Peer-Reviewed Articles by Kyle Christensen
Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 2022
The horror thriller Don't Breathe (2016) follows three robbers as they invade the home of a blind... more The horror thriller Don't Breathe (2016) follows three robbers as they invade the home of a blind Navy SEAL veteran who violently battles against them. Among the robbers is Rocky, a white woman desperately seeking financial security. Don't Breathe depicts Rocky's body in various states of physical immobility, signifying her vulnerability. By only recognizing the vulnerabilities of poor white women's bodies, the film leaves unrecognized the vulnerabilities of others, especially poor bodies of color and disabled bodies. Furthermore, through Rocky, the film suggests that white women can benefit from the violent aid of white patriarchy precisely because their vulnerability/immobility receives recognition.
Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 2022
This essay explores how ageism and youth supremacy have informed the anti-masking attitudes and a... more This essay explores how ageism and youth supremacy have informed the anti-masking attitudes and actions of toxic white masculinity throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. I argue that because elderly populations have been particularly vulnerable throughout the pandemic and because face masks often connote this vulnerability, white masculinity has sought to maintain power by resisting masking, and therefore, avoiding being perceived as old. By analyzing Donald Trump’s anti-masking rhetoric from his 2020 U.S. Presidential campaign, I show how toxic white masculinity’s resistance to masking is an effort to present itself as youthful, with youth tied to notions of power, whiteness, and health.
Women's Studies in Communication, 2020
Critical Studies in Media Communication, 2019
Critical Studies in Media Communication, 2019
QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, 2019
Journal of Film and Video, 2016
Studies in Popular Culture, 2011
Book Chapters by Kyle Christensen
Horror Television in the Age of Consumption: Binging on Fear (Eds. Belau and Jackson), 2018
Reading Richard Matheson: A Critical Survey (Eds. Mathews and Haedicke), 2014
Book Reviews by Kyle Christensen
Women's Studies in Communication, 2020
Papers by Kyle Christensen
Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 2022
The horror thriller Don't Breathe (2016) follows three robbers as they invade the home of a blind... more The horror thriller Don't Breathe (2016) follows three robbers as they invade the home of a blind Navy SEAL veteran who violently battles against them. Among the robbers is Rocky, a white woman desperately seeking financial security. Don't Breathe depicts Rocky's body in various states of physical immobility, signifying her vulnerability. By only recognizing the vulnerabilities of poor white women's bodies, the film leaves unrecognized the vulnerabilities of others, especially poor bodies of color and disabled bodies. Furthermore, through Rocky, the film suggests that white women can benefit from the violent aid of white patriarchy precisely because their vulnerability/immobility receives recognition.
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Peer-Reviewed Articles by Kyle Christensen
Book Chapters by Kyle Christensen
Book Reviews by Kyle Christensen
Papers by Kyle Christensen