Given the increasing influence of popular culture on todays society, this project will analyze representations of black women to explore how these images influence young black womens moral sphere. Cultural representations are worthy of theological reflection because these controlling images become sacred rhetoric within popular culture. This paper is an interdisciplinary study utilizing moral philosophy, cultural studies, black feminist discourse and womanist ethics. I begin with a historical analysis of the four controlling images of black women provided by Patricia Hill Collins black feminist and sociologist. With psychologist Mary Pipher, I assert that we live in a girl-poisoning culture that defeats and delimits the maturation process of young black women by inculcating racist and misogynist stereotypes through popular culture, such as hip-hop, which are internalized before young women are fully capable of discerning the effects on their identity. I show how these images operate within what womanist ethicist Emile Townes calls the fantastic hegemonic imagination and suggest how a theory of ontological black femininity is created in popular culture, using the work of philosopher, Victor Anderson. Using three young black women in hip-hop, one subculture of popular culture, I provide a cultural analysis of black female representations today. I then explore the complex subjectivities of black female hip-hop artists and ask who decides whether these artists provide counter narratives. Finally, I conclude by using moral imagination as a subversive religious discourse to respond to young black womens moral identity formation within popular culture to suggest an alternative moral philosophy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-04022012-220739 |
| Date | 10 May 2012 |
| Creators | Tuttle, Kenya Jonell |
| Contributors | Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Juan Floyd-Thomas |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-04022012-220739/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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