced the makeup of society” (Omi and Winant

2014). For this reason, I selected family sitcoms from three eras in order to track whether girls’ conflictual interactions changed due to the broader sociohistorical context that produced the television sitcom in each era.

The 1980s: Classic Conservativism on Family Sitcoms

The first era I selected was the 1980s which was known for depictions of the perfect family. During this period MacDonald (1992) reports, “blacks on TV usually exhibit the bourgeois values, habits, and attitudes that are so familiar in white

characterization. This has especially been the situation in broadcast television where the principal target of programmers has been the middle-class white viewer.” The television series selected from this era that represented this erasure of race and showcased the middle class lifestyle were the black family sitcom The Cosby Show and the white family sitcom Growing Pains.

The Cosby Show ran for almost a decade on NBC be from 1984 to 1992. The series followed the Huxtables household headed by Cliff Huxtable (played by Bill Cosby) the patriarch, and OB/GYN and his wife Claire Huxtable a lawyer. The couple had four children, Denise 16, Theo 14, Vanessa 12, and Rudy 5. Historically, the series is treasured as a representative of what the family sitcom should be and has impacted not only African Americans, both domestically and abroad, but also the non-black viewers of the series (Payne 1993, Payne 1994, Havens 2000). The Cosby Show was credited as

“offering females empowering and positive models of female success” and even positively affected the rates of African American college attendance (Matabane and

Merrit 2014).

The depiction of the upper middle class black family that lived in a good neighborhood has been examined by social scientists and journalists alike. Shales (1984) of The Washington Post praised the show for its “authenticity” and for being “not too ghetto-Good Times” and a “not too crash or harsh-What’s Happening.” Further Rasberry

(1984) described The Cosby Show as “non-black- no cultural ties” or “Father Knows Best in Blackface.” However, Rasberry (1984) also notes that "some politically sensitive viewers might prefer that the Cosby clan take advantage of the opportunity to educate its huge audience on the nuances of racism. But carefully. There is the danger that too much

"message" could destroy a show whose survival depends on being funny.” Shales (1984) also lauds the sitcom for sticking to humor over racial politics

While sociologist Herman Gray (1989) says the show depicted a family that transcended race and achieved the ‘American Dream,’ he also acknowledges that the show deflected away from the struggles the black community faces. In his account of

African Americans on television, MacDonald states:

In real life, however, a large number of black men and women labor in blue-collar jobs. Others are poorly educated and ill-prepared to function constructively in a world growing increasingly technical and specialized. And many are economically impoverished, trapped in inner-city slums that are spiritually degrading and dangerous. These are not bad people. But they are among the millions of African Americans who do not experience life as portrayed on The Cosby Show or even 227. They are part of the multitude of Americans who continue to cling, however tenuously, to the belief that life someday will improve for them or for their children. But television has had little interest in any of these people. (MacDonald, Blacks and White TV, 1992).

While Cliff Huxtable engages in discussions with his older children, describing the harshness of his childhood in poverty, race relations are not a major focus. The Cosby

Show served as a racial project because like its stereotype laced progenitors, The Cosby

Show influenced how society understood what it meant to be black. Since its inception,

The Cosby Show has been criticized for its rose-colored depiction of blacks in America and the repercussions of white audiences viewing a depiction of an upper class black family that has transcended race (McCain 1986, MacDonald 1992, Stamps 2017). Prior to

The Cosby Show, Torres (2005) reports that African Americans had been presented in ways that attach them to specific social problems such as "poverty, unemployment, substandard housing, female-headed households, drug trafficking and abuse, and violence." While there were surely still representations of black people and real life experiences of black people that were tied to social ills at the time, The Cosby Show was

interpreted to mean that race no longer signified those social problems. When social problems were deemed surmountable by black people and were no longer adopted as a signifier of what society considered to be “black,” society was reorganized. During this conservative era, the legal and political actions that had been taken by society to alleviate social problems had been deemed unnecessary (Gray 1989). Perhaps the best understanding of the The Cosby Show and its role in society was posed by Hopkins

(2012) who described the depiction of the Huxtables “as a unique experience, not an inauthentic one.” Overall, the success of the The Cosby Show has given it the status of the standard to which most sitcoms are compared.

For the 1980s era, Growing Pains is the white family sitcom comparison case due to its similar conservative appeal. The series ran for 7 seasons from 1985-1992 almost as long as The Cosby Show, a show to which Growing Pains received many comparisons.

The source of the popularity that surrounded Growing Pains is often questioned by critics. Froelich (1989) of the St. Petersburg Times described Growing Pains as “a fairly saccharine show about a beautiful, bright, upper-middle class couple and their four sunny kids, rode the coattails of the home-and-hearth sitcoms that are beginning to fade away.”

Growing Pains was so frequently compared to The Cosby Show, even being called “The

Cosby Show on paper” that Alan Thicke was quoted as saying “after being the Canadian

Johnny Carson, I sure as hell don’t want to be the white Bill Cosby” (Lawler 1985).

Middle Class Comforts, Lower Class Culture: 1990s, The Era of ‘Cool’

The next era which I describe as “the Era of Cool” encompasses the decade of the

1990s. MacDonald (1992) presents the following as the question of the time period:

"the prepossessing challenge of the 1990s is directed primarily toward artistic and political integrity: Must African Americans always be presented with a veneer of

middle-class assimilation, or can television portray the fullness of black social diversity, its strong points and weak points, without fueling white bigotry or undermining black accomplishment? The answer to this question was partially answered through television series that incorporated the culture of the poor to middle class lifestyles."

MacDonald (1992) claims that “African-American culture—especially that which is urban and economically deprived—remains an inventive resource for all commercial entertainment. Poor blacks inspired the music …Dance, dress, language…comedy, drama, and other forms of human expression have been influenced by the black déclassé.

Contemporary popular culture in the United States is greatly indebted to the African-

American poor.” This integration of culture can be seen in the black family sitcom

Moesha as well as in the white family sitcom Clarissa Explains It All.

Moesha was a black family sitcom which premiered in 1996 on the television network UPN. The series Moesha was created by Ralph Farquhar, Sara V. Finney, and

Vida Spears, all African Americans. The series ran for a total of six seasons from 1996-

2000 and debuted on the 8pm Tuesday time slot. In addition to its all black creators,

Moesha also had all writers of color with eight African Americans and one Latina writer.

Overall reception for the series was very positive. The severed relationship between what it meant to be black and social problems had taken place at the end of the 1980s era. As a racial project, Moesha assisted in the transition of the meaning of blackness from overcoming hardship to using the culture born from those same social problems like an accessory. In other words, something consumable (Torres 2005). Blackness had been reduced to the “zesty-up to the minute slang” and “fly fashions” that originated in the poor urban community. Moesha exemplified this with her clothing, box-braid hair style, and the use of urban slang. The representation of the character Moesha also served as a

racial project to shift what it meant to be a black teenage girl. Esther Iverem (1997) of

The Washington Post praised optimistic and exuberant Moesha saying she “represents a step forward in the way black teenage girls are presented on TV. (Remember the sulking

Dee and Big Shirley on "What's Happening!!" or the brooding, weird character played by

Lisa Bonet on "The Cosby Show?” The Douglass Durden Times (1996), credits the series as well stating that "If ''Clarissa Explains It All,'' a series aired on Nickelodeon, was a good idea because it featured life from the view of a smart and curious female teen-ager,

''Moesha'' is a doubly good idea because it features life from the view of a smart and curious black female teen-ager played by Brandy." Blackness that was now cool and consumable created a new image of black girls. Stereotypes of black girls were defied with the representation of a black girl who was friendly and identifiable. Moesha became the network’s top show among teens and women during its run on UPN. One of the creator’s Sara V. Finney, credits the shows universal themes and depiction of a positive black family for its popularity among viewers (Garron 2000). Moesha currently airs in syndication on the Fuse Network.

The white family sitcom used for comparison in this era is Clarissa Explains It

All, which ran from 1991 to 1994. Created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon, the show follows the adventures of 14-year-old Clarissa Darling. The series stared Melissa

Joan Hart as Clarissa in the coming of age story of a cool and creative girl who carried out plans to outsmart her parents or get revenge on pesky little brother, Ferguson. The series alludes to facets of black culture including music, fashion, and even makes reference to The Cosby Show. Some of these references include quoting hip hop artists

Salt n Pepa and trying to mimic their fashion for her school photo. Hart who portrayed

Clarissa, described her character as “wild,” “cynical,” and “into manipulating her parents” (Witchell 1991, Shrieves 1993). Clarissa Explains It All aired on Sundays and was a hit with the target audience of 6-11 year old boys and eventually 6-11 year old girls as well (Moore 1993).

Minorities in the Spotlight: 2010s, the Post-Obama Era

The third and final era is known as the Post-Obama era and features series that began after the first black president Barack Obama, was elected. In terms of black family sitcoms, St. E. Darlington (2018) writes that “the shows of the 2010 decade now boast reflections that are uncompromisingly Black. Black people, Black culture, Black history, are all being reflected in copious amounts on American television” (37). Rather than appropriating the culture of poor and urban blacks to achieve appeal by black and white audiences alike, middle class black culture is presented honestly and authentically, a tactic that makes the show relatable for black audiences but challenges the beliefs of white audiences.

Black-ish as a family sitcom accomplishes everything that The Cosby Show avoided. In the 1980s, The Cosby Show served as a racial project that appealed to white audiences and demonstrated that social problems could be overcome and that Black families such as the Huxtables faced the same issues that white families did. Therefore, the inability of black people to overcome hardships was due to their own failure, not societies. In the 1990s, Moesha served as a racial project that also appealed to white audiences by presenting Black culture as something that white people were free to consume through music, slang, and fashion. As a racial project, Black-ish does not serve to present blackness in a way that is digestible and safe for white audiences. Instead, it

seeks to present various honest and authentic accounts of what it means to black people to be black. Black-ish’s approach directly challenges the majority’s understanding of race and what they have come to identify as signifiers of race. Rather than social problems or entertainment, Black-ish presents blackness as being ever changing with innumerable signifiers that are not contingent upon a single social climate. The series has managed to progress the racial formation process while also being humorous, a risk Cosby was unwilling to take.

Black-ish follows the Johnson family, led by Andre Johnson, a marketing executive who remembers the struggles and poverty he overcame that allowed him to achieve the suburban lifestyle that his three children now enjoy. Unlike his biracial wife

Rainbow “Bow” Johnson who was born into a middle-class family, Andre considers his upbringing from poverty as being pivotal to his identity as a black man. When Andre realizes that the middle-class lifestyle he and his wife, a pediatric surgeon have provided for their four children, Zoey, Andre ‘Junior’, Jack, and Diane, has left his children

“black-ish” and not authentically black, audiences watch Dre’s attempts to reincorporate his black culture into his children middle class culture that seems to ascend race. This is only exacerbated by Dre’s parents who criticize his parenting skills and discipline of their children in contrast to the practices they used when raising him.

Black-ish premired in 2014 on ABC and was placed alongside Modern Family in its initial line-up. Black-ish is a series that incorporates current events into its plots

(Patrick 2016). Black-ish “digs into race in America, stereotyping, interracial dating, class, family, and generational issues” and also has “episodes revolving around the n- word, police brutality, and the election of Donald Trump” (Gilbert 2017). While praised

for its rawness, Black-ish is also criticized for being influenced “to appeal to national interest to make money” (Lai et. al. 2015) Black-ish has just completed its 4th season and has been picked up for a 5th. Modern Family presents to audiences the extended family of the Pritchetts, Dunpheys, and Ferguson-Pritchetts, who are a same-sex family, a traditional heterosexual family, and a blended family with a significant age difference of the couple.

Based on the three distinct eras of television sitcoms and the different racial projects to which each sitcom was aimed, was there a difference in the amount of conflictual interactions across time? I find that overall trends across time are not consistent; conflict fluctuates across eras, decreasing from era 1 to era 2 and then increasing to its highest level by era three.

This finding supports Larson (1991) who predicted that over time the number of conflictual interactions would increase among television siblings as the dynamics of their relationships (issues of property and privacy) evolved; but, this pattern is not seen in the

1990s in my study (Larson 1991: 385). The 1990s (the Era of “cool”) had the lowest average of conflictual interactions. The increase of conflictual interactions in the sitcoms across eras coincide with Larson’s (1991) prediction that interactions would become more frequent on family sitcoms over time.

Sibling Conflict on Television Family Sitcoms

My final research question examines an alternative explanation for representations of conflict on television family sitcoms. Rather than racialized gender stereotypes driving the prevalence of conflict, I ask whether birth order and patterns of sibling violence in real life are mirrored on television sitcoms. The media functions to

transmit ideas of the institution of the family as well as race. This includes all aspects of the family structure such as the relationship between parents and their children and the interactions between siblings. Few studies have focused on expression of anger or aggression on the family sitcom in the form of sibling conflict. Those that have accomplished this feat did so without spotlighting the differences in race nor in gender and are now grossly outdated (Larson 1991; Merrit and Stroman 1993).

By focusing on relationship to the female siblings and the frequency of conflict, I found that black female siblings have more interactions with their parents than with their siblings while the reverse is true for white female siblings. Further, black and white female siblings have more conflictual interactions with their siblings than they do with their parents. I find that when comparing family interactions to non-family interactions, the latter included more affiliative interactions than the former. Lastly, I found no identifiable patterns between birth order and conflict with siblings, rather the siblings within the sibling relationship mattered more.

Organization of the Thesis

In Chapter Two, I provide a review of the literature on racial representations of girls and the cultural meanings of women and anger. Then, I examine the literature on siblings on family sitcoms and sibling relationships in real life. In Chapter Three, I explain my methodological approach, including the cases selected and coding scheme for the 500 interactions that I analyzed. In Chapter Four, I present the findings. First, I examine the function and context of conflict among the girls and occurrence of conflict both across race and across era. Then, I describe the content of the interaction using measures related to the “mean girl” and “bad girl” representations including yelling,

being rude, exhibiting defiance, and bullying. Finally, I contrast dyadic relationships based on interactions with parent, non-family, older and younger siblings, and middle siblings. In Chapter Five, I provide a summary and discussion of my findings.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The expression of conflict and anger by girls on the family sitcom has long gone understudied. Further, the studies that exist do not examine how race influence girls’ expression of anger and are greatly outdated (Larson 2001, Merrit and Stoman 1993).

Studies of black girls in real life have provided insight on the clash between black girl’s performance of femininity and what conventional femininity should look like but do not extended further to address why the perceptions of black girls on TV differ so much from the perceptions of real life black girls. In the first section of this literature review, I review how representations of racialized bodies progress the racial formation process and how those racial identities and meanings come to be understood within society. Next, I review the racial stereotypes of black women and girls and the consequences that black girls ultimately face as they navigate society’s institutions. Lastly, I review the past analyses of siblings on family sitcoms and the direction that these studies point for future studies, as well as the role of conflict within real life siblings relationships. I explore these major areas of literature to address the following research questions: Are black girls on TV sitcoms depicted as more conflictual than their white counterparts? Was there a difference in the amount of conflictual interactions across time? Do the portrayals of black girls on family sitcoms correspond with media representations of the “bad girl?”

Do portrayals of white girls on family sitcoms correspond with media representations of the “mean girl?” Does relationship to the girl make a difference in the amount of conflict?

Racial Stereotypes in the Media

Michael Omi and Howard Winant (1994) define race as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies.” The racial formation theory is defined as “the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed” (Omi and

Winant 1994:55). The way in which people learn the rules of racial classification is through racial projects, which Omi and Winant describe as “simultaneously an interpretation, representation, or explanation of racial identities and meanings, and an effort to organize and distribute resources (economic, political, cultural) along particular racial lines”…and that “racial projects are attempts both to shape the ways in which social structures are racially signified and the ways that racial meanings are embodied in social structures” (Omi and Winant 2014:125).

Racial projects act as spotlights to illuminate the connections between what race has come to mean and the contexts that signify these meanings. Simultaneously, racial projects reveal how these understandings of racial meanings have come to influence the organization of society. Torres (2005) maps the changes in the meaning of blackness by comparing the changes in media representation of black people across time. Sitcoms and made for TV movies that depicted African American’s in the 1970s and prior illuminated the relationship between what it means to be black and social problems. Thus, blackness came to be understood as being directly tied to poverty, racial oppression, and social hardships. These connections were subsequently seen on television. African American’s struggled with poverty and single parenthood in Good Times and What’s Happenin’! while made for TV programs such as Roots depicted slaves facing racial oppression.

Later, The Cosby Show also illuminated the relationship between poverty and hardship with blackness, though in The Cosby Show those social problems were shown as surmountable. Gray (1989) claims that both representations came to the same conclusion:

“that whether because blacks have made it or because we [blacks] are hopelessly corrupt culturally or morally, aggressive civil rights measures were no longer necessary or appropriate.” Later in the 1990s, television sitcoms used representations of black families as having already overcome hardship, living comfortable, middle class lives, while appropriating and consuming the culture of poor blacks. This was seen in shows like the

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Moehsa (Torres 2005, MacDonald 1984). Current representations on television series such as Black-ish, present blackness as diverse, honest, and, authentic. By the 2010s, blackness is presented as having multiple meanings.

The multiple meanings coincide with the diverse experiences of black people from those who struggle with social problems and those who have conquered them.

Representations of black families on television sitcoms function as racial projects as the behaviors, personalities, experiences, and events are interpreted as signifiers of what it means to be black. This contributed to the fluid process of racial formation.

Television serves as a medium through which group feelings and understandings of the intersection of racialized and gendered bodies can be transmitted and interpreted, further exacerbating the racial formation process. Youth use the images of television as models during the formation of their identities. Studies have shown that black youth utilize television models more than any other demographic (Bandura, 2009; Ramasubramanian

2010).

It is important to understand the cultural meanings and stereotypes at the nexus of race and gender for black women. The representations of black women and girls in the media serve to inform society what to think of black girls. Furthermore, black girls learn what to think of themselves and how they should model their own behavior as black and as female. Early depictions of black women reflect their dual identities as black and as a woman amidst dominating stereotypical images. During the slave era, a series of

“common sense” characterizations were developed to describe black women which were transmitted through media such as newspapers and posters. Three popular archetypes that came from the slave era were the jezebel, the mammy, and the sapphire (West 1995;

Collins 1990). According to West (1995), the jezebel is “seductive, sexually irresponsible, and promiscuous.” The second stereotype is the mammy who is “highly maternal, family oriented and self-sacrificing.” Lastly, the sapphire character which is described as “threatening and argumentative” (West 1995:459). The sapphire image

“characterizes Black women as brutish, domineering, matriarchal, and castrating, and serves to degrade the dignity and inherent value of Black women.”

Performances of femininity by black women and girls are restricted by what

Collins calls “controlling images.” Chesney-Lind and Eliason (2006) claim that expressions of violence and anger are gendered as masculine and expressions of these emotions by women create “standards that will permit the demonization of some girls and women if they stray from the path of ‘true’ (passive) womanhood"(2011:31). The

‘masculinization’ of anger coupled with the controlling images of black women based on race and class place black girls on the margins of true womanhood. Per Ashley (2014), the Sapphire image “appears to be a precursor to the angry Black woman and contributes

to pervasive denigrating and pejorative stereotypes of black females. When black girls and white girls express anger they are classified differently due to their race. Black girls are classified as the “bad girl”, while their white counterparts’ considered to be “mean girls.” For white girls classified as the mean girl, their performance of anger is acceptable within the standards of true womanhood and conventional femininity (Brown 2011:113)

It is important to observe how the frequency of conflict by race relates to current understandings and beliefs of real life women, and how their expressions of anger lead to social and cultural implications within society. Much as Collins (1990) noted, stereotypes like the mammy and matriarch, are used to justify the violence and treatment of Black women. Though there is evidence that the Angry Black Woman stereotype is not grounded in truth, the belief remains and even continues to be perpetuated by the media.

By observing how young women express anger on television sitcoms, new conclusions can be made about how black women manage anger in comparison to their white counterparts.

The relationship between race and gender, during the identity formation of black girls, is important (Graves 1999; Carbado et. al 2013; Shorter-Gooden and Washington

1996; Thomas et al. 2011). Shorter-Gooden and Washington (1996) conducted a qualitative study with a sample of 18-22-year-old black female community college students to determine “to what extent racial and gender identity are central components of identity, and how these two societally devalued sources of identity are dealt with in identity formation.” They found that within their sample racial identity was the most salient. Similarly, Thomas et al. (2011) utilized a sample of 17 African American young women, aged 15-21, and asked the subjects about their racial identity, gendered identity,

and racialized gender identity. They found that “experiences reflected a greater degree of saliency for issues of gendered race over experiences of race and gender as single constructs” (Thomas et al. 2011:538). It is the salience of race during black girls identity formation that make racial stereotypes of black girls and women so poignant.

Racial stereotypes impact black women and girls in a number of ways. First, black girls and women are more likely to be inaccurately perceived as being angry or aggressive. For example, Jones et al. (2017) performed a content analysis of both news media and scripted television as well as an analysis of individual accounts to determine how aggressive interactions involving black women expose racial and gender hierarchies.

They found that black women were classified as the aggressor even when they did not initiate the conflict. This bias persisted even when expressing anger would be justified like after being falsely accused and brutalized by police.

Second, stereotypes can lead to psychological distress. With double doses of discrimination due to race and gender, black women experience high levels of stress than their white counterparts (Ashley 2014). Ashley (2014) and West (1995) both assert that the “myth of the angry Black woman” can lead to much psychological distress. As black women attempting to prevent themselves from being deemed angry Black women they suppress and internalize their stress and anger only to face harsh internal and sometimes external issues later (Ashley 2014:30). One study found that young black women reported less frequent angry feelings than young white women (Walley-Jean 2009).

Third, stereotypes can lead to real life consequences in the education system.

Based on a two year ethnographic study of a middle school, Morris (2007) found that the performance of femininity by Black girls was contradictory to what teachers deemed to

be appropriate for girls in school. Their performance of gender was seen as

“masculinized” and thus inappropriate. Black girls, in turn, were challenged and corrected by teachers, put through etiquette programs, or modified their own behavior.

Morris reported that “few black girls [he] observed created disruptions in classrooms, but most consistently competed with boys and other girls to gain teachers’ positive attentions” (Morris 2007:499). Interestingly, it was the same assertiveness and aggression witnessed by Morris that contributed to many of the Black girls’ high performances in school.

In this section, I reviewed Omi and Winant’s (1994) concept of racial projects and how media representations serve as signifiers of what it means to be black. I explored how those signifiers change over time, how the new meanings are interpreted by society’s institutions. I also reviewed the salience of race in the identities of black girls and the relationship between true womanhood and women’s expression of anger. Then, I reviewed the literature on black women and how their performance of femininity in the past has impacted how they are perceived today.

The new meanings of race interpreted by society can develop into racial stereotypes that plague black women. Three consequences that racial stereotypes have on black women include the perception of black woman and girls as inherently angry and aggressive. The second is psychological distress that black woman and girls face as they attempt to resist the perception of black girls as angry. The last consequence is the unequal disciplinary practices within the education system when black girls’ performance of femininity clashes with that which is deemed acceptable by society. The literature indicates the importance of race in the identity formation of black girls and their

performance of femininity. This leads to the first research question which asks whether black girls are more conflictual than their white counterparts. The literature on racial projects highlights the shifting meanings of race across time, which leads to the second research question that asks whether there a difference in the amount of interactions across time.

Siblings on Family Sitcoms

Just as media helps viewers make numerous conclusions about the racial groups represented, representations of families on TV can also serve as models for the behavior and value expectations (Bandura, 2009; Ramasubramanian 2010; Ellithorpe and Bleakely

2015; Mastro and Greenberg 2000). The media transmits ideas related to all aspects of the family structure such as the relationship between parents and their children as well as sibling relationships.

Conflict and aggression between siblings on family sitcoms is not a new topic of study for researchers. In one study, Larson (1991) examined the interactions between the siblings on family sitcoms in the 1950s and the 1980s. She performed a content analysis of nine episodes from three shows from the 1950s and three from the 1980s and coded for behaviors performed by siblings and the communication (verbal and nonverbal) performed between the siblings. The series used for her content analysis were Father

Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, and Ozzie and Harriet from the 1950s, and Family Ties,

Growing Pains, and The Cosby Show, the only black sitcom included in the study. Her findings revealed that the siblings depicted in the 1950s family sitcoms had more positive interactions than the siblings depicted in 1980s family sitcoms, confirming her hypothesis. She also noted that while 1980s siblings were relatively more conflictual,

they performed more functions for each other than 1950s siblings.

Much like Larson (1991), Merrit and Stroman (1993) examined family life on television although they chose to focus on black family life on TV during the 1985-1986 television season. Levels of socialization between family members were examined by frequency of interaction, competence, and wealth. Per Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, the representations of Black families on TV can serve as models of behavior for Black audiences (Watching While Black 2013). They found that compared to previous analysis of representations of Black families less conflict was observed between the family, thus viewership by Black children is encouraged rather than deterred.

In 2001, Larson expanded her study to include a content analysis of sibling interactions on series from every decade beginning in the 1950s up through the 1990s.

Larson conducts a content analysis of sitcoms including Leave It to Beaver, The Brady

Bunch, The Cosby Show and Growing Pains. Larson found that while more interactions were positive than they were negative on The Cosby Show, the opposite was true on

Growing Pains. Across decades, the percentage of conflictual interactions between siblings increased from 26% in the 1950s to 38% in the 1960s/1970s, and up to 44% in the 1980s but then decreased in the 1990s to 39%. Larson (2001) also finds that the siblings depicted on family sitcoms over the last 50 years have been overwhelmingly presented as positive. (Bryant and Bryant 2008:174).

Larson suggests that the variation in sibling relations on television sitcoms is the result of changes in real life families or the breadth of the experiences that are addressed in the sitcoms that were not encountered by their 1950s counterparts. Larson’s study challenges the direction of the transmission of ideas and values by the media and argues

that the images transmitted reflect the conditions of real life not the other way around. I disagree with Larson, as the images displayed by the media are first filtered and dictated by a select few who work behind the scenes —executive producers, writers, and directors—and contribute to the reproduction of these images.

In sum, this section reviews literature that focuses on sibling interactions on the family sitcom. Both studies of Larson (1991, 2001) and of Merrit and Stroman (1993), revealed that there has been an increase in the conflict displayed between siblings on family sitcoms. By examining sitcoms which aired during the 1970s up until the present, a pattern of increase in conflict is expected to persist according to Merritt and Stroman.

While these studies introduce a rising pattern of conflict among siblings on family sitcoms, both are outdated and fail to reveal more recent changes in the sibling dynamic both on screen and off. Further, Larson’s inability to analyze family sitcoms for the 1990s decade (an era widely accepted as the peak of the black family sitcom) also leaves the

2000s and 2010s decade unexamined. The current study aims to examine how the representation of siblings has varied over time, specifically in the 1980, 1990s and 2010s.

Just like racial stereotypes in the media, sibling relationships and conflict may differ from real life patterns.

Sibling Relationships and Violence

Studies on siblings and violence find that aggression within sibling relationships can have multiple origins (Larsen, 2009; Edwards et al. 2006). Conflict from the perspective of the younger sibling originates due to the older siblings’ domination and inequality of power. Older children claim conflicts with their younger siblings arise due to their lack of maturity. While lack of maturity or ignorance to proper etiquette can be

remedied through instruction by older siblings or parents and experience over time, the domination and control exerted by older siblings upon younger siblings often persists throughout the life course. Further, middle siblings exists as both younger and older siblings in relation to the eldest and youngest children in the household. In relation to younger siblings, older siblings are seen as protectors and teachers while the younger siblings’ role is simply to be the receptacle of older siblings’ teachings. This thesis aims to examine some of the sources or patterns of conflict that may plague the siblings on family sitcoms.

Sibling aggression has often been used interchangeably with sibling conflict, sibling rivalry, sibling bullying, and sibling violence. When examined as sibling bullying, studies reveal that while it is a frequent occurrence within the home and reported at higher rates than peer bullying, it is reported at lower rates than peer bullying. If reported, the grievances take place within the home rather than to outside institutions such as schools or police (Hoetger et al. 2014). Krienert and Walsh (2011) analyze data from the

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for incidents of sibling violence.

They found that offenders of sibling violence were more likely to be older than the victim, primarily in the 14-17 age range with 0-2 years the primary age difference between the victim and offender (338). The female siblings in the sample were also documented as committing simple assault at a rate of 78% and intimidation at 5.1%

(Krienert and Walsh 2011). It is also important to note that the acceptance of sibling violence as “a normal part of life” may influence the reporting of violence that takes place in the home between siblings (Eriksen and Jensen 2009).

This section addressed the data and literature on the sources of conflict that occur among siblings in real life as well as reports of conflict that escalate into sibling violence.

This content analysis of the depictions of siblings on family sitcoms, albeit scripted and watered down, is valuable to the literature on sibling violence and conflict in real life in that the conflict between siblings on sitcoms is being addressed as a subject to study unlike sibling violence in real life that is accepted as normal. This direct acknowledgement of sibling conflict and expressions of aggression by female siblings on television relates to the first research question and provides a catalyst for understanding the “mean girls” and “bad girls” seen in real life and where their aggression stems from.

In sum, these studies have addressed how television sitcoms and their representations of black people impact not only how race is understood (what is adopted as an indicator of race), but how society is organized and reorganized over time based on these meanings. The salience of race in the identity formation of young black girls and the subsequent characterizations from the mammy and matriarch to the ABW is also reviewed. Additionally, the contradictions seen in black girls’ performance of femininity and the place of anger expression within the confines of true womanhood led to the first research question: are black girls more conflictual than their white counterparts? Next, I reviewed the real life stereotypes that black women and girls are inherently angrier and more aggressive than their white counterparts and the implications of this belief. This relates to the second research questions: Do the portrayals of black girls on family sitcoms correspond with media representations of the “bad girl”? Do portrayals of white girls on family sitcoms correspond with media representations of the “mean girl?” Lastly,

I review past studies that examined the relationships between siblings on family sitcoms

as well as more recent literature on sibling relationships in real life. This literature relates to my final research questions of whether birth order and patterns of sibling violence in real life are portrayed on television sitcoms.

DATA AND METHODS

Case Selection

To examine the representation of black and white girls on television sitcoms, I analyzed 500 interactions involving the ten female children on six sitcoms: three black family sitcoms (The Cosby Show, Moesha, and Black-ish) and three white family sitcoms

(Growing Pains, Clarissa Explains It All, and Modern Family). I chose one black family sitcom and one white family sitcom for each of the three eras: 1980s, 1990s, and 2010s.

These decades follow the historical eras in black television outlined by MacDonald

(1992) and St. E Darlington (2018). The first era is Classic Conservatism in the 1980s which depicted perfect middle class families that had more similarities than differences despite their race. The second era in the 1990s is The Era of ‘Cool’ which depicts families that are also middle class and well off but appropriate the culture of the black poor to appeal to audiences. Lastly, The Post-Obama Era in the 2010s depicts families whose diversity is embedded into the main plot of the shows rather than secondary.

The black family sitcoms used for the content analysis were selected because they met the following qualifications: each took place in one of the eras from the 1980s to the

2010s; the show was categorized as a black family sitcom meaning the family cast is made up of primarily Black actors, the siblings on the series were black or of African

American descent, the series featured at least two children; at least one of the children featured was a female; and most importantly, I was able to gain access to enough episodes of the series for the purposes of the content analysis and coding. Due to the

limited amount of black sitcoms produced, I could not select sitcoms based on production, primetime or daytime series, rating, or number of seasons aired. The white family sitcoms selected for the study originate from a larger population of sitcoms than black family sitcoms. The white family sitcoms selected included a two-parent household which included at least one biological parent and included families with at

least one female child. Since there was no consideration of factors like network or time block when selecting black family sitcoms, the white family sitcoms were selected based on similar social class standing in the case of 1980s sitcoms. Similarity in show format was used to select the 1990s sitcoms. Clarissa Explains It All and Moesha both followed the experiences of the older female child in the household. Class standing and family dynamics (with extended family featured regularly) were used as the criteria for selection of the 2010 era sitcoms.

Coding

I recorded the context of the first 50 interactions the girls participated in, with whom the interactions took place, and whether the interactions were conflictual, affiliative, verbal, or nonverbal. I define “interaction” as a verbal or nonverbal gesture, statement, or response that takes place amongst siblings. I used latent coding, a method in which I observed the interactions and determined whether they were conflictual or indicators of the mean girl or bad girl imagery. Additional terms used for the coding in this study were modified versions of the terms utilized by Mary Strom Larsen (1991) and

Merrit and Stroman (1993). Both studies credited their coding scheme and definitions of codes to Greenberg (1980). Greenberg’s system of coding behavior utilizes the following terms and definitions.

Table 1: Greenberg's Modified Behavior Definitions

referred to any communication behavior, either verbal or nonverbal, Behavior directed toward a sibling New a change in sender, receiver, direction (positive or negative), or function Behavior of the communication behavior indicated a new behavior. Sender the initiator of interactive behavior (initiator) Receiver the recipient of the interactive behavior those which initiated, built, or maintained relationships between the Positive participants. These behaviors included, for example, giving information Behavior or support, accepting direction, and non-hostile teasing and joking. those which initiated, or maintained conflict. These behaviors included Negative such things as opposing, attacking, 'criticizing, belittling, challenging, Behavior provoking, teasing maliciously and arguing

I documented the first 50 interactions in which the 10 female siblings were participants. In total, I coded 500 interactions. Interactions were coded as either verbal or physical. Verbal interactions were events in which a participant began a conversation with a female sibling or another participant. Physical interactions were events in which the participants began gesturing or engaging in physical contact directed towards each other. I also coded each interaction as either affiliative (positive behavior) or as conflictual (negative behavior). In addition to conflictual and affiliative codes, I coded the senders and receivers of each interaction as well. The interactions were only documented if it included a female sibling as a participant. The starting time of the interaction was recorded to allow for easy reference to the events when coding.

In order to analyze whether the behaviors reflected racialized gender stereotypes,

I coded girls’ negative behaviors ranging from those associated with the “mean girl” representation (e.g., manipulative, rude and disrespectful, verbal teasing) or the “bad girl”

(e.g., yells, defiant, brash, physical intimidation/assault, verbal intimidation). Other

indicators included the frequency of initiated interactions and the frequency of initiated conflictual interactions. The combination of these indicators reveals whether the portrayals coincides with the image of the bad girl or the mean girls.

Table 2: Bad Girl and Mean Girl Indicators

Bad Girl Mean Girl Does the girl raise her voice or yell angrily Is she rude to other participants? during the interaction? Does she tease or verbally put down Is she defiant? other participants? Does she physically intimidate or assault other Is she manipulative? participants in the interaction? Does she verbally intimidate or bully other participants in the interaction?

Is she brash or disrespectful to the other participants?

