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Embodied Mimicry: Lightening Black Bodies in the Visual Rhetoric of Popular 20th Century Black Media

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. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_33685
ContributorsJudge-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
PublisherFlorida Atlantic University
Source SetsFlorida Atlantic University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text
Format89 p., application/pdf
RightsCopyright © 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., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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