Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 Teaching Children About Body Image and Ethnic Hair: A Rhetorical Analysis of Picture Books and Parenting Books Sully Moreno Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TEACHING CHILDREN ABOUT BODY IMAGE AND ETHNIC HAIR: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF PICTURE BOOKS AND PARENTING BOOKS By SULLY MORENO A Thesis submitted to the Department of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2012 Sully Moreno defended this thesis on March 14, 2012. The members of the supervisory committee were: Donna Marie Nudd Professor Directing Thesis Davis Houck Committee Member Jeanette Castillo Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the [thesis/treatise/dissertation] has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii To my parents, Sully and Ricardo, who may not see eye to eye with me when it comes to beauty, but who taught me the far more important lessons of hard work and dedication. Thank you for loving me and sending me to college. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 2 Gender as a performance. ........................................................................................................ 2 Race as a performance ............................................................................................................. 5 Tensions in Performance. ........................................................................................................ 6 Socialization. ........................................................................................................................... 7 Children‘s Books. .................................................................................................................... 8 The Female Protagonist. .......................................................................................................... 9 Beauty. ................................................................................................................................... 12 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER II: ETHNIC HAIR ..................................................................................................... 18 The Books ................................................................................................................................. 19 The Written Text ....................................................................................................................... 20 The Sub-genres. ..................................................................................................................... 20 The language. ......................................................................................................................... 22 The Illustrations......................................................................................................................... 24 Text and Illustration .................................................................................................................. 34 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 37 CHAPTER III: BODY IMAGE .................................................................................................... 40 The Books ................................................................................................................................. 41 The Text .................................................................................................................................... 41 Changing habits. .................................................................................................................... 42 Body-accepting. ..................................................................................................................... 47 The Illustrations......................................................................................................................... 49 Text and illustrations ................................................................................................................. 62 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 64 iv CHAPTER IV: PARENTS‘ ROLES ............................................................................................ 67 The Texts ................................................................................................................................... 68 Common Themes ...................................................................................................................... 70 Girls‘ changing relationships with their bodies and parents. ................................................. 70 Mothers‘ roles. ....................................................................................................................... 73 Fathers‘ roles. ........................................................................................................................ 76 Race ........................................................................................................................................... 78 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 80 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION..................................................................................................... 82 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................................ 82 Chapter II. .............................................................................................................................. 82 Chapter III. ............................................................................................................................. 82 Chapter IV. ............................................................................................................................ 84 Ethnic Hair Books vs. Body Image Books ................................................................................ 84 Children‘s Books vs. Parenting Books ...................................................................................... 86 Selecting Children‘s Books ....................................................................................................... 87 Future Children‘s Books ........................................................................................................... 88 Future Parenting Books ............................................................................................................. 88 Future Academic Studies .......................................................................................................... 89 Final Words ............................................................................................................................... 89 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………..90 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ........................................................................................................ 93 v LIST OF FIGURES 2.1 Hair combing ...........................................................................................................................25 2.2 Hair spinning on a loom ...........................................................................................................25 2.3 Hair in cornrows ......................................................................................................................26 2.4 Hair as a globe .........................................................................................................................26 2.5 Hair as a vine ...........................................................................................................................27 2.6 Hair as wings............................................................................................................................27 2.7 Mother and grandmother breathing life into the past ...............................................................28 2.8 Braiding hair in the past ...........................................................................................................29 2.9 Spirit looming ..........................................................................................................................29 2.10 Hair like a mane .....................................................................................................................30 2.11 Girl swinging .........................................................................................................................31