Speaking Truth to Power
Challenging Gender Norms: The Power of Theater for Social Change
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kenza Oumlil, Leslie Jacobson
This paper examines the intersection of communication, gender, and performance, as demonstrated through a creative project involving students at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco (AUI). Drawing from theater for social change theory and from literature on performing gender, this paper examines the impact of using theater to effect societal change. In four AUI Media and Gender classes (fall 2015, spring 2016, fall 2016, and fall 2017), students formulated a series of questions designed to elicit responses from other AUI students, creating compelling narratives focusing on gender equality and sexual violence. The transcripts of these interviews were edited into four scripts, performed as staged readings. The methodology for this paper relies on data from surveys collected after the four performances, as well as interviews and discussions conducted with the classes and the four audiences. Analysis reveals that attendance at the play increased over the two-year period, and survey participants responded that seeing a theatrical performance helped them understand issues differently. The audiences were motivated to take concrete action to promote gender equality in society in direct proportion to the power and specificity of the stories shared onstage, demonstrating the potential of theater to inspire the audience to make positive societal change.
New Perspectives in Reception Studies: Exploring Audience Reception Using Mediated Discourse Analysis
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Julie Whiteman
This paper examines contemporary sexualization of culture debates and postfeminist understandings of sexuality which have framed the feminine as sexual, taking contemporary mainstream music video and social media as a case study. This paper argues that these texts present a version of sexuality that is heteronormative, that reinforces a view of heterosexuality as the normative sexuality, and that normalises a hegemonic heterosexuality which legitimises existing power relations and is frequently linked with (sexual) violence against women. This paper further presents Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) as an innovative methodological approach for reception studies. By focusing on "discourse in action" it provides a vehicle to understand how texts are read and interpreted when appropriated by the audience. The paper sets this methodology within a feminist framework of reception studies drawing on literature from feminist theory, media, and cultural studies; it demonstrates how this methodology is being employed in the author’s own ethnographic research to explore reading and interpretation of sexual scripts within contemporary music video and social media and the significance of this intertextual relationship. This paper explores the relationship between ideas and action to understand how sexual scripts are communicated within the current postfeminist sexualised media culture landscape.
#Hashtivism Tackles Sexual Harassment: How #MeToo Emboldens Feminist Critical Media Literacy Education and Activism
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Julie Frechette
Lifelong civic engagement for social change includes feminist approaches to media literacy that encourage critical analysis of corporate media practices that perpetuate gender inequities and injustices. The recent international social media activism brought to light by the #MeToo campaign affords a poignant and timely case study for assessing how media literacy activism can unify and mobilize the NetGeneration to challenge antiquated attitudes and behaviors that keep women marginalized in media sectors, public life, and business careers. Along with the recent slew of celebrity revelations of sexual harassment brought on by the Harvey Weinstein exposé, women -- and some men -- have used hashtag campaigns to share personal stories of sexual harassment and assault. #MeToo caught fire when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted a call-out to victims to provide the public with a sense of the seriousness and magnitude of the problem. Drawing from what I’ve defined as “The sexual harassment scandals of U.S. Media Celebrities Donald Trump, Bill O’Reilly and Harvey Weinstein,” and data provided by the 2017 Report of The Status of Women in the U.S. Media, I analyze the correlation between male domination of media enterprises and the continued systematic marginalization and oppression of women within and outside U.S. media enterprises. The goal is to connect media literacy education with feminist scholarship and pedagogy as a catalyst for lifelong civic engagement and social justice activism.
LGBTQ Online Movements: A Case Study of New Zealand
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Suvojit Bandopadhyaya, Linda Jean Kenix
This paper explores the shifting dynamics of what constitutes a contemporary social movement and the pros and cons that have emerged after movements have gone online. The paper attempts to bridge past research on online movements and the study of the contemporary lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement in New Zealand. This paper is premised on in-depth interviews with twenty-nine interviewees regarding how social media has brought a change to the contemporary LGBT movement in New Zealand. This research tries to draw a correlation with past researchers and interviewee responses. The interviewees testified to shifting nature of the contemporary LGBT movement after the emergence and inclusion of the Internet and social media platforms. Social networking sites have led to greater awareness and better coordination among movement actors to organise LGBT movements in New Zealand. Social media has also been a great organizational tool for the LGBT community today. The paper concludes that the Internet and social media have led to more visibility and accessibility of information with contemporary movements. The Internet has been a facilitator even before the emergence of social media platforms, however, online activism has amplified and has taken a new meaning with several social media platforms at our disposal today and social media activists are exploiting different platforms to organize and mobilize supporters.
