Graduation Year
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Communication
Major Professor
Aisha Durham, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Christopher McRae, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Steve Wilson, Ph.D.
Keywords
Black television representations, Critical autoethnography, Awkward Black Girl, Abbott Elementary, Racial scripts
Abstract
For my thesis project I will introduce the Awkward Black Girl as a new race gender script. Though there are minor nuances of the Awkward Black Girl within television, Issa Rae’s performance of the Awkward Black Girl in Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl and the HBO hit series Insecure remains prevalent to contemporary media representations. Though there is limited scholarship within the field of Communication available about the Awkward Black Girl, most of the scholarship consists of analysis and discourse centering Rae’s portrayal in her web series and television show. I explore Quinta Brunson’s portrayal of the Awkward Black Girl script to the field of Communication. Therefore, contributing to producing diverse media representation of Black women. First, I explore this script with critical autoethnography to display the lived experiences of an African American woman, and the effect the script has had concerning dominant ideologies formed by the media, identity formation, and interpersonal relationships. Following this, I conduct an in-depth textual analysis in the award-winning series Abbott Elementary.
Scholar Commons Citation
Williams, Kendra, "Did I Do That?: Lived Experience and Media Representation of the Awkward Black Girl" (2024). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10581