The relationship of the interactional participants to the girls were noted and separated into two main categories: family members and non-family members. Within the family category, interactions between the female sibling and their parents, the female sibling and their other siblings, and the female sibling and extended family members

(aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents) were recorded. Additionally, the interactions between the female siblings and non-family members (peers, teachers, strangers, etc.) were recorded. The number of conflictual interactions that occurred within each sub category was then calculated.

Show and Character Guide

Cosby Show

The series followed the Huxtable household headed by Cliff Huxtable the patriarch and OB/GYN, and his wife, Claire Huxtable, a lawyer. The couple had four children, Denise 16, Theo 14, Vanessa 12, and Rudy 5. The eldest, sixteen year old 33

Denise Huxtable, was a nonchalant and brooding teenage girl who avoided getting involved in her younger siblings’ spats. Most of her interactions were with her parents, specifically her father with whom she talks with about disagreeable boyfriends. Denise had a playful teasing relationship with their brother Theo, while Vanessa and Rudy were the targets of his bullying. Vanessa, the middle daughter was constantly involved with disagreements with her siblings and sometimes with her parents. Vanessa attempted to be involved in all that was going on within the household whether it included her or not. As the middle sibling, she took advantage of her role as protector of younger sister, Rudy, from taunts and assaults from older brother, Theo, but also took part in taunting her younger sister herself. Youngest sibling Rudy at five years old was precocious and questioning of the family life around her. She was often the target of taunting from Theo and Vanessa though she teased and bothered her sister Vanessa in return.

Growing Pains

Growing Pains followed the Seaver family after the family began to readjust to the new dynamic: father and therapist Jason Seaver (played by the late Alan Thicke) moved his practice to the home while his wife Maggie Seaver (Joanna Kerns) returned to the workforce as a journalist for a local newspaper. Jason Seaver was now a stay at home dad to his and Maggie’s three children: Mike, Carol, and Ben. Mike, the oldest Seaver child, was a charismatic heartthrob played by Kirk Cameron who took every opportunity to annoy his younger sister, Carol, played by Tracey Gold. Carol was portrayed as a scholar and book worm who enjoyed watching her brother Mike’s plans be shot down by their parents. Aside from her focus on academics, 13 year old Carol also had boy issues.

Youngest brother Ben was eight years old, precocious, and witty. While sometimes

taking the moment to be a pest Ben is usually excited to assist and get involved in his older sibling’s plans.

Moesha

Moesha was a black family sitcom, created by Ralph Farquhar, Sara V. Finney, and Vida Spears, all African Americans. The series ran for a total of 6 seasons from

1996-2000 and debuted on the 8pm Tuesday time slot on UPN. The series starred singing sensation Brandy Norwood as the lead character Moesha. Moesha was described as a

“hip, smart and opinionated character” whose familiarity with black popular culture and use of popular hip hop jargon at the time made her popular with teenage viewers (Iverem

1997, Sharkey 1996). Moesha is shown as confident and a straight shooter when it comes to her opinions on boys and her femininity. When asked to participate in cheerleading tryouts, Moesha swiftly declines because as a “woman of the new millennium,” she is more focused on her intellectual growth. The series follows Moesha and the activities with her best male friend and neighbor, Hakeem, and best female friends, Kim and Niecy. Moesha also dealt with the adjustment of having a new woman in the home, her stepmother, Dee. Moesha had adjusted to being the “woman of the house” with the death of her mother. Since her father’s marriage to one of her school teachers, Moesha often expressed her disdain to her peers as her step-mother Dee stepped into the mother role for Moesha and her younger brother Myles. Moesha was often found at the teen lounge in her neighborhood run by woman named Andell. Andell’s relationship with the youth at her lounge led Moesha to often seek her advice.

Clarissa Explains It All

Clarissa Explains It All was created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon and lasted five seasons. Fourteen year old Clarissa Darling was played by Melissa Joan Hart.

Clarissa spent most of her time in her bedroom devising plans to outsmart her parents or get revenge on pesky little brother, Ferguson. When her male best friend Sam climbed into her bedroom, Clarissa filled him in on the plan which he willingly participated in.

Hart who portrayed Clarissa, describes her character as “wild”, “cynical”, and “into manipulating her parents” (Witchell 1991, Shrieves 1993). Unfortunately, for Melissa

(and Clarissa), Nickelodeon felt that Clarissa was getting too old for viewers and ended the series when Hart was 17. Shrieves (1993) reported in the Orlando Sentinel that the show was filmed for 3 weeks consistently then took two weeks off and then began again for three weeks to film as many episodes before Melissa looked too old for the part. In contrast, Moesha, as a result of its older audience was followed up until her college years.

Clarissa can only be seen in syndication during the late night nostalgia lineup, The Splat, which features Nickelodeon hits from the 1990s. Creator Michael Kriegman eventually tied in all loose ends of Clarissa’s journey in a book released in 2015 called Things I

Can’t Explain.

Modern Family

Modern Family began airing its 9th season in the fall of 2017 with a 10th season confirmed. Modern Family was created by Christopher Llyod and Steven Levitan for

ABC. Modern Family is a sitcom that follows an extended family made up of the family’s patriarch Jay and his second wife who is joined by her son from a previous marriage, Jay's son Mitchell, his partner Cameron and their newly adopted baby; and

Jay's daughter, Claire, her husband Phil Dunphey, and their three children Haley, Alex, and Luke. The Dunphey family makes up the traditional two parent household that is observed in the other sitcoms. The sitcom is stylized as a mockumentary in which the characters have The series has been praised “for reviving the long gone ‘family sitcom’

(McNamara 2009; Villarreal 2011). Alex is the bookish middle child of the family that eagerly takes advantage or mocks the ignorance of those around her, most frequently little brother Luke. She constantly clashes with her older sister Haley as they navigate regulation of property and space and personality differences. Haley is a boy crazy sixteen year old who spends most of her time glued to her phone or consumed with her boyfriend

Dylan. Haley taunts her sister’s bookish ways while Alex resorts to targeting her sister’s near obsession with her boyfriend

Black-ish

Black-ish follows the Johnson family led by Andre Johnson, a marketing executive who remembers the struggles and poverty he overcame that allowed him to achieve the suburban lifestyle that his four children now enjoy. Unlike his biracial wife Rainbow

“Bow” Johnson who was born into a middle-class family, Andre considers his upbringing from poverty as being pivotal to his identity as a black man. When Andre realizes that the middle-class lifestyle he and his wife, a pediatric surgeon have provided for their four children, Zoey, Andre ‘Junior’, Jack, and Diane, has left his children “black-ish” and not authentically black, audiences watch Dre’s attempts to reincorporate his black culture into his children middle class culture that seems to ascend race. This is only exacerbated by Dre’s parents who criticize his parenting skills and discipline of their children in contrast to the practices they used when raising him. Zoey is shown as being a phone

obsessed teen who is almost repulsed at the idea of “hanging out with her family.” Zoey is often embarrassed by younger brother Junior who is socially awkward and more interested in activities that his predominantly white peers are, such as field hockey, to his father’s dismay. Diane and Jack are eight year old twins. Diane, the more inquisitive and intelligent of the two, takes advantage of her brother’s naiveté to make him the sacrificial lamb of her plots which sometimes land them in trouble.

In sum, after determining which sitcoms I would use for the content analysis and the female siblings whose interactions I would analyze, I adopted and developed a series of codes to answer my research questions. I recorded the participants of each interaction, the frequency of conflictual interactions and the participants of those interactions, the relationship of the participant(s) to the female sibling and identified interactions that represented the characterization of the mean girl and the bad girl.

In the next chapter, I organize my findings from the analysis in four sections. In the first section, I present my findings for the occurrence of conflict exhibited by black and white girls by race and across era. In the second I present my findings for the black and white female siblings’ representation of the bad girl and the mean girl. Lastly, I present my findings of the conflict expressed based on the relationship of the participants to the female sibling and whether birth order indicate frequency of conflict.

Table 3: Description of Female Siblings

Female Series Description Sibling Carol Growing  1980s Sitcom Seaver Pains  Middle child-Only Daughter  1 Older Brother (Mike, 15), 1 Younger Brother (Ben,9)  14 Years old  Middle Class-White Family Denise The Cosby  1980s Sitcom Huxtable Show  16 Years old  Eldest Daughter in the Home  3 Younger Siblings-1 Brother (Theo,14), 2 Sisters (Vanessa, 12 and Rudy, 5  Upper Middle Class- Black Family Vanessa The Cosby  1980s Sitcom Huxtable Shows  Middle daughter  1 Older Sister, (Denise, 16)1 Older Brother (Theo, 14), 1 Younger Sibling (Rudy, 5)  12 Years Old

 Upper Middle Class- Black Family Rudy The Cosby  1980s Sitcom Huxtable Show  Youngest Daughter, Youngest Child  2 Older Sisters (Denise, 16 and Vanessa, 12). 1 older brothers (Theo, 14)  5 Years old  Upper Middle Class- Black Family

Clarissa Clarissa  1990s Sitcom Darling Explains It All  Oldest Child-Only Daughter  14 Years Old  1 Younger Brother (Ferguson, 12)  Middle Class-White Family Moesha Moesha  1990s Sitcom Mitchell  Oldest Child-Only Daughter  15 Years old  1 Younger Brother (Myles, 8)  Middle Class-Black Family Haley Modern  2010s Sitcom Dunphy Family  Oldest Child  16 Years old  1 Younger Brother (Luke,11), 1 Younger Sister (Alex, 12)  Middle Class-White Family Alex Modern  2010s Sitcom Dunphy Family  Middle Child  12 Years Old  1 Younger Brother (Luke,11), 1 Older Sister (Haley,16)  Middle Class-White Family Zoey Black-ish  2010s Sitcom Johnson  Oldest Child-3 Younger Siblings  2 Younger brothers (Junior, 13 and Jack, 8), 1 younger sister (Diane, 8)  15 Years old  Middle Class-Black Family

Diane Black-ish  2010s Sitcom Johnson  Younger Child-Fraternal Twin  1 Older Sister (Zoey, 15), 1 Older Brother (Junior, 13), 1 Twin Brother (Jack, 8)

 8 Years old  Middle Class-Black Family

FINDINGS

In the following chapter, the findings of this study are discussed in relation to the four research questions. Those research questions are: Are black girls on TV sitcoms depicted as more conflictual than their white counterparts? Was there a difference in the amount of conflictual interactions across time? Do the portrayals of black girls on family sitcoms correspond with media representations of the “bad girl?” Do portrayals of white girls on family sitcoms correspond with media representations of the “mean girl?” and does relationship to the girl made a difference in the occurrence of conflict?

In this study, despite the racial undertones of this characterization, I find that the black girls in this study are less conflictual than white girls when comparing by race and across time. White female siblings exhibit more stereotypical imagery of the bad girl and the mean girl than do the black female siblings in the study. Finally, I found that black female siblings have fewer interactions with their siblings than white female siblings.

However, of the interactions with their siblings, black female siblings engage in a higher percentage of affiliative interactions than white girls do with their siblings.

