Entertainment media, including television and film, are consumed by a wide variety of audiences. They are often implicitly influenced by the cultural and historical values of a society. However, not only have the rates of non-White characters’ appearances and speaking roles been lower than those of their White counterparts, their characterizations are also more often negative and rooted in stereotypes, as seen in US media analyses. Many previous studies have sought to find the implications of negative depictions on both the represented groups and the racial and ethnic-outgroups, with the possible impacts of positive media depictions not very well studied. In this study, we explore the implications of positive portrayals of various ethnic and non-White racial groups, as seen in popular mainstream media. Through a survey approach, we gather input on non-White participants’ engagement levels of several television shows and films that center characters of various racial and ethnic groups, including their own. Participant data collected additionally highlights their opinions of themselves and their respective racial groups, with a focus on perceived perceptions of their social relationships and interactions with other-race people. We aim to find correlations between consumption of their respective groups’ positive mainstream media and factors such as view of their identity affiliation and a strengthened view of the self. This can be used to not only guide media regulations, but inform creators on making more inclusive and positive media for underrepresented groups.

This research analyzes the representation of diversity and inclusion in Caldecott Medal-winning picture books from 2020 to 2025. Through a content-focused approach, this study examines how recent winners portray racial, cultural, and gender identities, both visually and narratively, building upon previous research such as Crisp and Hiller’s gender analysis of earlier Caldecott winners, Painter’s framework for multimodal picture book analysis, and Koss et al.’s mapping of historical diversity trends. The evolution of representation from tokenism to more genuine, intersectional depictions is examined in this analysis. To determine how well the selected works reflect broader trends toward inclusion in children's literature, they are analyzed in terms of narrative content, protagonist identity, and artistic and stylistic choices. Results point to a noticeable shift toward meaningful multiculturalism, affirming an ongoing redefinition of whose stories are centered and how they are told. This analysis emphasizes the importance of inclusive picture books in shaping children’s understanding of identity and belonging, particularly for readers from historically marginalized communities.

Black women's sexuality has rarely been in their control. Racism and misogyny (misogynoir) have resulted in Black female sexuality being shaped by the “white supremacist capitalist patriarchal structure” in the way that the feminist scholar, bell hooks, defined it. The narrative of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, The Color Purple, focuses on the numerous plights Black women endured in the early 20th century. More importantly, a clear discussion is had about Black female sexuality by utilizing the evolution of the protagonist, Celie. Tracking Celie's sexual evolution and identity allows a historical analysis of her and Shug Avery’s relationship and sapphic identities. Reading the novel in a historical context will illuminate how Walker showcases an often unspoken part of Black and Queer history and elucidates some of the ways that same-sex desire intersected with other forms of Black women’s oppression at the time.

The aim of this study is to understand challenges in gay online dating culture and levels of satisfaction that have been leading to burnout in some queer individuals. Specifically, this study seeks to better understand and find out challenges that LGBTQ+ people have faced and continue to face when using online dating apps. Methods engaged for this study utilize both in-depth interviews and demographic surveys. The study will specifically look at attachment theory and queer theory and how they relate to dating app satisfaction. The expected preliminary results will be that online dating for LGBTQ+ people will be impacted by attachment style (anxious, secure, or avoidant) and will reveal dating app user trends such as minimal responses, delay in response time, and lack of clear intentions to be more challenging for some than others. Additionally, this study investigates how attachment style influences people’s expectations surrounding gay hook-up culture and the use of dating apps. It also looks at how both online app user trends and gay hook up culture influence dating burnout for LGBTQ+ people. The overall impact and significance are that despite challenges faced by queer people when it comes to online dating, the identified trends will help us find ways to make gay dating more fulfilling and less complicated.