Honors Thesis Archive

AuthorStephanie Glass
TitleNot Just Fun and Games: Feminism in Parks and Recreation
DepartmentCommunication
AdvisorsSheryl Cunningham, Catherine Waggoner, and Nancy McHugh
Year2017
HonorsUniversity Honors
Full TextView Thesis (943 KB)
AbstractIn this study, elements of narrative and their influence on viewers of Parks and Recreation are analyzed in connection to the promotion of social change for gender equality. The situational comedy narrative presents feminism as a matter which influences a community, reflected within the public sphere, and within government. Comedy as a discourse has the potential to promote powerful social movements by bringing issues to light and exposing new dimensions of these issues to general audiences. Two questions guided the study: 1) How do narrative elements in Parks and Recreation reflect feminism? and 2) How do audiences respond to these narrative elements in terms of attitudes about gender and social change? The episodes for this study, "Women in Garbage" and "Article Two," were selected because they contain narratives that explicitly deal with women's rights in a public matter, and focus on the implementation of institutional changes to law and public policy. Participants in this study determined Parks and Recreation to be a feminist text which uses humor to reinforce the feminist ideals encoded within the text. Parks and Recreation does not only impact human understanding, but has the ability to impact human action and interaction and promote social change for gender equality.

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