Occurrence of Conflict

Across Race

In this section, the frequency of conflictual interactions is addressed. Conflictual interactions are interactions in which conflict was initiated or maintained. Conflictual interactions occur when the female siblings are the sender or receiver of negative behaviors. These behaviors included such things as opposing, attacking, 'criticizing,

belittling, challenging, provoking, teasing maliciously and arguing. The average conflictual interactions by race and by era are examined in this section. Additionally, frequency of conflict initiated by each female sibling compared to the rest of the female siblings of their race to determine whether black female siblings are more conflictual than their white counterparts and if these changes can be observed across time

Figure 1: Average Conflictual Interactions By Race

Average Conflictual Interactions By Race

25.00 23

20.00 15.83 14.75 15.00

9.33 10.00 8.25 6.50

5.00 Avg Avg Conflictual Interactions 0.00 Black Girls White Girls

Average Interactions Initiated Average Interactions Received Total

All but two black female siblings engage in less conflictual interactions than their white counterparts. Moesha was a participant in 12 conflictual interactions while Denise participated in 13 conflictual interactions and Diane and Rudy participated in 15 conflictual interactions. Vanessa and Zoey participated in 21 conflictual interactions. The average conflictual interactions for the black girls was 15.83 conflictual interactions compared to the 23conflictual interactions of their white counterparts. The average number of conflictual interactions initiated by the black female sibling was 9.33 with

Denise initiating six interactions, Vanessa initiating ten, Rudy initiating eight, Moesha initiating nine, Zoey initiating 12, and Diane initiating 11. This corresponds with black

young women’s reports of expressing anger less frequently; though Walley-Jean (2009) also notes that young black women “reported a greater tendency to experience and suppress intense angry feelings rather than expressing them either physically or verbally”(68). This suppression of emotional expression can account for the fewer occurrences of conflict displayed by black female siblings. Zoey is shown during one interaction near hysterics describing a situation to a friend although when asked by her mother if everything is alright she recovers and says everything is all right only to immediately return to her frantic state while relaying information to her friend on the phone. Similarly, after finding out that her boyfriend was seeing someone else at the same time they were involved, Moesha composes herself before confronting her beau and the other girl. Among the black girls, Vanessa and Zoey perpetuate the most (or suppress the least) conflictual interactions.

Figure 2: Conflictual Interactions of Black Female Siblings

Conflictual Interactions-Black Girls 14 12 12 11 11 10 10 9 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 4 4 3

2 # of Conflictual Interactions Conflictual of # 0 Denise Vanessa Rudy Moesha Zoey Diane Black Female Siblings

Conflictual Interactions Initiated Conflictual Interactions Recipient

Figure 3: Conflictual Interactions of White Female Siblings

Conflictual Interactions-White Girls 18 17 16 15 14 14 13 13 12 10 8 7 7 6 6 4 # of Conflictual Interactions Conflictual of # 2 0 Carol Clarissa Hayley Alex White Female Siblings Conflictual Interactions Initiated Conflictual Interactions Recipient

As for white siblings, Haley participates in 26 conflictual interactions and Alex in

24 while Carol and Clarissa both participate in 21 conflictual interactions. Each of the white female siblings also initiate on average 14.75 conflictual interactions, with Carol initiating 14, Clarissa 15, Haley 13, and Alex 17. White female siblings on average were also the recipient of more conflictual interactions with an average of 8.25 compared to black female siblings’ 6.83 average. Interestingly, literature on sibling violence, which includes simple assault and intimidation, finds that “female offenders were more likely than male offenders to be African Americans” (Krienert and Walsh 2011).

The depiction of white female siblings as more conflictual is contradictory of the fragile and innocent image of white girls that is widely accepted by society. The data shows that black girls overall participated in an average of 15.83 conflictual interactions while white female siblings participated in an average of 23. Thus, racial stereotypes of both black and white females were disproven.

Figure 4: Conflictual Interactions of Each Female Sibling

Total Conflictual Interactions of Each Female Sibling 30 26 25 24 21 21 21 20 19

15 15 15 13 12

0 Denise Vanessa Rudy Carol Moesha Clarissa Zoey Diane Hayley Alex Era 1 Era 2 Era 3

Across Era

In this section, I examine the frequency of conflictual interactions initiated and received across time as well as the average conflictual interactions by race across eras. To find the frequency of conflictual interactions initiated and received across eras, I calculated the average conflictual interactions initiated and the average conflictual interactions received of white female siblings and black female siblings. The data reveals that across each era, the conflictual interactions initiated increased gradually while the conflictual interactions received decreased from the 1980s to the 1990s then increased again from the 1990s to the 2010s almost to the level seen in the 1980s. In the case of the average conflictual interactions across era, I calculated the averages of black female siblings and white female siblings for each era. I find that for each era, black female siblings are less conflictual than their white counterparts. I also find that in the 1990s black girls are less conflictual than in the 1980s and the 2010s while white female 46

siblings are just as conflictual in the 1980s and 1990s. I find that across all three eras examined, The 1980s: Classic Conservative on Family Sitcoms, Middle Class Comforts,

Lower Class Culture: 1990s, The Era of ‘Cool’, and Minorities in the Spotlight: 2010s, the Post-Obama Era, black female siblings have been less conflictual than their white counterparts. The most conflictual era for both groups is the 2010s, The Post Obama era.

Figure 5: Average Conflictual Interactions Sent and Received Across Era

Average Conflictual Interactions Across Era 13.25 14 12 12 9.5 10 8 6 8 7.75 4 4.5 2

# OF CONFLICTUAL OF INTERACTIONS # 0 Era 1 Era 2 Era 3 Average Interactions Initiated 9.5 12 13.25 Average Interactions Received 8 4.5 7.75

Haley and Alex of Modern Family participated in an average of 23 conflictual interactions while Zoey and Diane participated in an average of 19.5 conflictual interactions. The total average conflictual interactions for the 2010s was 42.5 This finding supports Larson (1991) who predicted that over time the number of conflictual interactions would increase among television siblings as the dynamics of their relationships (issues of property and privacy) evolved; but, this pattern is not seen in the

1990s (385). The 1990s (the Era of “cool”) had the lowest average of conflictual interactions with Clarissa and Moesha’s total conflictual interactions at 33. However, the

1990s was known as the era of the family sitcom, specifically family sitcoms that focused on the black family (St. E Darlington 2018).

While the increase of conflictual interactions in the sitcoms across eras coincide with Larson’s (1991) prediction that interactions would become more frequent on family sitcoms over time, the results of this study contradict Krienert and Walsh’s (2011) finding that female perpetrators or initiators of sibling assault are more likely to be African

American. I find that compared to white girls, black girls initiate less conflictual interactions. Black girls initiate an average of 9.33 interactions while white girls initiate an average of 14.75. However, black girls still send (initiate) more conflict than they receive. Black girls are the recipient of an average of 6.5 conflictual interactions while white girls are the recipient of 8.25 conflictual interactions. This further indicates that there is a divide between the portrayal of black girls on television and the perception that is formed of black girls in real life. In real life, black girls are seen as the initiator of conflict even when they are the recipient (Jones et al 2017). This study finds white girls as sending and receiving more conflictual interactions than black girls.

St. E. Darlington (2018) analyzes the three eras that are examined in this content analysis. The 1980s are described as an era in black television representation that is almost too good to be true. This era included 21 conflictual interactions in which Vanessa was a participant, more than any other black girl. In contrast, Carol’s participation in 21 interactions is the least among the white girls. Although the 1990s is described as including “portrayals that Blacks had long tried to remove to the American psyche,” this study reveals that the 1990s era had the least conflictual interactions of any other era studied. (St. E. Darlington 2018, 36) This is due in part to Moesha only participating in

12 conflictual interactions, the lowest total for any television series and the lowest occurrence of conflictual interactions among all the black girls studied. Moesha’s more affiliative portrayal as an intelligent and jubilant teenage girl who stands up for herself and supports others does not align with the comedic and belittling caricatures that had regained popularity in the 1990s (St. E Darlington 2018). In this era, the portrayal of black girls on television challenges the widespread depiction of African Americans in the media.

The current era from 2010 to present depicts black girls in ways that differ from girls in the prior eras. The “post-Obama era” of “the 2010 decade now boast reflections that are uncompromisingly Black. Black people, Black culture, Black history, are all being reflected in copious amounts on American television” (St. E. Darlington 2018, 37).

However, this era of African American sitcoms nestles easily among the white family sitcoms of this era in the portrayals of female siblings. Both Zoey and Haley must be told by their parents not to use their cellphones as much as they do, and both have interactions in which they express their embarrassment at their parents’ behaviors. Similarly, Alex and Diane are portrayed as being more intelligent and conniving than their other siblings and use those qualities to manipulate them. It is in this era that black girls are the most conflictual as well with Zoey participating in 19 conflictual interactions, and Diane 15, while Haley participates in 26 the most of any girl in the study and Alex participates in

24 conflictual interactions. Compared to other eras the data from the 2010s supports the claim that Black girls are depicted as angrier across era but not across race (Krienert and

Walsh, 2011).

In sum, the content analysis reveals that conflictual interactions increase across each era. The average conflictual interactions by race across era reveal that black female siblings engage in less conflictual interactions across all eras and that the most conflictual era has proven to be the current “Post-Obama” era. As each family sitcom challenged the established meaning of race that had been adopted by society conflict among the female siblings increased. As racial projects, the black family sitcom served to challenge the idea that blackness is linked with hardship, through depictions of black families as conservative (1980s era 1), cool (1990 era 2), and unique and authentic (2010 era 3).

Figure 6: Average Conflictual Interactions By Race Across Time

Average Conflictual Interactions By Race Across Era

30.0

25.0 25

20.0 21 21 16.3 17 15.0 12 10.0

5.0 Avg Avg Conflictual Interactios 0.0 Era 1 Era 2 Era 3

Black Family Sitcoms White Family Sitcom

Representation of the mean girl and bad girl

The bad girl and mean girl are representations or characterizations of girls in the media. Mean girls are often described as middle class/suburban white girls who engage in indirect aggression by way of mean teasing and verbal put downs and are rude and manipulative. The bad girl is depicted visually as poor urban black and brown girls who can not only be verbally aggressive and threatening but also physically aggressive, brash,

defiant, and engage in angrily yelling and raised voice. The white female siblings in this study participate in more interactions of the bad girl and mean girl representations. In other words, the average occurrence of every characteristic of the bad girl and mean girl representations were higher for the white female siblings than for the black siblings.

Table 4: Representation of the Mean Girl/Bad Girl- Black Female Siblings

Black Female Siblings Denise Vanessa Rudy Moesha Zoey Diane Average Bad Girl Raise Voice/Yelling Angrily 2 9 7 4 3 1 4.33 Defiant 1 1 2 1 4 1 1.67 Physical Intimidation/Assault 0 1 1 4 3 0 1.5 Verbal Intimidation/Threats 1 3 1 3 0 0 1.33 Brash 5 4 1 1 0 1 2 Mean Girl Rude 1 2 2 3 2 4 2.17 Mean Teasing/Verbal Put Downs 0 0 1 2 2 2 1.17 Manipulative 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.33

Table 5: Representation of the Mean Girl/Bad Girl- White Female Siblings

White Female Siblings Carol Clarissa Haley Alex Average

Bad Girl Raise Voice/Yelling Angrily 5 1 8 5 4.75 Defiant 3 4 4 3 3.5 Physical Intimidation/Assault 0 4 2 2 2 Verbal Intimidation/Threats 1 4 0 2 1.75 Brash 3 2 8 3 4 Mean Girl Rude 4 2 4 6 4 Mean Teasing/Verbal Put Downs 2 5 3 8 4.5 Manipulative 0 3 2 2 1.75

Raising Voice/Yelling Angrily

Raising their voice or yelling is a recurrent behavior of all the girls in the sample.

Each girl exhibited this ‘bad girl’ behavior at least once. Often raising one’s voice or

yelling was performed in combination with one of the other indicators. For example, on

Black-ish, Pops asks his grandchildren if they would like to see the scar on his leg from when he was shot. Diane screams that she wants to see it. Interactions that involved raising one’s voice angrily were either for regulatory purposes such as the respect of property and space or done in addition to defiance. For example, when her mother tells her no, she screams again saying “I want to see!” In this interaction, Diane is both defiant by pushing back against her mother’s instruction and raising her voice angrily as she challenges her mother’s authority. Contrastingly, when Haley falsely accuses Alex of invading her privacy by reading her diary, an argument ensues with Haley screaming at

Alex to “just keep your hands off my stuff!” Another argument between the sisters occurs when Haley, still believing her sister to be reading her diary, retaliates by vandalizing

Alex’s signed poster of Dr. Maya Angelou. When Haley tells her sister “Don’t be such a baby, it’s just some dude with weird hair.” Alex responds angrily while raising her voice saying “You know what? This is the worst thing you’ve ever done, and I’ll never forgive you!” before running out of the room.

