The Construction of Post-Feminist Women's
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THE CONSTRUCTION OF POST-FEMINIST WOMEN’S IDENTITY BY CONSUMING LIFESTYLES: A STUDY OF FOUR CHICK-LIT NOVELS A THESIS Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M. Hum) Degree in English Language Studies by Ruth Bunga Ongi Karyanto Student Number : 066332001 THE GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009 ii iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This is to certify that all ideas, phrases, and sentences, unless otherwise stated, are the ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands the full consequences including degree cancellation if she took somebody else’s ideas, phrases, or sentences without proper references. Yogyakarta, September 10, 2009 Ruth Bunga Ongi K. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks God that the writer has finally completed her thesis. This is because of God’s blessing and charity that the writer was able to do her best. The writer confesses that it is such a miracle for her to finish her thesis despite her busy days as a new mom and wife, to coincidentally, parallel with the main characters in the novels under study. The writer would like to show her great gratitude to her advisor, Dr. Novita Dewi, M.S., M.A. (Hons.) for her kindness, cooperation, and hard work in guiding, advising, and examining this thesis carefully and patiently. She has given the writer a lot of motivation to finish this thesis quickly as well. Here, the writer also would like to apologize for disturbing her privacy with her frequent calls and visits to her house for advice. The writer would also like to thank her lecturer, Prof. Dr. C. Bakdi Soemanto, SU as he has inspired the writer to think critically in doing this thesis. His lecture gave a lot of contributions and enlightment to the development of the writer’s ideas. A special thank is also addressed to Dr. St. Sunardi. As the writer’s reviewer, who is well-experienced in cultural studies, he has given a lot of contributions to the progress, suggestions, and ideas of this thesis. He also has helped the writer in searching and providing some significant books on theories to use in this thesis. The writer would also like to thank Dr. B. B. Dwijatmoko, M.A., her other reviewer who helped her to revise this thesis. v A special thanks goes to the writer’s parents for they always took care of the writer’s little baby, Karen, when the writer had to go to the campus and do her thesis. Thanks to the writer’s husband, Tjiam Tek Siang, who always got mad when she persistently ignored anything else when she had to concentrate in finishing her thesis. However, it was such a challenge for the writer to finish this thesis as soon as possible. Thanks to the writer’s baby, Karen, who always cried when the writer was far away from her. It means that she loves the writer very much. This thesis is dedicated to Jesus Christ, the writer’s family, friends: John, Venti, Johan, Dian, Tigor, Hanita, Katharina, Rosa, Jatmiko, etc, and all lecturers who have participated in filling her life with loves and prayers. vi TABLE OF CONTENT TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................ i PAGE OF APPROVAL .......................................................................... ii DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE ................................................................. iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .......................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................ v TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................ ix ABSTRAK .................................................................................................. x CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study...................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Questions .......................................................................... 9 1.3 Objectives of the Study ........................................................................ 9 1.4 Definition of the Terms........................................................................ 10 1.5 Benefits of the Study .......................................................................... 12 1.6 Research Methods .......................................................................... 13 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review on Related Studies................................................................... 16 2.2 Review on Related Theories ................................................................ 28 2.2.1 On Popular Culture .............................................................................. 28 2.2.2 On Post-Feminism................................................................................ 35 2.3 Thereotical Framework ........................................................................ 42 CHAPTER III:THE QUESTION OF EDUCATION AND OCCUPATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF POST-FEMINIST WOMEN’S IDENTITY 3.1 Post-Feminist Women’s Identity ......................................................... 44 vii 3.1.1 Education ...................................................................................... 45 3.1.2 Occupation ...................................................................................... 53 3.2 The Limits Experienced by Post-Feminist Women in Relation to the Construction of Their Identity........................................................ 69 3.2.1 Solitary Lives ...................................................................................... 70 3.2.2 Insufficiency ...................................................................................... 74 3.3 Concluding Remarks .......................................................................... 76 CHAPTER IV: LIFESTYLES: NEW WAYS OF POST-FEMINIST WOMEN TO DEFINE THEIR IDENTITY 4.1 Post-Feminist Women’s Lifestyles ...................................................... 78 4.1.1 Body Image .......................................................................................... 79 4.1.2 Tech-Savviness .................................................................................... 86 4.1.3 Residence ............................................................................................ 88 4.1.4 Social Affiliation and Companionship ................................................. 90 4.2 Problem of Lifestyles ........................................................................... 107 4.3 Concluding Remarks............................................................................ 110 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION................................................................. 112 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................... 117 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 : Summary of Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada 120 APPENDIX 2 : Summary of Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic Takes Manhattan 122 APPENDIX 3 : Summary of Alberthiene Endah’s Jodoh Monica ......... 124 APPENDIX 4 : Summary of Alberthiene Endah’s Cewek Matre ........... 126 viii ABSTRACT Ruth Bunga Ongi K. 2009. The Construction of Post-Feminist Women’s Identity by Consuming Lifestyles: A Study of Four Chick-Lit Novels. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies. Sanata Dharma University. Considered as women’s literature, chick-lit novels examine the women’s world and its complexity through the representation of the female characters. The four novels under study, Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada (2003), Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (2002), Alberthiene Endah’s Jodoh Monica (2005) and Cewek Matre (2005), portray the construction of the post-feminist women’s identity and lifestyles inseparable from the idea of consumerism. This study, therefore, is to answer two questions. First, how is the identity of post-feminist women defined in these four novels? Secondly, how are women’s lifestyles defined in these novels? As this study is qualitative research, close-reading is required to analyze how post-feminist women’s identity and lifestyle are depicted. This thesis employs theory of popular culture and a post-feminist perspective to examine the idea of consumerism and post-feminism invariably found in the novels. The construction of the post-feminist women’s identity in the novels converges in two categories: occupation and education. For post-feminist women, occupation and occupation are very important. Occupation is not only a means to earn money, but also to show the existence, prestige, respect, and self-legitimation of the women. Education is the requirement to participate in the post-modern lifestyles. Both occupation and education become post-feminist women’s lifestyles which cannot be separated from consumerism However, these post-feminist women still face problems in the form of solitary lives and insuffeciency, hence the limits of post- feminism. This study also discusses the post-feminist women’s lifestyles in pronouncing their identity. Lifestyles of these women can be classified into four categories: body image, tech-savviness, residence, and social affiliation and companionship. Consumerism which still becomes the ideology of the lifestyles is also explored herein. However, post-feminist women’s engagement to such lifestyles also invites some negative effects as to put them into different social groups that result in