Full Description
Being Mara Brock Akil: Representations of Black Womanhood on Television examines the body of work of Mara Brock Akil, the showrunner who produced Girlfriends, The Game, Being Mary Jane, and Love Is__. The contributions to this volume are theoretically anchored in Patricia Hill Collin's Black Feminist Thought, with a focus on how Brock Akil's shows intentionally address Black humanity and specifically provide context for Black women's lived experiences and empathy for Black womanhood by featuring woman-centered characters with flaws, strength, and complexity. Shauntae Brown White and Kandace L. Harris have compiled a volume that analyzes themes that define Black womanhood and examines audience reception of and social media interaction with Brock Akil's work.
Contents
Introduction: Being Mara
Chapter 1: 'Girlfriends - There, Through Thick and Thin!': African American Female Sisterhood and the Quest for Happiness
Chapter 2: Professional Success, Personal Turmoil: The Black Working Woman Image in Girlfriends
Chapter 3: Real, Respectable, or Both: Respectability on Being Mary Jane through the Words of Mara Brock Akil
Chapter 4: 'Girl, You Know I Got You:' The Ideology of Sisterhood on Being Mary Jane
Chapter 5: What Love Is and Is Not: A Critical Discourse Analysis
Chapter 6: Navigating The Game of Life: Women Viewers & The Game
Chapter 7: Social Networks, Television and Black Women: An Analysis of Facebook Representations of Being Mary Jane
Chapter 8: Social TV and Stereotypes: The Social Construction of #BeingMaryJane on Twitter
Chapter 9: @MaraAkil: An Analysis of the Mara's Balance of Life, Family and Production on Instagram
Afterword
