Scandalous Representations: Across Four Decades of Black Women in Primetime Television

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

As this year’s conference theme sheds light on the historical and cultural practices in communication across the life span, our panel, “Scandalous Representations,” explores the politics of representation of Black women in television over the past 40 years. This panel highlights evolving representations of Black women in television and the role of an increasingly interactive Black audience on social media. Inclusive of analyses of diverse genres of television and using a range of theoretical perspectives, this panel investigates Black women on television women across four decades and into the future.
To help contextualize our research, “The Forty Year Black Female Review,” explicitly traces the representation of Black women on television. Murray’s paper examines the evolution of the Black female lead role in a network television drama by comparing the presentation of Christy Love to Olivia Pope and detailing the development of Black female leadership in television. Murray’s paper highlights the shifts in representation of Black female over the past four decades, drawing connections to the representations of black female characters and social, political and cultural contexts.
In accordance with Murray’s historical investigation of the black female character in primetime television, “I Want to Show the World What They Did to my Son,” traces the representation of the grieving mother in primetime television news. The framing analysis analyzes the depiction of Black grieving mothers in comparison to White mothers. Additionally, Cubbage investigates how the representation of the grieving Black mother serves as a platform for collective strength and community action.
“Trending Topics” examines the representation of Black female characters such as Olivia Pope, and Mary Jane on social media. In her analysis, she critically examines the role of social media in contributing to the experience of viewing Black female in characters in primetime television. Instead of an analysis on Twitter’s response to Olivia Pope and Mary Jane, Harris postulates that social media sites such as Twitter help transform the politics of representation, as social media fosters dialogue, self-examination, heightened awareness, critique and resistance among Black women online.
Similarly, “Who is Olivia Pope?” grapples with the formation of spaces of resistance for Black women via Olivia Pope. In Saxton’s analysis, she unpacks practices of contingent agency. She argues that while Olivia Pope subverts some gendered and racial barriers in primetime television, the character simultaneously upholds and contributes to hegemonic cultures that restrict and condition the exercise of agency among Black women on and off television.

Sub Unit

• Ethnicity and Race in Communication

Individual Presentations

• The Forty Year Black Female Review: From Get Christie Love to Olivia Pope - Creshema Rekuise Murray, University of Houston-Downtown

• "I Want to Show the World What They Did To My Son": A Framing Analysis of the Grieving Yet Empowered Black Mother - Jayne Cubbage, Bowie State U

• Trending Topics: Social Media’s Roles in Supply and Demand, Criticism, and Engagement With Black Women on Television - Felicia Harris, University of Georgia

• Who is Olivia Pope?: An Analysis of Contingent Agency via Representation of 'Scandal's' Lead Black Female Character - Loren B Saxton, Bowie State U