Abstract This analysis discusses how the meanings of words change due to cultural and historical beliefs. It also addresses the way words like "nigger," "fag? and "dyke" have the power to oppress when used by dominant cultures against subcultures but they can also be empowering when appropriated by the subcultures they are used against. It also includes five noun phrase appositives and four adjective clauses.
From the Paper "Changes in the meaning of words often empower or oppress others. We might look to Naylor's depiction of the word nigger to see how words can serve to empower or impress. Racial slurs are often used to wound or shame ..."
Abstract This paper is an examination of why the very words that have been used to make gays and lesbians feel inferior became so critical to their liberation. The author discusses how slang's purpose is to question and to subvert the notion of gender.
From the Paper "One of perhaps the most fundamental linguistic shifts in the last thirty years or so since Stonewall has been the questioning and rendering as unacceptable of certain derogatory terms for gays and lesbians in ?polite society.? Words such as "queer" and "dyke" and "butch" as terms of abuse are no longer considered appropriate for educated people to say. So post-modern etiquette would have it. Yet almost as quickly as these terms became unacceptable to use as expressions of hatred and abuse, gays and lesbians began to reconfigure the use of these terms within their own communities."
From the Paper "This study will discuss how ideas of race get worked out in an analogy between Africans and animals (primates or other animals) in the 1932 film Tarzan, the Ape Man (directed by W.S. Van Dyke and based on the characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs) and Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (first published in 1937). The study will consider the ways the two works show how the relations of whites (colonizers) to Africans are similar to he relations of whites to animals. The argument will be that both works are similar in their views on the superiority of the "civilized" whites and the inferiority of both Africans and animals. Whites in both works, in general, see Africans as beings somewhere between animals and whites. Africans are shown to be slaves, servants, and beasts of burden. They are seen as violent, exotic, often emotionless, immature, stupid beings whose purpose.."
Abstract This paper offers an in-depth review of how the family has been depicted in TV sit-coms and the like over the past 50 years. It examines dozens of shows and discusses how the roles of the husband and wife, and the values within the family has evolved. Also looks at racial issues.
From the Paper "In the fifty years between the first season of I Love Lucy to the first season of The Osbournes, the ethics, mores and socio-economic configuration of the TV-viewing audience has changed greatly. Closely aligned to the revaluated morals of contemporary society have been the representations of family on television. Of particular significance is the way in which the sitcom family is depicted on American TV. Throughout the history of the sitcom, the mother and father and children have adhered to a consistent and perpetuated set of stereotypes informing the way they act. Largely, these representations are dictated by the social class and economic situation of the characters. From their beginnings in a pleasant romp in suburban middle class existence, the members of the sitcom family have become edgier and more prone to throw insults at each other. Conflict has always threatened the family, but with a new age comes transformed values and new forms of danger to the family unit. Issues of sexuality, violence and substance abuse have increasingly played a major role in the lives of TV families over the past three decades. Though the troubles they face may be more serious than the fifties sitcom predicament, and they have changed greatly from the respectable ideals of the fifties sitcom, the family, as will be demonstrated, is perhaps as strong, if not stronger than ever."
Abstract This paper discusses how the meanings of words change due to cultural and historical beliefs. It also addresses the way words like "nigger" and "fag" have the power to oppress when used by dominant cultures against subcultures, but how they can also be empowering when appropriated by the subcultures they are used against.
From the Paper "Changes in the meaning of words often empower or oppress others. We might look to Naylor's depiction of the word nigger to see how words can serve to empower or impress. Racial slurs are often used to wound or shame ..."
Abstract This article reflects on a research topic undertaken by Wendy Peters. Peters perceives queer as a non-static definition, and wanted to see what those who claimed it as an identity category believed it to mean for them. She conducted qualitative research with just seven participants, located throughout Canada (although only one was not in a major urban centre). Her research was based on dialogue with these seven participants via a listserv. In the main, it seems that her correspondents perceived queer as a label that freed them from many of the constraints associated with other labels, such as straight, gay, dyke, etc.
Abstract This paper describes the "The Andy Griffith Show" in which Griffith playing Andy Taylor, a young sheriff of a small town in the American south. The show's visual and audio styles, theme song, tone, family values and characters, including barefoot Opie and Gomer Pyle are all described. The paper also discusses the work of Sheldon Leonard, the driving force behind many 60s Top Ten Nielsen television hits including not only this show but also "The Danny Thomas Show" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show".
From the Paper "Andy Griffith had two spin-offs that made it on their own. Jim Nabors took the character of the dim-witted hick, Gomer Pyle and ran with it in a sitcom featuring Gomer in the marines. Mayberry, R.F.D. was just "The Andy Griffith Show" retooled due to the departure of Andy in 1968. There was no rocket science involved. Leonard and Thomas took a successful idea and cloned it as long as the traffic would bear.
"The show had as its theme simple homespun stories of family values and simple people."
Tags: formulaic fcc, camera angles, spin-offs homespun replacements
