In this era of participatory and social media, memes have become a user-generated form of political discussion. The online conversation surrounding Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis who was jailed for ...refusing to issue gay marriage licenses provides insight into the rhetoric used in political memes. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis using a lens of feminist humor theory, this study of Davis-related memes suggests that users trying to battle anti-gay ideologies resorted to anti-feminist rhetoric by targeting her physical appearance as a woman and using traditional 'slut humor.' Additionally, civil rights comparisons illustrate a misconstrued understanding of race and hegemony. Thus, far from serving as an alternative public sphere for marginalized voices, we conclude Internet memes are maintaining the status quo, furthering gendered political and communications systems and virtually ignoring the underlying gay rights issue.
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a research paradigm that works with marginalized populations within health contexts. The partnership between scholars and marginalized populations ...empowers participants through the pursuit of social justice. However, there has been a cry for standardizing the CBPR approach particularly when working with marginalized populations. Identity is a critical construct to understand within the communities in order to collectively strive toward social justice. This paper examines how social identity theory can aid community-based participatory research teams by (a) illustrating how social identity analysis can facilitate the researcher-community partnership, (b) applying SIT to better understand community behaviors and norms, and (c) using SIT to avoid unintended consequences within CBPR intervention designs. Through understanding identity, relational empowerment can be positively redistributed back to community members. This paper will thus serve as a first step in justifying why more research is needed in incorporating social identity to CBPR intervention designs.
Previous research has shown the harmful effects of stereotypical messages on viewers, including increased negative attitudes toward outgroup members. In contrast, positive or counter-stereotypical ...portrayals can lead to less prejudiced attitudes toward outgroup members; however, these kinds of portrayals are not always easy to come by. As a result, alternative methods for combating the effects of stereotypical messages are necessary. The current study examined the ability of self-transcendent emotions, specifically awe, to reduce the negative effects of stereotypical portrayals of African American men. Contrary to expectations, results showed that participants who watched an awe-inducing video before a stereotypical video reported more negative explicit attitudes toward African Americans compared to those in control conditions.
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an approach to health research that prioritizes translation and community partner participation. The field of CBPR is multidisciplinary, so ...traditional definitions of communication within CBPR have focused on information transfer. However, communication is a dynamic and multifaceted process with multiple levels of influence. The goals of this dissertation are threefold: 1) to apply communication discipline’s perspective of communication to better understand how CBPR teams communicate, 2) to examine the factors that affect communication and participation within CBPR teams, and 3) to identify patterns that will contribute to the development of a theory of CBPR team communication and participation. Through a systematic review study of N=105 articles, patterns of communication and participation were identified. Logistics can communicate equity between the scholars and the community partners and facilitate effective communication. Frequent meetings and communication strengthen the communication of the team. Information sharing is imperative for work to be completed on these research projects. However, there was little evidence that transformation through the process of CBPR was valued as a goal by the CBPR teams. Communication and not simply information transfer should be a priority and a goal for CBPR teams. When starting new CBPR partnerships, creating clear expectations and a shared language can reduce miscommunication. Not many CBPR teams explain how they continue to ensure effective communication after initially discussion boundaries and duties, however. These early findings suggest that throughout the CBPR process, the intercultural teams of CBPR might be forming a new group, however more research is needed to explore the impact of interdependence and time on group identity. Community members frequently participate in CBPR as an expert in their community and local knowledge. Having teams train both in research practices and in local knowledge ensures that the team is co-learning. Boundaries to participation include university IRB and conflicting goals between scholars and community partners. Having community members involved in the creation of research questions for the project is related to higher levels of involvement in other stages of research. Community participation in the research process does not seem to be hindered based purely on the research methodology chosen, but non-traditional research methodologies did have higher levels of community participation than other research methods within conducting the research. Finally, indigenous community populations were more involved in the ethical approval stages of research than any other target population. These findings do serve as the first step in applying communication and group theory to CBPR teams, and do help us to better understand how teams are communicating and ensuring participation. Kurt Lewin (1951) said, “there’s nothing so practical as a good theory” (p. 169). The findings of this dissertation serve as the first step in attempting to understand the communication and participation practices within CBPR teams. A significant finding of this dissertation, however, is that the reporting methods for CBPR team communication and participation is lacking. Peterson (2010) argued that until CBPR scholars are able to define what true participation is, and change the perceptions of what rigorous research looks like, CBPR will continue to be used as a trendy term that will perpetuate the status quo of research practices. This will hurt the goal of CBPR, which is to create social change (through the reduction of health inequities) for marginalized. The field of CBPR should consider changing the reporting practices of CBPR reports to better facilitate reporting the process of CBPR.
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