BLACK WOMEN AND SCANDAL: REPRESENTATION AND RECOGNITION IN CROOKED SPACES By Leigh-Anne Kathryn Goins A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sociology—Doctor of Philosophy 2015 ABSTRACT BLACK WOMEN AND SCANDAL: REPRESENTATION AND RECOGNITION IN CROOKED SPACES By Leigh-Anne Kathryn Goins Discourses surrounding Black femininity and Black women’s bodies often rely on racist and sexist narratives that define Black women as angry, emasculating, inhumanly strong jezebels. In 2012, a new series and possible disruption to the structure of structural and social exclusion in media emerged. Scandal, under the helm of Shonda Rhimes –head writer and executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice starred Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, a political relations crisis manager for the Washington, DC elite. Pope, based on public relations crisis manager Judy Smith (former press aide to President George H. W. Bush) “handles” situations with her “gladiators in suits.” Conversations surrounding the prominence of Scandal pointed to Pope’s commanding presence, her beauty, and the dramatic and well-written script. Some noted the show and Pope’s representation as a high-powered Black woman –the first of her kind and the first Black female lead in 40 years– could change negative representations of Black women. Others argued her messy life and continued affair with the White Republican President constrained representations and positive recognition, and limited value associated with Black women. Through a Black feminist lens influenced by institutional ethnography and social citizenship, this dissertation focuses on digitally mediated (Internet) conversations that (fail to) positively recognize the image of Olivia Pope and place them in conversation with Black women’s narratives in order to understand the relationship between representation and positive value and recognition (social citizenship). Analysis of digitally mediated comments (N=1,426) from twenty-one articles revealed individuals discussed Pope’s body, representation(s) of Black femininities, and Black women generally through three themes: the (im)Materiality of Race, Media Misrepresentations, and Controlling Humanity. Findings from focus groups (N=15) and interviews (N=5) revealed participants actively disengaged from digitally mediated conversations to maintain sense of value and belonging. They argued that many conversations and narratives restricted recognition and value to Black women generally and Pope specifically, which created a sense of disease. From their narratives, two prevalent themes remained: Media Misrepresentations and Mediating Social Citizenship (access to positive recognition and value). Participants found Pope’s character complex and multifaceted. They argued her ‘messiness’ demonstrated humanity previously bracketed from Black women, and her level of power and influence challenged notions of Black femininity. At the same time, participants found her image constraining, limited by respectability politics, and controlled by a larger discourse of ‘readable’ or ‘legible’ Blackness. Despite the challenges participants found within Pope’s characterization, many argued her image and character exists as a future text, or an image that presents a divergent construction of Black femininity. As such, her image provides a template for emerging characters and writers looking to challenge monolithic constructions of Black women’s bodies and femininities. It is important to note that participants argued despite the possibility of Pope existing as a complete future text, her character falls short and remains constrained. Finally, participants found greater possibilities for divergent future text representations in new media series’ (e.g. YouTube, Hulu, Netflix). They cautiously hoped for images that provided the possibility of increases in human representations that would provide greater access to positive value and recognition, in both media and society. Copyright by LEIGH-ANNE KATHRYN GOINS 2015 For my Grandmother, Second Mom, my Grandfather, and Godmother: Thank you for instilling a love for education, strength, passion, and a desire to be an agent of change. Your dedication to nourishing my spirit and steady hands in the face of adversity made this dissertation journey possible. I am eternally grateful for guidance and love. It is my sincere hope that this dissertation in some way makes you proud. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.” ~Alice Walker As I began this project, collected and analyzed data, and wrote this dissertation I said many prayers: prayers for sanity, for strength, for clarity. The most important of these prayers though, was my hope that my friends, family, colleagues and support networks would know my gratitude. This project would not be possible without their continuous dedication, love, and support. They nurtured my dreams, fostered my strength, and encouraged me when I believed I could not. I would like to thank my mom, Pamela Graham for listening, for reading through drafts, and for being a shoulder to lean as I navigated my graduate school career. I would like to express thanks to my sister, Sydney Marie for motivating, supporting, and believing in me. To my aunt Cynthia who opened her doors, let me live in the Pacific Northwest for a few months, and helped me finish this project, thank you. For my two sister-friends Shareka Chisolm and Andrea Smith thank you for always being there –even at midnight. To the Kleiner’s –Devin, Christa, Eli and Bryn– thank you for helping finish this project with my sanity in tact. I am thankful for the Sistah Circles I was part of, both formal and informal –Jasmine Cooper, Rashida Harrison, Jamie Thomas, Kellie Mayfield, Carmel Martin-Fairey, Christina Campbell, and Mary Phillips– who encouraged me to trust my voice and supported me throughout this journey. Thank you for providing a safe space to challenge structures of oppression without fear of reprisal or microaggressions. As I moved through the writing process, I reflected on my time with these sistah friends; their words motivated me to find strength in my voice and trust my instincts in writing. For that, I am eternally grateful. To my Black feminist sistah friends: words cannot express how grateful I am that you helped me walk through the vi field, encouraged me to find my own understanding and articulate my positionality. To my fellow graduate students and friends –Alexandra Gelbard, Cristian Doña-Reveco, Cata Doña- Reveco, Naomi Glogower-Berman, Linda Gjokaj-Bzhetaj, Dilshani Sarathchandra, and Breanne Grace– who read my work over the years, spent time at coffee shops talking out research questions, and provided moral support, thank you! I would like to thank my advisor and committee chair, Stephanie Nawyn, who supported me tirelessly throughout this process, read countless drafts, and always provided strong and detailed feedback. I am truly grateful for your support, your mentorship, and for your guidance over my graduate career. I would also like to thank my committee chairs, Drs. Kristie Dotson, Toby Ten Eyck, and Steven Gold. I am appreciative for your invaluable guidance, feedback, and support through my graduate career and dissertation process. I would also like to extend thanks to Drs. DeBrenna Agbenyiga and Tamara Beauboeuf for their support and guidance on collecting data from Black women on issues of recognition and respect. I would like to thank the Department of Sociology, the College of Social Science, the Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, and the Graduate School at Michigan State University for their financial support of this project. I would also like to thank Tammy Spangler, the (now retired) Graduate Secretary in the Department of Sociology for her tireless support and encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my participants. Although the sample is small, the richness of data is great. Thank you for your candid, funny, and amazing insights into Black women’s experiences ‘online.’ I appreciate your willingness to discuss moments of frustration, pain, and anxiety; thank you for allowing me to be part of your Scandal journey –love, hate, or indifferent. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ……....……………………………………………………………...………...x LIST OF FIGURES ....……………………………………………………………...……....……xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ....……………………………………………………...…..1 RESEARCH PROBLEM ....………………………………………………………………………3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...……………………………………………………………….........8 PURPOSE AND GOAL OF THE STUDY ………………………………………………..........11 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION ..……………………………………………….........12 NOTES ON SCANDAL ...……………………………………………………………….............14 CHAPTER TWO: RELEVANT LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...….19 REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE ...…………...………………………………….…..19 Race, Racism, and the Media ...………………………………………………….………19 Black Women, Racism, Sexism and the Media ...……………………………….………22 Race(ism), Sex(ism), and the Internet ...……………………………………….………...25 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...……...………………………………………….……….....30 Black Feminisms and Black Feminist Praxis ...…………………………….……………32 Institutional Ethnography ...…………………………………………….………………..34 Social Citizenship ...……………………………………………................……………..37 SUMMARY ..…………………………………………………………………………………....40 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS ...………………………………………………………….….42 SITUATING MYSELF ...……………………………………………………………………….44