Date of Award
4-2009
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Communication
First Advisor
Dr. Mark P. Orbe
Second Advisor
Dr. Jennifer A. Machiorlatti
Third Advisor
Dr. Evelyn B. Winfield
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Campus Only
Abstract
This thesis presents an autoethnographical interrogation of White privilege and socialization into racism in U.S. American society. It explores the intersections of whiteness, gender, and class by combining whiteness studies with the concept of effortless perfection, which relates to the idea that White women often strive for a continual notion of perfection based upon U.S. White American societal standards of feminine ideals. Through the lens of cultural contracts theory it is possible to see how I interrogate whiteness through established contracts, or inherited worldviews related to whiteness, gender, and class.
This autoethnography is based upon my diverse experiences, including teaching interpersonal communication classes at the university level, conducting research, contributing to a Youth Media Project with African American youth, participating in an anti-racism training, and general reflections upon everyday life in a Midwest mediumsized city.
Recommended Citation
Lyons, A. Elizabeth, "Afraid of the Dark: An Autoethnographic Analysis of Whiteness" (2009). Masters Theses. 222.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/222