Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University African-American Studies Theses Department of African-American Studies 5-2-2018 #Melanin: How Have Dark-skinned Black Women Engaged In Social Media Hashtags To Affirm,alidate V and Celebrate Their Beauty? Ololade S. Hassan Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/aas_theses Recommended Citation Hassan, Ololade S., "#Melanin: How Have Dark-skinned Black Women Engaged In Social Media Hashtags To Affirm,alidate V and Celebrate Their Beauty?." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2018. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/aas_theses/54 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of African-American Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in African-American Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. #MELANIN: HOW HAVE DARK-SKINNED BLACK WOMEN ENGAGED IN SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS TO AFFIRM, VALIDATE AND CELEBRATE THEIR BEAUTY? by OLOLADE S. HASSAN Under the Direction of Lia T. Bascomb, PhD ABSTRACT There is a growing body of scholarship on the nature of social media and its ability to contest racial identity. Research has greatly focused on hashtag activism and the role of Black Twitter in raising consciousness and constructing counterhegemonic presentations of self. However, there is relatively little academic literature surrounding the ways in which dark- skinned African American women are engaging in hashtags to counter colorist ideologies about darker skin tones. Two focus groups and a qualitative content analysis of Tweets containing the hashtag #MelaninPoppin were conducted to explore the ability of social media hashtags to affirm beauty, and encourage powerful self-defining expressions for dark-skinned African American women. Utilizing bell hooks’ notion of "homeplace" as a theoretical framework, this study examines how social media hashtags act as digital sites of resistance; where the wounds of colorism can be healed and renewed. INDEX WORDS: Social media, Hashtags, African American women, Dark-skinned, Colorism, Homeplace #MELANIN: HOW HAVE DARK-SKINNED BLACK WOMEN ENGAGED IN SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS TO AFFIRM, VALIDATE AND CELEBRATE THEIR BEAUTY? by OLOLADE S. HASSAN A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2018 Copyright by Ololade S. Hassan 2018 #MELANIN: HOW HAVE DARK-SKINNED BLACK WOMEN ENGAGED IN SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS TO AFFIRM, VALIDATE AND CELEBRATE THEIR BEAUTY? by OLOLADE S. HASSAN Committee Chair: Lia T. Bascomb Committee: Tiffany King Jamae Morris Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2018 iv DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my three beautiful sisters. Take me back to the days when we’d spend our summers sitting at the top of the stairs with our hair braided, eating ice cream, and playing Ludo, because nothing else mattered. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, Ogo ni fun Oluwa fun aseyori iṣẹ yi [Glory be to God for the accomplishment of this thesis] I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Lia T. Bascomb for her unwavering support and patience throughout this process. I could not have asked for a better chair. My appreciation also extends to the rest of my committee; Dr. Tiffany King and Dr. Jamae Morris. Thank you for your time and continued support. It’s been a pleasure learning from three phenomenal women. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION................................................................................................................. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ V LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ IX 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Significance of Study ........................................................................................... 5 1.3 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 5 1.4 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................... 6 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 8 2.1 Colorism: An Epidemic in the African American Community ...................... 8 2.2 The Wounds of Colorism .................................................................................. 10 2.2.1 The Perpetuation of Hegemonic Dominant Ideologies ............................... 12 2.2.2 Colorism in the Media................................................................................... 14 2.3 Healing the Wounds .......................................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Social Media: A Digital Homeplace ............................................................. 16 2.3.2 Black Twitter ................................................................................................. 18 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Qualitative Content Analysis............................................................................ 24 3.1.1 Data Collection .............................................................................................. 25 vii 3.1.2 Data Analysis................................................................................................. 27 3.2 Focus Groups ..................................................................................................... 29 3.2.1 Participants.................................................................................................... 33 3.2.2 Data Collection .............................................................................................. 33 3.2.3 Data Analysis................................................................................................. 34 3.2.4 Reliability and Validity.................................................................................. 36 3.2.5 Limitations ..................................................................................................... 36 4 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................. 38 4.1 Content Analysis ................................................................................................ 38 4.2 Categories ........................................................................................................... 39 4.2.1 Category 1: Self-affirmation ......................................................................... 39 4.2.2 Category 2: Advertisements .......................................................................... 41 4.2.3 Category 3: No textual information (other than hashtags) ......................... 42 4.2.4 Category 4: Celebrity Reference ................................................................... 42 4.2.5 Category 5: Natural Hair Reference ............................................................ 43 4.2.6 Category 6: Quotes ........................................................................................ 43 4.2.7 Category 7: Discussing the Hashtag ............................................................ 44 4.3 Theme 1: (Re)definition .................................................................................... 44 4.4 Focus Groups ..................................................................................................... 45 4.5 Hashtags as a Site of Injury .............................................................................. 46 viii 4.5.1 Problem 1: The “Token” Dark-skinned Girl ............................................... 47 4.5.2 Problem 2: “My skin color is not a trend” ................................................... 51 4.5.3 Problem 3: Approval-seeking ....................................................................... 53 4.6 A Site for Remedy ............................................................................................. 54 4.6.1 The Younger Generation .............................................................................. 54 4.6.2 Constructing an Online Community ............................................................ 56 5 DISCSUSSION.......................................................................................................... 60 5.1 Addressing the Research Questions................................................................. 60 5.2 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 68 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 70 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. 87 Appendix A: Recruitment Flyer ................................................................................ 87 Appendix B: Phone Screening Questions .................................................................