By raising her voice and yelling angrily, a girl is overtly expressing their anger.

This action directly contradicts the behaviors accredited to true womanhood that include piety and obedience and is an indicator of the bad girl rather than the mean girl. This behavior is demonstrated frequently in the interaction between Sapphire Stevens and her husband Kingfish from the first black sitcom Amos n’ Andy.” The act of raising ones voice and yelling has garnered a racial connotation and is adopted as an indicator of what it means to be a black women or girls. This study reveals that white girls utilize raising of their voice and angrily yelling an average of 4.75 times while black girls use the tactic an

average of 4.33 times. While both black and white girls raise their voice and yell angrily, white girls’ performance of this behavior is higher, proving once more that the perception of black girls as loud has more to do with their race than with their actual behavior.

Defiance

Defiance, an indicator of the bad girl imagery, was exhibited by black girls an average of 1.67 times while white girls exhibited defiance at an average of 3.5 times.

Clarissa from Clarissa Explains It All, the 1990s white family sitcom, exhibited defiance on four occasions. In all four of these defiant interactions in which Clarissa was defiant,

Clarissa’s mother beckons to her to come down for lunch loud enough for Clarissa to hear. Instead of answering her mother or following her mother’s directions, Clarissa continues to engage with the audience (the series includes a broken 4th wall in which the main character speaks to the audience directly) or Clarissa continues to interact with her friend Sam who has climbed into her bedroom. Haley from Modern Family also exhibits defiance during 4 interactions. In one episode, she attempts to sneak out of her grandfather’s home even after being told that she must stick to the commitment she made to visit her grandfather despite wanting to go to a party. Even after being told by both her mother and grandfather that she cannot attend the party, she attempts to sneak out anyway. Zoey exhibited defiance 4 times, the most among the black female siblings.

When her little brother Jack’s behavior leads to him being threatened with a whupping by their father, Zoey resorts to blocking her brother’s bedroom alongside Jack and Diane, telling her father directly, “You are not whupping my brother.”

Eventually, after also being threatened with a whupping Zoey gives up. Another instance of Zoey’s defiance occurs when she is told by her parents that she will need to

baby sit her younger siblings Jack and Diane. She responds by screaming “BABYSIT?!”

All of the instances of the girls’ acts of defiance included interactions in which they were defiant to the orders of their parents, the heads of the households and highest power holders within the hierarchy in the family. Black girls’ lower rates of defiance aimed at their parents than their white counterparts supports the claim that black girls have better relationships to their parents (Johnson et. al 2005).

By blatantly defying their parents’ orders, the girls challenged the social status of their parents directly rather than indirectly. This finding that black girls are less defiant to their parents reveals that even while black girls are exhibiting less defiance than their white counterparts the perception that they are more like the bad girl rather than the mean girl is tied more to their race than to their performance of femininity and gender. The image of the bad girl has been adopted by society as a signifier of what it means to be a black girl.

Intimidation

Intimidation in the form of verbal intimidation or physical intimidation/assaults are where a distinction between the ‘mean girl’ and ‘bad girl’ must be made. Bad girls are depicted as Black and Latina girls from poor urban areas who can participate in both verbal aggression such as posing threats to others and physical aggression such as assault, while on the other hand mean girls are depicted as white middle classed girls who exercise covert forms of aggression but only through verbal tactics such as mean teasing or verbal put downs. The findings reveal that white girls exhibited mean teasing and verbal put downs at a higher average than their black counterparts, supporting the stereotypes of the mean girl as the middle class white girl, however, white girls also

perform verbal intimidation/threats and physical intimidation/assault at a higher average as well.

Verbal Intimidation/Threats

Verbal intimidation/threats an indicator of the bad girl imagery include the use of harsh verbal exchanges from one participant to the other without raising one’s voice or yelling. Interactions involving the harsh verbal exchanges include threats to regulate behavior. If not heeded, verbal intimidation can serve as warnings before retaliation by the initiating sibling ensues. Haley, Zoey, and Diane did not engage in verbal/intimidation and threats, Clarissa exhibited this characteristic of the bad girl 4 times and Moesha and Vanessa demonstrated this characteristic three times. When little brother Myles interrupts her 16th birthday party, Moesha threatens him with violence.

Vanessa also verbally threatens her brother Theo after he pulls Rudy’s hair, telling him

“You better not start touching me!” She does this while climbing the stairs turning to face him while giving her warning. Verbal intimidation was utilized by black female siblings an average of 1.33 times while white siblings utilized verbal intimidation 1.75 times.

Once again, verbal intimidation was performed at a higher rate by white girls than by black girls. This finding implies that black girls are associated with the bad girl because of race rather than behavior, while white girls are avoid association with the bad girl image despite their behavior. Verbal intimidation is overt and does not fall near other demonstrations of conventional femininity. When performed by white girls, verbal intimidation is seen as formulaic and expected, per the television sitcom structure. When performed by black girls verbal intimidation and threats mirror the negative stereotypes of the black woman as the matriarch or the Angry Black Woman. This finding reveals

more support that the bad girl image is less dependent on the behavior of the girl and more so on the race of the girl performing them.

Mean Teasing and Verbal Put Downs

Mean Teasing/Verbal Put downs were a mean girl tactics used by all the white girls, supporting the mean girl representation. In contrast this behavior was exhibited by only four of the six black girls and those who did only did so twice at most. Alex, however, participated in mean teasing/verbal put downs 8 times, the most of all the female siblings. Alex insults her siblings’ intelligence multiple times in the analyzed interactions. In one instance she calls her brother an idiot when he mistakenly believes his parents told him not “to talk black” rather than “not to talk back.” In another episode in which her parents are organizing activities for her younger brother Luke’s birthday party, Haley tells her mom that her boyfriend will be attending and that he has food allergies. When their mother asks if it necessary for Haley to have her boyfriend at her little brother’s birthday party Alex interjects and says “Yes, because she can’t go 10 minutes without his tongue in her mouth. It’s like he’s feeding a baby bird.” The average occurrence of mean teasing/verbal put downs among white girls was 4.5 while the average for black girls was only 1.17 the largest gap of any of the indicators.

This average occurrence of mean teasing/verbal intimidation by black and white girls supports society’s expectations of how white girls should behave. White girls can mean tease and use verbal putdowns because this behavior is still found within the confines of conventional femininity and gender stereotypes of being catty and petty, and is therefore not questioned by society as abnormal. Likewise, the low occurrence of mean teasing and verbal putdowns exhibited by black girls is expected to be low because black

girls are expected to be engaged in the behaviors that indicate the bad girl. However, rather than being more involved in the behaviors of the bad girl than the mean girls, black girls overall were just engaged in fewer conflictual interactions.

Physical Intimidation/Assault

Two of the six black girls and one of the white girls did not engage in physical intimidation/assault. Moesha and Clarissa exhibit the most among all the female siblings with four instances each. Moesha kicks her friend Hakeem in the pilot episode of the series Moesha after he tells her that her new step mother is a better cook than she is. In the same episode when her brother draws attention to her late arrival to dinner, Moesha shoves a large piece of broccoli into her younger brother Myles’ mouth. Clarissa also targets her little brother Ferguson in the pilot episode of Clarissa Explains It All when she throws him into a closet and locks him into a strait jacket, part of an extensive plan to seek revenge on her brother for using her training bra as his show-n-tell prop. The average occurrence of physical intimidation/assault among black girls was only 1.5 while the average occurrence among white girls was 2.

Once again, this finding reveals that the bad girl imagery has been adopted as a signifier of black girls much like social problems were adopted as signifiers of black people in general. Although shifts in what it means to be black have occurred, violence remains a signifier of what it means to be black. The findings support that black girls still exhibit violence through physical intimidation/assault though not at the rates of their white counterparts. Black girls exhibited physical intimidation/assault an average of 1.5 times while white female siblings exhibited physical intimidation/assault an average of two times. In this study, Moesha and Clarissa of the 1990s era, both exhibit this behavior

in four interactions, greater than the averages of the girls of their race. In this case, the

1990s era and the racial projects of the time period can be the source of the high rates of physical intimidation/assault.

Brashness and Rudeness

While brashness and rudeness are similar displays in which people disregard authority, brashness is more assertive and aggressive when expressed. While brashness is considered a characteristic of the bad girl, the mean girl is known for her rudeness.

Brashness is expressed the most by Denise and Haley. When Vanessa, Rudy and Theo get into a spat at the kitchen table, Denise casually yells to her mother “Mother, please control your children.” Rather than assist her mother with her unruly siblings she ignores them and leaves the discipline to her mother. Haley exhibits brashness when she asks her parents irritated “why didn’t you guys just text me” after ignoring her parents call to come down for breakfast. Both older siblings were brash when engaging with their parents, but white girls at higher rates than their black counterparts

Rudeness is exhibited an average of 2.17 times for black girls and an average of four times for white girls. Diane utilized the mean girl tactic four times, the most among black girls. Among white girls, Alex exhibited rudeness six times, the highest among all of the white siblings and the highest among all of the girls. In one interaction, Diane and

Jack contemplate what exactly “the talk,” that they so want from their father really is.

When Jack begins to share his ideas of what the talk is, Diane tells him “you’re boring me,” and walks away mid conversation. In another interaction, Alex exhibits rudeness when interacting with her step-grandmother Gloria. When Gloria, singing loudly asks

why Alex’s cousin Lily isn’t falling to sleep, Alex says “I can’t imagine why,” referring to Gloria’s horrible singing voice.

Brashness, a tactic of the bad girl that has been coded as the black girl was again exhibited more by the white girls in this study than by the black girls, further supporting that the bad girl imagery is more concerned with race of the girl participating in the behavior not the extremity of their actions. Rudeness, however was exhibited by both

Diane and Alex, younger sisters within their 2010 era sitcom families. I find that the mean girl tactic of rudeness is more closely related to the character type that Diane and

Alex exhibit than it is to their race. Both Diane and Alex are depicted as being the most intelligent and inquisitive of their sibling and as such they use their wits to outsmart their parents, siblings and on occasion strangers. This tactic should be accredited to the character type that Diane and Alex express rather than to their race.

Manipulation

Manipulation is a tactic of the mean girl that was exhibited by only one of the six black girls for an average of 0.33. Three of the four white girls used the manipulation tactic for an average of 1.75 times. Clarissa and Diane lead in the most exhibitions of manipulation among the female siblings. Diane used manipulation twice while Clarissa used manipulation three times. In one episode Diane and Jack believe that by drawing attention to themselves through their behavior, they will receive “the talk” from one of their parents, though they are unsure what “the talk” really is. In the case of this episode after their father gives their 13 year old brother Junior the talk, they also would like to earn special attention from their parents. During an interaction between her twin brother

Jack, Diane proposes that one of them behave badly and the over behave positively to see

if that will warrant the talk. Diane suggests they flip a coin to decide who will perform the bad behavior telling Jack that “if she flips heads he wins and if he flips tails he loses.”

Unable to recognize his sister’s trick, Diane manipulates Jack into performing behavior that will get him into trouble. Carol, Denise, Vanessa, Rudy, and Zoey did not utilize manipulation in their interactions.

Manipulation, the last mean girl tactic coded for, was only used by one black girl, and three of the white girls. Manipulation was the least used among all of the behaviors coded for the mean girl and bad girl imagery. Manipulation is the most covert tactic of the mean girl and thus the furthest away from the actions of the bad girl which have been interpreted as “black girl” behaviors. As expected, white girls exhibit more of this behavior because it still falls within the confines of conventional femininity. Finding that only one black girl exhibited this behavior does not mean that the black girls were exhibiting more bad girl behavior but that they were performing more affiliative behaviors overall.

When coding for the five characteristics of the bad girl: raising voice, yelling angrily defiance, verbal intimidation/threats, physical intimidation/assault, and brashness the average expression of these behaviors by black girls was less than their white counterparts. Physical intimidation/assault, one of the essential behaviors that distinguishes the bad girl from the mean girl was only demonstrated by four of the six black girls for an average of 1.5 instances in which this behavior was observed. This finding challenges the current perception of black girls as more angry and aggressive. It also challenges the adoption of the bad girl image as a signifier of black girls when this study reveals that white girls engage in more bad girl behavior. Many of the bad girl

behaviors that are said to be indicative of black girls, have similarities to the qualities and behaviors of the Sapphire (defiance and verbal intimidation), Matriarch (brashness), and

Angry Black woman (yelling and raised voice, physical intimidation/assault). However, I find that the actions of black girls do not support the bad girl imagery, just as the behavior of black women do not support controlling images of the Sapphire, Matriarch, or Angry Black Woman.

Similarly, when coding for the three characteristics of the mean girl: rudeness, mean teasing and verbal put downs, and manipulation, the average exhibition of these behaviors and actions by black girls was less than their white counterparts. All ten of the girls exhibited rudeness, but only four of the six black girls used mean teasing/ verbal/putdowns, and only Diane used manipulation. In contrast all of the white girls exhibited rudeness and used mean teasing/verbal putdowns, and only Carol did not utilize manipulation.

In sum, white female siblings engaged in more of the actions/ behaviors that represent the bad girl imagery than their black counterparts. Additionally, white female siblings also engaged in more of the actions/behaviors that represent the mean girl. Black girls are depicted less like the mean girl nor the bad girl. Overall, black girls are depicted more positively than their white counterparts on TV sitcoms. If you separate race and racial stereotypes from actions, white girls may be more in line with “bad girls” that the media represents as black/Latina.

Dyadic Relationships

Female siblings within the study not only participated in interactions with their family but also with non-family members such as peers and teachers. In this section, I

address the different dyadic relationships that were recorded during the content analysis and the type of interactions, affiliative or conflictual, that occur when female siblings have interactions with the various participants. I also examine the patterns of interactions of the female siblings based on their birth order because social power varies based on position within the family. I address the variation of interactions based on whether the female sibling is an older, younger, or middle sibling.

I find that black and white female siblings have more conflictual interactions with males than with females and more conflictual interactions with family members than with non-family members. Among family members, black female siblings have more interactions with their parents, the majority of which were positive. Contrastingly, white female siblings had more interactions with their siblings, the majority of which were negative. I also find that while few interactions took place with extended family members and non-family members, 1/3 of interactions with extended family members were conflictual while 1/5 of interactions with non-family members were conflictual for both black and white female siblings.

Table 6: Dyadic Relationships of Black Girls

Dyadic Relationships- Black Girls Parents Siblings Non-Family Affiliative 0.72 0.54 0.74 Conflictual 0.28 0.46 0.26 Total Interactions 158 89 38

Table 7: Dyadic Relationships of White Girls

Dyadic Relationships-White Girls Parents Siblings Non-Family Affiliative 0.59 0.27 0.80 Conflictual 0.41 0.73 0.20 Total Interactions 82 93 25

Interactions with parents

Johnson et. al (2005) claims that “Black children have closer relationships with their parents than White parents do” as a result of the “many sacrifices that Black parents have had to make in a hostile environment.” On both The Cosby Show and Black-ish the fathers and even the paternal-grandfathers do not hesitate to remind their children of the hardships they had to overcome to achieve the middle-class lifestyle that they know.

Contrastingly, Moesha has the least interactions with her parents. Moesha has 15 interactions combined with her father and step-mother who are a car salesman and teacher, respectively. While still middle class, those occupations fall behind lawyer, doctor, and executive of a marketing company in terms of status and esteem, it is likely

Moesha’s relationships with her parents were not as close as the other black girls and their parents.

Black girls had more interactions with their parents than their white counterparts.

Of the 300 interactions that the black girls observed participated in, approximately 53%

(158 total) were with their parents. The average number of interactions each girl participated in with their parents was approximately 26. Denise interacted with both parents 27 times, Vanessa interacted with her parents 37 times, Rudy 30 times, and Zoey

26 times and Diane 25 times. Of the 160 interactions that black girls had with parents,

72% of the interactions were affiliative and 28% were conflictual. The black girls had an average of approximately 9 affiliative interactions initiated by their parents and an average of approximately 4 conflictual interactions initiated by their parents. A total of 65 affiliative and 15 conflictual interactions occurred in which the parents of the black girls

were the recipients. Each black girl’s parents were the recipient of an average of approximately 11 affiliative interactions and 3 conflictual interactions.

As for their white counterparts Carol, Clarissa, Haley and Alex, a different pattern emerged. Of the 200 interactions observed only 82 interactions were with the girls’ parents, 41% compared to 53% of interactions between the black girls and their parents.

Carol had the greatest frequency of interaction with her parents at 24 followed by

Clarissa with 20 interactions, and Haley and Alex with 19 with their parents each. On average each girl had approximately 20.5 interactions with their parents. White parents initiated 25 affiliative interactions and 13 conflictual interactions while they were the recipients of 23 affiliative interactions and were the recipients of 13 conflictual interactions.

In sum, black female siblings had more interactions with their parents than their white counterparts. Black girls participated in 158 interactions with their parents, approximately 53% of the total interactions black girls participated in. Of the 158 interactions, 72% of them were affiliative. In contrast, 41% of the white girl’s interactions (200 total) included parents as participants. Of the 82 interactions that included parents, only 59% were affiliative. Black girls on TV sitcoms have more affiliative interactions with their parents which is supported by the literature.

Interactions with Siblings: Older and Younger Siblings

The roles of older siblings are contingent upon the relationships that they have with their younger siblings (Edwards et. al 2006). As older siblings interact with their younger siblings in “everyday practices” such as talking, taking care of, and assisting siblings, their identity is forged. The older sisters observed in the content analysis are

Clarissa whose younger brother is Ferguson, and Haley whose younger siblings are Alex and Luke. Moesha is the older sister to her younger brother Myles, Zoey is the older sibling to Junior, Diane and Jack, while Denise is the older sibling Theo, Vanessa and

Rudy. Edwards et. al (2016) describes the identity of older siblings being tied to their role as protectors and caretakers to their younger siblings. Younger siblings’ identities are forged as the recipients of the protection and care from their older siblings (Edwards et. al

2006).

Denise assisted her brother Theo by offering to sew him a replica of an expensive high fashion shirt he wants to impress a girl. Denise was eager to assist her brother in this way even though her sewing skills were grossly inadequate; the shirt she produced was a clear reflection of her poor skills. However, Denise only had one interaction with Rudy.

It involved Rudy asking if she can watch Frankenstein and Denise telling her nonchalantly that she can if she wants to. As a younger sibling, Rudy was not protected or cared for by Denise. Zoey, however does protect and assist her siblings. After Jack is threatened with a whooping for hiding from his mother at the mall, Zoey joins her other siblings in attempting to prevent Jack’s whooping by standing up to their father. When

Zoey sees her father pulling and tugging a comb through Diane’s hair, Zoey yells for her father to stop and then begins to fix her sister’s hair herself. Zoey also witnessed her brother struggling to talk to a girl and devised a plan to coach him through a headset to impress a girl who would normally overlook him. Moesha and Haley show concern for their siblings during one interaction but fail to care for them in all of the others. Moesha offers to walk her brother Myles to school during one interaction but rather than accept assistance from his asks his sister, insulted, “Do I look like a dog to you?” In another

interaction, Haley shows concern for Luke after an accident at his birthday party leaves him with a broken arm. Contrastingly, Haley is shown verbally assaulting and insulting younger sister Alex frequently because of her interests in academics and her intelligence.

Haley also physically assaults Luke when a hand game they were playing becomes violent.

Clarissa does not attempt to protect or care for younger brother in any of the interactions. Clarissa frequently calls her brothers names and tells him “drop dead” during spats. When Ferguson threatens to tell her mother that she plans to wear unconventional clothes to make a lasting impression for picture day, Clarissa chases him around the house. Clarissa and her brother Ferguson’s spats are a running storyline integral to the plot of the series. In the 50 interactions observed, Clarissa is not ever depicted as protecting or taking care of Ferguson. For Clarissa, her status as an older sibling is tied to her biological position. As an older sibling, she does not assist or support her brother like the other older siblings do. I find that less conflictual relationships with siblings are not dependent or tied to the race of the siblings.

Interaction with Siblings: Middle Siblings

Middle siblings have the interesting role of being both the younger sibling to their elder brother or sister while still being an elder sibling to the youngest. Edwards et al.

(2006) explains that this position places middle siblings in the role as protectors for their younger siblings while still being able to receive protection and care from their older siblings. The three siblings that met the criteria of a middle sibling are Carol, the elder sister to Ben and the younger sister to Mike; Alex the younger sister to Haley and the older sister to Luke; and Vanessa the older sister to Rudy and the younger sister to both

Denise and Theo. Only Vanessa participates in interactions in which she cares for and assists her younger sister Rudy. Not only does Vanessa attempt to comfort Rudy after the death of her pet fish, Vanessa also speaks up for Rudy when Denise throws them out of the bathroom in fear that the remaining soap left on Rudy’s face could cause “blindness.”

Carol and Alex do not defend their younger siblings but their interactions with their older siblings reflect the fluidity of the identities and roles of older and younger siblings. When

Haley and Luke get into a shouting match, Alex jumps in to defend her and begins her own heated argument with younger brother Luke. Similarly, Carol protects Mike from a group of friends who taunt him about an embarrassing moment and she comforts him after his antics leave him in deep trouble with their parents.

In sum, the data reveals that while birth order does come with roles and responsibilities that distinguish the position of older and younger siblings, the female siblings do not reflect these traits perfectly. More than younger and older siblings, middle siblings are more fluid in their performance of sibling roles and are shown to show support to older siblings as is the case of Carol and Alex and also to younger siblings, as is the case with Vanessa. Alex and Carol support their older siblings while Vanessa supports her younger sister; Alex and Vanessa support other female siblings while Carol, the only daughter in her family, supports her male sibling. I find that there are no identifiable patterns in the roles played by middle siblings nor younger siblings. These findings may also be a result of the varying number of children, the male to female sibling ratio, and the age gap between siblings.

Interactions with non-family

The older female siblings have more interactions with non-family members than with family members. Most of Moesha’s interactions took place outside the home with her peers and friends. Moesha’s next-door neighbor and male best friend Hakeem participated in 7 interactions. Hakeem came to the Mitchell home every morning to have breakfast with the Mitchell family before he and Moesha went off to school. He initiated

2 affiliative interactions and 2 conflictual interaction. In one of the conflictual interaction with Moesha, Hakeem criticized her behavior towards their mutual friend Kim who

Moesha had developed resentment for after being rejected from the cheer team. Hakeem was also the recipient of two affiliative interactions and two conflictual interactions from

Moesha. Kim, Moesha’s female best friend, participated in 11 interactions with Moesha, more than any other character in the 50 observed interactions. Kim initiated five affiliative interactions and two conflictual interactions and was the recipient of three affiliative and one conflictual interactions. Andell, Moesha’s older friend and owner of

“The Den,” the teen hangout that Moesha and friends frequent throughout the observed interactions, participated in four interactions. She initiates two affiliative interactions and one conflictual interaction and is the recipient of one conflictual interaction. Overall,

Moesha participates in 31 interactions with non-family members, 21 are with female peers and 10 are with male peers. Approximately, 91% of the interactions with female peers were affiliative while only 60% of interactions with male peers were affiliative.

While not as many as Moesha, Clarissa also had interactions with her friends,

Sam and Jody. Sam, Clarissa best male friend, who lived next door climbed through

Clarissa’s window to find out what situation Clarissa had gotten herself into and what

was the best way he could help. All ten of the interactions that Sam participates in are affiliative. Clarissa’s friend, Jody, shared Clarissa’s sense of fashion and would help

Clarissa in any way she could. Clarissa is shown interacting with Jody in person and by phone. Clarissa has three interactions with Jody, one is a conflictual interaction and the other two are affiliative. Zoey, Denise, and Haley engage in interactions with non-family members, but these interactions take place on the phone without the peer shown interacting face-to-face. Unlike the other girls in this study, Haley had a boyfriend with whom she had most of her non-family interactions. Of the seven interactions Haley has with her boyfriend Dylan, all were affiliative. The frequency of interaction with peers compared to family members is expected to be higher given the transition through adolescence in which peers become the primary source of socialization (Ballantine and

Hammock 2012).

In sum, I find that among black girls’ and white girls’ interactions, approximately

13% of the interactions of both groups were with non-family members. Of the interactions with non-family members, 74% of the black girl’s interactions were with non-family members while 80% of the white female sibling’s interactions were with non- family members. The high percentage of affiliative interactions are the result of the

Moesha’s 31 interactions with non-family members, 25 of which were affiliative. Among white girls, Clarissa’s 14 interactions with non-family members, 10 of which are with her best friend Sam, make up most of the interactions white girls had with non-family members. The interactions that the girls had with non-family members reveal that both groups of girls have more affiliative interactions with non-family members such as peers than they have with parents and siblings. The family relationship is conducive to conflict

a part of the formula of the family sitcom. As a result, interactions with non-family members are more affiliative. Overall, black girls have more affiliative interactions with their family members than with non-family member. With a 6% difference between the percentage of affiliative interactions that white girls and black girls initiated with non- family members, it is possible that relationships of black girls in the home and outside the home have implications on their perceptions within society.

In conclusion, I found that black girls engage in less conflict when compared to their white counterparts and when observed across time which challenges the belief that black girls are inherently more angry and aggressive. Black girls exhibited fewer characteristics of the mean girl and the bad girl which draws attention to the success of media representations as racial projects to redefine what it means to be a black girl. Then,

I discuss finding that both black and white girls are more affiliative when interacting with non-family members than interacting with members of the family and how conflict with family members in the family sitcom reproduces stereotypes. In the conclusion chapter, I will discuss my findings, limitations, and future research.

CONCLUSION

Black women and girls live unique experiences because of the intersection of their race and gender identities. Black women must combat negative stereotypes that target their inability to meet the standards of conventional femininity (Welter 1961, Ford 2008,

Epstein et al. 2017). Some of these negative stereotypes are directly related to expression of anger and aggression, an emotion restricted by those marginalized (Collins 2000,

Homes 2004, Brown 2011, Stets 2012). Some of the negative stereotypes included early depictions of the black woman as the sapphire and more recent depictions of black woman as the Angry Black Woman stereotype. Black women have also been associated with the bad girl image, which describes a girl who commits violence, ranging on a continuum from indirect and verbal aggression to direct and physical expressions (Brown

2011:113). In contrast, white girls have been characterized as mean girls who are covertly aggressive and still maintain their femininity. These stereotypes have permeated society’s view of black women and girls by way of racial projects. Television serves as a conduit for racial projects which transmits depictions of black women on television to audiences.

This thesis examined whether black girls on TV sitcoms were depicted as more conflictual than their white counterparts, whether the content of the portrayals of black girls differed from white girls based on racialized gender stereotypes related to female anger and aggression, whether these depictions changed over three eras of television ranging from the 1980s-2010s, and finally, whether birth order and relationship to the girl

(family vs. non-family) determined whether relationship context influenced conflict.

In answering these questions, my research makes the following contributions.

First, in contrast to real life stereotypes and media representations in reality television, I found that black girls on television sitcoms were less conflictual than their white counterparts. Second, I found that the white female characters were more likely to express behaviors associated with both the “mean girl” and “bad girl” representations which reflects the broader opportunity that white girls have in expressing anger and engaging in conflict without being stereotyped as dangerous and violent like black and

Latina girls are. Third, I found that black girls were consistently less conflictual across all eras of television which indicates that black television sitcoms share a commitment to producing portrayals of black girls that counter the angry, black woman stereotype. Still, it is important to note that black girls exhibited the most conflictual behaviors in the Post-

Obama era of the 2010s. This finding suggests that Black-ish’s raw and cutting edge approach to racial politics may also allow for a more fully human portrait of its young female characters to emerge. Finally, I found diverging family relational patterns among the black and white family sitcoms. Whereas black female siblings had more interactions with their parents, the majority of which were positive, white female siblings had more interactions with their siblings, the majority of which were negative. Furthermore, I found no identifiable pattern between birth order and conflict.

Discussion

Conflict and the family sitcom always have and will continue to remain associated with each other as the structure of the sitcom relies on a familiar narrative arc in which conflict arises and then is resolved in a humorous way. As the first family sitcoms featured white families, it is expected that white girlhood and conflict are associated and

will serve as the standard that all present and future sitcoms girls will be held to.

Analyzing how black family television sitcoms handle conflict is important given the history of racial stereotypes in the media. This is particularly significant when considering how black girls and women are portrayed since conflict and anger are often associated with them through the Angry Black Woman stereotype. Conflict has been falsely adopted as an indicator of black girlhood in real life stereotypes, yet black family sitcoms do not perpetuate that representation in their portrayals of black female siblings.

My finding that black girls are less conflictual than their white counterparts on television sitcoms calls into question the stereotype that black girls are more conflictual.

If the media is understood to transmit images of black and white girls which create the foundation of how people perceive them, then why does the positive portrayal of black girls on TV sitcoms not eliminate the stereotypes? One explanation is that other sources of media, such as the news and reality television, exceed the influence of the television sitcom. Another explanation is that television portrayals cannot counter the historical embeddedness of associating blackness with social problems such as violence and conflict. The salience of race in the identities of black girls means their black girlhood is confined to the stereotype as well regardless of how girls are portrayed on sitcoms.

Despite the limited scope and impact of television portrayals, my findings illuminate an important pattern regarding how race and gender influences the interpretation of behaviors and racialized gender positions can enable or suppress emotions and behaviors.

On the first point, my findings that white girls engage in more of the behaviors that are indicative of the bad girl than the black girls do suggests that the “bad girl” representation is far more about notions of race than it is about the behaviors in and of themselves.

Second, it is due to the very nature of white (girl) privilege that the white siblings can engage in more hostile, aggressive, and violent behaviors while still maintaining their position as lovable, innocent, funny, and cute characters on a sitcom. On the other hand, the black characters are far more restrained in their negative and angry expressions even within the formulaic confines of being a TV sibling where storylines are driven by conflict. This finding echoes the real life suppression of anger and negative emotions by black girls and women and the freedom that white girls and women have to express negative emotions and behaviors without a damaging racialized stereotype being attached to them. The bad girl and mean girl appear to use race to distinguish between what is still feminine and what is not. I propose that the lower levels of participation in bad girl behavior by black girls is an indication of the success of racial projects to present a more affiliative representation of black girlhood on television sitcoms.

Another important aspect to consider is the social class standing of the black girls in this study. All of the TV families were middle class to wealthy which contributed to their representations being so distant from the bad girl image. Many of the hardships that come with being poor and marginalized such as lack of resources would likely lead to increased conflictual interactions among all of the family members (Edwards et al. 2006). Social class privilege serves as a buffer from high stakes conflict and perhaps expressions of deep emotional suffering or rage.

Aside from race, relationship context is another important aspect of studying conflict.

In my study, I coded for interactions with family members: parents, siblings, and extended family. I compared the interactions with family members to those of non-family members such as strangers, peers, teachers, etc. I found that black female siblings had

more interactions with their parents and of those interactions the majority of them were affiliative. This finding supports literature that states that black siblings have better relationships with their parents (Edwards et al. 2006). In contrast, the white girls had more interactions with their siblings, most of which were conflictual. The relationship between both black and white girls with non-family members, were more affiliative than the interactions with family members. Finding that interactions with non-family members were more affiliative was expected.

During adolescence, youth begin to see peers as their primary source of socialization.

Even as this trend was observed across three eras, the image of black girls has not lost its negative connotation. I propose that even though the black girls had more affiliative interactions with their parents, relationships with non-family members are considered more important to audiences. As audiences watch television series, they identify characters that they can use as models for their own behavior. (Bandura, 2009;

Ramasubramanian 2010). While youth are often incapable of changing much about the structure of their home life, they have more agency when it comes to relationships with those outside the home and likely identify with the girls’ relationship with friends more than family. As white girls have more affiliative interactions with their non-family members, which audiences hope to model, they may be perceived as more affiliative overall compared to black girls.

I also coded the birth position or birth order of the female siblings in the interactions.

I found that many of the girls did not uphold their roles as older, younger, or middle siblings or they performed roles for their siblings that were not accredited to their birth position. This was unexpected as the sitcom is known for its formulaic structure. There

were no identifiable patterns across race, though, era revealed that the characters depicted as quick witted, intelligent, and sarcastic targeted their brothers for their gullibility. In this way, family sitcoms are revealed to show some originality. Rather than maintain the formulaic structure to preserve the comedic aspect of the sitcom, new character types have been developed (Mills 2006). The varying personalities of the characters developed have also changed the structure of the relationships that older, younger, and middle siblings have with each other.

Limitations

The study is limited in that there were few black family sitcoms that met the criteria to be used in this study. With the scatter of black family sitcoms available, it is difficult to isolate the shows by network, airing time, and by role of the character. For example, while characters Moesha and Clarissa were the main focus of their respective series, The Cosby Show and Growing Pains focused on the family as a whole while

Black-ish and Modern Family focused primarily on adults with the child characters as secondary. Without these controls, it is unfair to declare the findings on these girls as representative of their entire population of black and white TV children.

Without data on the early 2000s, it is very difficult to make conclusions about the data collected within these studies. The Obama era is unique because the inauguration of the first president of African American descent created a different climate of the United

States and the images of African Americans on television. The presence of an analysis of sitcoms in the era before this transition would create a new facet of the entire study in which political institutions at one of the highest levels influenced media representations as a racial project. However, the political climate during each era would also need to be

studied further. Finally, until the existence of a single, inflexible, consistent term that encapsulates instances of sibling conflict, sibling aggression, and sibling violence, and is accurately reported as such, even data that is collected will have limitations.

Direction of Future Research

It is necessary for future researchers who aspire to repeat or to recreate this study to acknowledge that scripted sitcoms nor reality series are presenting an accurate portrayal of girls or that girls live free of stereotypes. Though the study reveals that portrayals in television sitcoms may show black girls in a positive light, stereotypes are still present in real life. Multiple studies agree that while black viewers internalize the characteristics of the black characters, white viewers use the images of black girls on screen as their bases for understanding black girls in real life (Morris 2017;

Ramasubramanian 2010; Elithorpe and Morgan 2016).

Further examination is necessary to determine why positive images of black girls on the family sitcom does not erase the negative perceptions of black girls. The positive images of black girls found within this study do not negate the existence of the controlling images that black women must resist daily. It also does not negate the real life experiences of aggression that women express during their resistance. Finally, while it is essential to examine the role that the media has played in distributing the dominating ideas about African Americans on television and of sibling relationships, it is just as important to address what goes on beyond the screen. When the media source is put down or turned off the subjects of the messages must still exist and in some cases, actively resist the depictions of themselves that have long been accepted by society.

In conclusion, this thesis provides insight into how television sitcom portrayals vary by race and challenges the notion that media representations of black girls are always negative and perpetuate stereotypes. It is important to examine the intersection of race and gender in media portrayals and to document how stereotypes differ.

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