YSU students, profs discussportrayals of gender, race in pop culture

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University students and professors discussed contemporary representations of gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity in television and movies in a fun open-forum event Thursday afternoon in Kilcawley Center.

Comic book superheroes, television show stars, novel main characters and more were among the many figures brought up in the discussion about women in pop culture.

Students asked questions and discussed their favorite television shows while professors broke down the reasons why they, and society, are drawn to them.

Dolores Sisco, YSU English department professor and director of American Studies, shared her favorite media fads, which include strong female characters.

“When I started watching “Scandal,” the reason I got impassioned was [the show] had this black woman who just broke that mold of black women in a position of respectability,” she said.

Read more about the discussion in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.