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dc.contributor.advisorDarling-Wolf, Fabienne
dc.contributor.advisorKitch, Carolyn L.
dc.creatorKern, Rebecca Lynne
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-26T19:19:47Z
dc.date.available2020-10-26T19:19:47Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.identifier.other864884621
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/1599
dc.description.abstractThe past decade has witnessed an increase in queer-themed television. Cable networks, including Bravo, HBO, Showtime, and most recently LOGO, have also begun writing and airing programming with queer characters in the primary roles as well as focusing on themes relating to the gay community. Shows, such as Queer as Folk and The L-Word, while primarily written for a queer viewing audience, have been mass marketed and have had strong viewership outside of the queer community. The L-Word is unique in that it is the first show to focus on the lives and relationships of non-heterosexual women, thus making it the first show to subvert gendered and sexual norms relating to the female sex/gender. Using ethnography, this study builds upon previous textual analyses by examining how audiences of Showtime's The L-Word construct and interpret queer female identities. The problem is not of accurate representations in media, but rather, the necessity of understanding constructions of gender and sexual expression and representation. In addition, it is necessary to examine how audiences negotiate media texts about oppressed identities and if these negotiations help to perpetuate dominant ideals regarding gender, gender roles, and heterosexuality. This study analyzes how viewers' individual experiences and ideologies help to construct their own identities and their negotiation of television images and texts, and how new modes of understanding influence social relations concerning gender and sexuality difference. Inspired by the works of discourse, feminist, and queer theory, this study examines audience interpretations constructed about the queer female community after viewing The L-Word.
dc.format.extent311 pages
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherTemple University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartofTheses and Dissertations
dc.rightsIN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectMass Communications
dc.subjectGender Studies
dc.subjectAmerican Studies
dc.subjectGender
dc.subjectQueer
dc.subjectSexuality
dc.subjectTelevision
dc.subjectThe L-word
dc.titleNegotiating Queer Female Identities: Reading and Reception of Showtime's "The L-Word"
dc.typeText
dc.type.genreThesis/Dissertation
dc.contributor.committeememberMaynard, Michael L.
dc.contributor.committeememberGratson, Scott
dc.contributor.committeememberBacon, Jennifer
dc.description.departmentMass Media and Communication
dc.relation.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/1581
dc.ada.noteFor Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.edu
dc.description.degreePh.D.
refterms.dateFOA2020-10-26T19:19:47Z


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