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Publication Date

2017

First Advisor

Rob Eschmann

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Study Type

Qualitative

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School for Social Work

Keywords

African American women college students-Psychology, Internet-Political aspects, Internet-Social aspects, Social media-Psychological aspects, Blacks-Race identity, Black beauty, Afrocentric theory, Homeplace, Aesthetic resistance, Positive Blackness condepts, Black feminists

Abstract

This project seeks to explore the celebration of Black beauty in online spaces as a form of resistance, and its influence on undergraduate students of color. Academic discourses on the growing impact of social media is currently experiencing an influx of literature. This study hopes to expand understandings of how social media is functioning as a space for resistance for people of marginalised identities. Ten undergraduate students participated in individual interviews exploring their processes of learning and unlearning Eurocentric beauty standards, and discussed the extent to which social media played a part. A significant finding is that while social media can provide spaces to celebrate and promote beauty diversity, in the celebration of Black Beauty, African American women in particular noted not having the privilege of passively engaging with these spaces, as they often had to sift through the subversive messages of Eurocentrism that continued to seep through.

Language

English

Comments

123 pages. Includes bibliographical references (pages 107-115)

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