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What Does It Mean to Go Super Saiyan: Gender Identity and Fandom in the Toonami Release of Dragon Ball Z (1998-2003)

The intention of this thesis is to analyze the representations of masculinity in the anime series Dragon Ball Z as it aired on Cartoon Network's programming block Toonami, specifically the nature in which they were framed and how oppositional interpretations in the fandom became prevalent as a result. The series emphasizes the evolution of its central characters Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan into performing a sensitive masculinity, but there are a prevalence of images in the series that discredit this. Similarly, the way the series was advertised on Toonami placed emphasis on images of superficial violence and reinforced the masculinity that the series was attempting to move beyond. Understanding the ways fans have interpreted Dragon Ball Z on Toonami helps reveal that there is much more to a media text's influence than its themes and representations of gender.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1833459
Date08 1900
CreatorsLiverett, Nicholas
ContributorsMandiberg, Stephen, Benshoff, Harry, Larke-Walsh, George S.
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatv, 79 pages, Text
RightsPublic, Liverett, Nicholas, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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