Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Backstrom, Laura

Abstract

This thesis examines the expression of anger and aggression in interactions of 6 black and 4 white female siblings on family sitcoms from the 1980s, 1990s and the 2010s. The interactions were examined to determine whether black girls on TV sitcoms were depicted as more conflictual than their white counterparts, whether the content of the portrayals of black girls differed from white girls based on racialized gender stereotypes related to female anger and aggression, whether these depictions changed over three eras of television ranging from the 1980s-2010s, and finally, whether birth order and relationship to the girl (family vs. non family) determined whether relationship context influenced conflict. The findings revealed that by race and across time black girls are less conflictual than their white counterparts. This contradicts the acceptance of solely black girls as representations of the violent and aggressive “bad girl.”

Extent

101 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00013020

Format

pdf

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