November 21, 2024

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Crosby Publishes in Women & Language

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Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Deering Crosby

Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Deering Crosby

Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Crosby’s article “Dethroned Victor: The Marginalized Women of Blake Edwards’ Victor/Victoria,” published in the fall 2024 issue of Women & Language, revisits the iconic 1982 film to illuminate how the comedic humiliation of archetypal women characters reinstates patriarchy in seemingly progressive texts. This research paper also explores the anxiety-inducing effects of drag reflected in recent legislation, which disproportionately targets drag queens and trans girls as cultural threats. Learn more.

Crosby Presents Research on Bro-Country at National Rhetoric Conference

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Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Crosby

Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Crosby presented her research entitled “It’s Not Just Country Music: The Overlooked Rhetorical Reach of Today’s ‘Bro-Country’” at the 2024 Rhetoric Society of America’s biennial conference. Coined in 2013 by music journalist Jody Rosen as a “frat-boy beach-bum fantasy” for the “young America white dude,” Bro-Country emerged as a widely popular music genre often dismissed as generic and apolitical. However, Crosby traces the genre’s rhetorical shift, which reflects new articulations of masculinity in this political moment. Using country music star Jason Aldean’s 2023 viral, yet polarizing, music video “Try that in a Small Town,” as text, Crosby articulates overlooked themes of antifeminism in the video. Specifically, her research on the depiction of disloyal women sparks discussion about the emergent digital trend of the “trad wife” as an antidote to contemporary feminist politics.

Crosby, Goldman, Johnson-Young Present on Social Media Presentations of Weight, Diet, Nutrition

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Associate Professors of Communication, Dr. Adria Goldman and Dr. Elizabeth Johnson-Young, and Assistant Professor of Communication, Dr. Emily Crosby, presented at the Eastern Communication Association’s Annual Conference in Cambridge, MA. Their panel, titled “Social Media and the Changing Current of Health Messaging and  Debates,” focused on research surrounding discussions of health, particularly related to diet and weight, in social media outlets. Joined by colleagues from Bunker Hill Community College and Norfolk State University, the panelists each took different topics and methodologies to explore this important area of research. 

Dr. Johnson-Young’s presentation, “Sugar, Snacks, and Weight: An Examination of Posts and Parent Reactions to the Challenges of Nutritional Health Norms on the Growing Intuitive Eaters Instagram” discussed a qualitative content analysis of a popular instagram influencer’s posts and user comments. The research is rooted both health behavior theory and non-evaluative and trust-based communication around food and nutrition. Preliminary findings show a variety of themes regarding reactions to the influencer’s, Dr. Taylor Arnold, posts from anger and resistance to relief and excitement.

Dr. Goldman’s research presentation, titled “#SocialSupport: Examining the Informative and Emotional Functions of Bariatric Surgery Support Groups on Facebook” investigates the social support functions of bariatric surgery support groups. Taking a qualitative thematic analysis, this research investigates the instrumental and emotional functions identified in social support research, applying these to the specific support needs demonstrated in the literature and in the groups for bariatric surgery.

Dr. Crosby’s presentation, titled “The Digital Cult of Thinness: Critically Engaging Ozempic “Success Stories” on Social Media,” investigates the discourse surrounding Ozempic in social media platforms. Employing feminist rhetorical criticism informed by visual rhetoric scholarship, Dr. Crosby analyzes posts and commentary to identify themes and conventions that emerge from Ozempic weight loss “success stories” on social media. The aim of this research is to contribute to communication scholarship by defining a digital Cult of Thinness based on current social media conventions that promote injectable weight loss drugs for women.

‘J-term’ Helps Students Engage, Gain Credits

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College students often spend the final weeks of winter break watching movies, playing video games and writing résumés for jobs and internships. Now, a University of Mary Washington offering called the January-term, or “J-term,” allows them to earn college credits for these and other types of activities. Before UMW’s spring semester begins – remotely on […]

‘J-term’ Helps Students Engage, Gain Credits

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College students often spend the final weeks of winter break watching movies, playing video games and writing résumés for jobs and internships. Now, a University of Mary Washington offering called the January-term, or “J-term,” allows them to earn college credits for these and other types of activities. Before UMW’s spring semester begins – remotely on […]

Communication Faculty Present Research on the CW’s ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ at National Conference

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NCA 2020 Presentation Panel

Adria Goldman, Emily Crosby, and Elizabeth Johnson-Young presented a panel at the National Communication Association’s virtual conference. The paper session, “You Can’t Call Them Crazy”: Framing and Considerations of Gender, Sexuality, and Mental Health in “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” shared the panelists’ research from a variety of lenses and methodologies regarding the messaging and impact of the CW musical-comedy television series that ran from 2015-2019. 

