Race, Gender, and Reality TV: Reading and Resisting Black Female Stereotypes in School and Media

• In Event: Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Stereotypes, Mind-Sets, and Attitudes of Black and Latina Girls

Abstract

By leveraging the oft-silenced voices of Black girls, this study unearths the illicit connections between popular television, race-gender identity and schooling. Mixed methods were used to explore how Black girls read, resist and revise popular images of Black girlhood in media and schools. Three major themes evolved throughout the study: 1) stereotypes about Black girlhood are prevalent in media; 2) images of Black girls as hypersexual and violent overflow into schools and create social, behavioral and academic issues; and 3) Black girls are not passive recipients of stereotypes, but instead actively resist them using raced and gendered sociolinguistic practices. Ultimately, this work offers new insights on the ways Black girls resist degrading representations and survive their educational impacts.

Author

• Tiera Tanksley, University of Southern California