Date of Award

Fall 2021

Project Type

Dissertation

Program or Major

Sociology

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

First Advisor

Benjamin C. Brown

Second Advisor

Rebecca Glauber

Third Advisor

Cesar Rebellon

Abstract

This dissertation explores the frameworks of color-blind racism and gender-blind sexism as they are disseminated through the social media site Reddit. I analyze data in the form of posts and comments submitted to the site. Qualitative discourse analysis reveals employment of the frames of color-blindness and gender-blindness as well as narratives which function to anchor the dominant ideologies to apparent lived experiences. This dissertation offers two major contributions to the scholarship of racism and sexism. First, the findings demonstrate that ideologies of race and gender are often articulated through common narratives and intertwined rhetoric, establishing a foundation for future research into ideologies of White masculinity. Second, the study reveals the crucial role of definitions of racism and sexism play in justifying systems that maintain racial and gender inequality. In particular, how a rigid adherence to an individual-level approach to definitions of racism and sexism is necessary for ideologies that support those systems. Taken together the findings demonstrate the power of social media in maintaining and reproducing the dominance of color-blind racism and gender-blind sexism.

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