March Colloquium - Mean Girls, Stealth Girls, Sidekicks, and Targets: A Thematic Analysis of Female Characters in Tweencoms
- Starts:
- 4:00 pm on Wednesday, March 16, 2016
- Ends:
- 5:00 pm on Wednesday, March 16, 2016
- Location:
- COM 209
At 25 million strong, tweens (approximately 8-14 year-olds) are a sizable and influential market of television viewers and consumers in the United States. Cable giants Disney and Nickelodeon’s original programming capitalizes on the coming-of-age challenges, particularly of adolescent female characters, in the genre of tweencoms.
While it may initially appear that these shows are innocuous comedies, researchers have found that over 90% of episodes contain instances of social or relational aggression. From the stereotypical mean girl to the most likable girl-next-door, characters regularly deliver snarky lines directed at adults, friends, and vulnerable targets.
Dr. Patrice Oppliger will present a thematic analysis of character tropes depicted in these highly popular tweencoms from Clarissa Explains It All (1991-1994) to K.C. Undercover (2015-present). Her talk will also explore the implication of such representations in the context of relational aggression.