Johnson-Young’s presentation, “The Situation is a Lot More Nuanced Than That:” A Qualitative Analysis of Women’s Mental Health in the Humor and Music of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” investigated the ways in which the show’s music and humor, particularly feminist humor, was used throughout the series to communicate and challenge traditional media messaging of mental health and gender biases in health. Goldman’s presentation, The Awkward Revolution: A Framing Analysis of Awkwardness, Humor, and Sexuality in Rachel Bloom’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” explored how humor and music were used as rhetorical devices to present new representations of women’s sexuality, while also challenging existing, problematic narratives. Crosby’s presentation, “Type A Ambition”: Postfeminist Tropes in “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” explored the postfeminist themes in contemporary media that often unfavorably frame ambitious women as personally unfulfilled and unlikable. Deeper rhetorical analysis reveals that the series pushes back against postfeminist tropes, providing a more nuanced depiction of complicated characters who subvert postfeminist pitfalls that oversimplify “having it all.”

Crosby Presents Two Papers at National Communication Association Conference

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Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Deering Crosby

Emily Deering Crosby, Assistant Professor of Communication, presented her research last Thursday and Friday at the National Communication Association Conference in Baltimore, MD. The title of her research presentation in the Feminist and Women’s Studies Division was “‘She went too far’: Exploring Patriarchal Critiques of Feminist Comedians Michelle Wolf and Samantha Bee,” which discussed patriarchal themes of manufactured catfights, double standards, and protection in critiques of feminist comedy. Crosby’s second presentation was titled “Framing Racial Innocence: Media Literacy and the Cases of Brock Turner and Owen Labrie” in the African American Communication and Culture Division, which used visual rhetoric scholarship to analyze news media bias and call for media literacy in communication and digital studies curriculum. Her second presentation was alongside leading panelist and fellow UMW faculty member Adria Goldman, Assistant Professor of Communication. Their well-attended panel was expertly chaired by fellow UMW faculty member Elizabeth Johnson-Young, Assistant Professor of Communication.

Crosby Presents Research on Sports Communication and Social Justice

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Assistant Professor of Communication Emily Deering Crosby

Emily Deering Crosby, Assistant Professor of Communication, recently presented her research at the International Communication Association Preconference “Sports Communication and Social Justice” held at American University. Her research, entitled “Larry Nassar and Rhetorical Monster-Making: Political Subversion in the #MeToo Sports Era,” explores the rhetorical process of “monster-making” (Ingebretsen, 1998) as it unfolded during the 2018 Larry Nassar criminal case, when the former U.S. Gymnastics doctor was tried and convicted of sexual assault. By analyzing the survivors’ televised courtroom testimonials, this research contributes to scholarship on the #MeToo movement that rarely engages sports culture.

On September 20, 2019,  Dr.Crosby, was also inducted into Allegheny College’s Athletics Hall of Fame for her lacrosse career before graduating in ’06: https://alleghenygators.com/news/2019/5/31/allegheny-reveals-2019-athletic-hall-of-fame-class.aspx.

Crosby Presents at National Communication Association Conference

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Emily Deering Crosby, Assistant Professor of Communication, presented “Country Music as Safe Space: Xenophobia in Patriotic Music Fandom” on an international panel on xenophobia at the National Communication Association Conference on November 10, 2018. Her research analyzes white women’s online reactions to the collaborative performance of the Dixie Chicks and Beyoncé at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards just days before the 2016 Presidential election. Her analysis reveals key intersectional themes of territoriality, sexism, and racism enacted by xenophobic white women in their often specious pursuit of protecting white men’s patriotic Americana, signaling alliances that are largely reflected in recent voting trends.