Date of Award
8-8-2017
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Scott Heath
Second Advisor
Dr. Gina Caison
Third Advisor
Dr. Paul Schmidt
Abstract
The struggle for cultural intelligibility can be clearly articulated through intersections between race, class, and socioeconomic status. Judith Butler demystifies the societal symbols responsible for denoting gender through a discussion of a stable “reality” in relation to performativity. When superimposed over Butler’s gender work, class stratifications and their relevance to cultural intelligibility reflect similar concerns presented in Butler’s work. In this work, I argue that through subversive use of black female archetypes presented by Patricia Hill Collins, strategic language, and flamboyant displays of tangible wealth, characters on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta consciously perform class to resist the policing of social boundaries and to highlight their position within liminal social spaces. However, as a result of their performativity, these women violate the liminal space by patrolling class boundaries from within their social circle.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/10459241
Recommended Citation
Arnold, Shari L., "“I Am the Joneses!”: Deconstructing Class Performativity and Identity Formation in Bravo’s the Real Housewives of Atlanta." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2017.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/10459241