CaShawn Thompson's hashtag, #BlackGirlMagic, has transformed into a movement over the past five years. The hashtag focuses on celebrating the beauty, influence, and strength of Black women and girls. However, Thompson's term sits in a space of tension, where contradictory interpretations create boundaries around what Black girl celebration means…

This inaugural Saudi Arabian-based (SA) study explored how social media images and cartoons can influence the professional identity of pre-service teachers (PSTs) measured by their reflections on self-selected images of teachers and teaching in Saudi media. PSTs (n = 30) were enrolled in a teacher education program in a faculty of education in a…

As a form of popular culture, magazines provide a lens through which historians can examine the dominant attitudes and values of a society. This article examines the portrayal of young American women in the popular teen magazine, "Seventeen" magazine, during the period 1955-1965. The study documents and analyses the messages conveyed…

Identity formation is a critical process shaping the lives of adolescents and can present distinct challenges for Black adolescent girls who are positioned in society to negotiate ideals of self when presented with false and incomplete images representing Black girlhood. Researchers have found distorted images of Black femininity derived from…

Issues of representation and identity are paramount in youth media. These issues are further complicated when youth draw on popular culture and other media resources as vehicles to interpret and represent themselves (Alvermann, 2008, Jenkins et al., 2006). While youth-produced media often draw on popular culture resources and are frequently…

The present article explores discourses surrounding the bodies of Black women and girls as they engage the meanings of Black womanhood in (American) society in an afterschool setting. Drawing on Black and hip hop feminisms, African American literacies, and critical discourse perspectives, the author analyzes two young girls' narratives, which…

Not even the first lady of the most powerful nation in the world is immune to stereotypes that have plagued Black women since first setting foot on American soil. Stereotypes of being the "angry Black woman" and curiosity about differences in appearance still persist from the academy to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. As African-American women rise in…

Black Women in America is an upper-division elective course for students majoring in African American or women's studies at California State University Fullerton (CSUF). The author has taught this course at CSUF at least once a year since 2002 and have changed the course readings, lectures, and assignments on a regular basis. In April 2007,…

Reproductive justice is an important and comprehensive conceptualization for understanding the complexity of reproductive issues faced by women. When considering attitudes and beliefs that give rise to policies related to reproduction, it is critical to examine the ways in which the issues are framed. In this case-study-style analysis, the…

Video games have become a powerful force in the culture. Depictions of women in video games are scarce and highly stereotypical. Women are usually minor characters, are seen as victims rather than heroines, and are depicted in highly sexualized ways. Whereas early games had only a few representations of people of color, people of color were often…

Despite the importance of understanding children's interpretations of popular culture in the United States, young children's voices have not been sufficiently explored in studies. Moreover, the perspectives of American immigrant children hardly have a presence in studies of popular culture. Thus, this paper explores how young immigrant children…

Points out the importance of making students aware of the role stereotypes play in literature and popular culture. Examines several examples of sex stereotypes found in literary classics and offers suggestions for dealing with them. (JL)

As the nation's premier historically Black college for women, the Spelman community prides itself on addressing issues of race and gender through critical thinking and meaningful dialogue--asking questions and seeking answers to the nuances of history and popular culture that relate to and affect Black women. The scheduled visit to the Spelman…

Reports results of a survey in which 200 teenaged girls indicated which television woman was like them, which one they would like to be like, which would be the best friend and the best mother, which women exhibited the most control over their situations, and which female television star most resembled the "typical American female." (GT)

In order to determine some of the effects of children's television, a study investigated the communicative response repertoire of primary female characters in Saturday morning children's cartoons as perceived by children. Those perceptions were then compared with those of the researchers, formulated through previous studies, showing a relationship…