My Thesis!

I finally handed in the first draft of my thesis (Major Research Paper) last night, and I cannot believe how good it feels to be done!  I feel like I literally poured my soul into those 67 pages, and now it's time to share my topic with you all!

This entire blog is premised around my mixed-race female identity, so it should come as no surprise that my thesis is similarly aligned.  I'm also pretty sure I've mentioned this before ;).  Social media (YouTube specifically) has been a huge part of developing my mixed-race identity, and I wanted to figure out how to weave that into the topic somehow.  (Also I was told we don't have to submit a proposal to the Research Ethics Board if we used YouTube as a primary source, which basically lit a fire under my butt and got the wheels turning).

I was taking a bathroom break during class one day (TMI ?) and the idea hit me like a ton of bricks.  I literally ran back to class (YES I washed my hands.  With soap.  I promise!!!) and started typing out my ideas.  I decided that I wanted to talk about the empowerment of mixed-race females using social media!

Now, I'm not sure how much I can share with you before my thesis is finalized and approved, but I will share the bare bones!  Basically, I have spent the past 9 months analyzing data collected from YouTube vloggers who are mixed-race females, and analyzing how their messages challenge the idea that mixed-race females are weak, confused, struggling, and subject to dominant discourses.  I want to uncover how we resist!  How we are resilient!  How we are capable of being so much more than damsels in distress!  And I want to talk about how important social media is in all of this!

Social media gives us the power to fight back, to turn our back on mainstream media and really show who we are.  Now I am aware of all the complications that come with this, one of them being censorship of social media.  But for those of us who can access it and post freely, we are so fortunate!  We really have a chance to share messages that challenge the norms, and my thesis highlights some of these such messages.

I'm so excited about this, and I want to share more, but as I type I find myself over-sharing.  I have a plan for sharing my findings on this blog, and I want to stay true to that!  But stay tuned for more!  I'm excited, and I hope you are too!

Thanks for sticking around this long!

Any questions?  Leave them down below :)

Take care!

Jenell
MSW Candidate, and ever the Defiant Dougla :)