Date of Award

2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Media, Rhetoric & Culture

First Advisor

Kristin Swenson

Abstract

Black women are objects and agents of pop culture that are rarely given a voice in a cacophony of heteronormative white noise. To navigate a male dominated industry, black female artists reappropriate black masculinity which, in turn is misappropriated by white female artists. This cultural appropriation is explored in a rhetorical analysis of the controversy between artists Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and Miley Cyrus. The struggle of black female rappers to succeed against the stereotypes proffered by male rappers and profited on by white pop artists demonstrates the detrimental effects of post racial America on black female identity at a socio-political level.

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