Thesis
“MEDIA WAS THE ONLY WAY I COULD FIGURE OUT WHO I WAS”: EXPLORING FICTIONAL ENTERTAINMENT’S ROLE IN IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY FORMATION AMONG RURAL LGBTQ+ YOUNG ADULTS
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
05/2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000007392
Abstract
Individuals living in rural areas of the United States are widely considered to be more isolated compared to those in more populous urban cities. Minority groups in rural areas, such as the LGBTQ+ community, though, are all the more isolated than heteronormative community members. While previous media effects research has examined how online resources, such as chat rooms and blogs, can enhance the lives and access to queer information of rural LGBTQ+ individuals, little is known about the impacts that engaging in fictional entertainment film and television has on this subpopulation. With a theoretical framework of pertinent media effects research, the present study made use of qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with rural LGBTQ+ young adults to examine how fictional entertainment film and television helped such individuals build their queer identities and find queer community while living in rural areas of the United States. This research has broader implications in understanding the well-being of rural queer individuals and ways in which community can be built in the streaming age.
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Details
- Title
- “MEDIA WAS THE ONLY WAY I COULD FIGURE OUT WHO I WAS”
- Creators
- CJ Janssen
- Contributors
- Traci K. Gillig (Chair)Jessica Fitts Willoughby (Committee Member)Ryan J. Thomas (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 121
- Identifiers
- 99901220470201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis