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Embodied Mimicry: Lightening Black Bodies in the Visual Rhetoric of Popular 20th Century Black Media
- Date Issued:
- 2016
- Summary:
- This study analyzes various forms of visual and textual rhetoric found in popular black-owned print media from 1900-1970, including: beauty product advertisements, magazine cover photography and feature articles in order to contribute to a rhetorical history of color bias within the African-American community. The imagery included here validated and encouraged the transformation and lightening of African-American bodies through what I call embodied mimicry in order to achieve dominance within the racial group and a semblance of acceptance outside of it. Mimicry of white societal standards by African-Americans including: formatting of print media, circulation of beauty ads and physical embodiment of white physical features ultimately re-inscribed the tenets of racism into the black public sphere in the form of colorism. The intention of this research is to analyze the rhetorical history of colorism in order to better understand the current state of colorism in American society.
Title: | Embodied Mimicry: Lightening Black Bodies in the Visual Rhetoric of Popular 20th Century Black Media. |
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Name(s): |
Judge-Hemans, Janéa, author Heidt, Stephen, Thesis advisor Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters School of Communication and Multimedia Studies |
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Type of Resource: | text | |
Genre: | Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation | |
Date Created: | 2016 | |
Date Issued: | 2016 | |
Publisher: | Florida Atlantic University | |
Place of Publication: | Boca Raton, Fla. | |
Physical Form: | application/pdf | |
Extent: | 89 p. | |
Language(s): | English | |
Summary: | This study analyzes various forms of visual and textual rhetoric found in popular black-owned print media from 1900-1970, including: beauty product advertisements, magazine cover photography and feature articles in order to contribute to a rhetorical history of color bias within the African-American community. The imagery included here validated and encouraged the transformation and lightening of African-American bodies through what I call embodied mimicry in order to achieve dominance within the racial group and a semblance of acceptance outside of it. Mimicry of white societal standards by African-Americans including: formatting of print media, circulation of beauty ads and physical embodiment of white physical features ultimately re-inscribed the tenets of racism into the black public sphere in the form of colorism. The intention of this research is to analyze the rhetorical history of colorism in order to better understand the current state of colorism in American society. | |
Identifier: | FA00004719 (IID) | |
Degree granted: | Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. | |
Collection: | FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection | |
Note(s): | Includes bibliography. | |
Subject(s): |
African Americans -- Color -- Social aspects Black race -- Color Colorism -- United States Ethnicity in mass media Human skin color -- Social aspects Mass media and minorities Race awareness Racism in mass media |
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Held by: | Florida Atlantic University Libraries | |
Sublocation: | Digital Library | |
Links: | http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004719 | |
Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004719 | |
Use and Reproduction: | Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder. | |
Use and Reproduction: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
Host Institution: | FAU | |
Is Part of Series: | Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections. |