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Downloaded From: Usage Rights: Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Deriva- Tive Works 4.0 McDermott, Catherine (2018) Contemporary femininities after postfeminism: genre, affect, aesthetics. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University. Downloaded from: https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/622947/ Usage rights: Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Deriva- tive Works 4.0 Please cite the published version https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk CONTEMPORARY FEMININITIES AFTER POSTFEMINISM GENRE, AFFECT, AESTHETICS CATHERINE MCDERMOTT PhD 2018 Contemporary Femininities After Postfeminism Genre, Affect, Aesthetics Catherine McDermott A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Manchester Metropolitan University 2018 Table of Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................ 4 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Postfeminism .................................................................................................................................. 8 Postfeminist Impasse .................................................................................................................... 12 The Affective Turn ......................................................................................................................... 14 Girl Studies .................................................................................................................................... 20 Thesis Structure ............................................................................................................................ 25 Chapter One: Feel-bad Postfeminism in Gone Girl (2012) .............................................................. 33 Reiterative and Defiant Agency .................................................................................................... 38 Narrative Closure and Coming of Age ........................................................................................... 43 Cool Girl Postfeminism .................................................................................................................. 46 The Dead Girl’s Suicidal Viability ................................................................................................... 51 Genre Flailing ................................................................................................................................ 56 Chapter Two: Postfeminist Impasse and Cruel Optimism in Girls (2012–2017) ............................ 60 Negotiating a Postfeminist Legacy ................................................................................................ 67 Postfeminist Impasse .................................................................................................................... 75 The Rom-Com Run ........................................................................................................................ 79 Inconvenient Conventions ............................................................................................................ 84 Chapter Three: ‘Being without a cliché to hold onto can be a lonely experience’: Generic Isolation in Appropriate Behaviour (2014) ...................................................................................... 88 ‘Nobody knew what the future would look like for me’ ............................................................... 92 Asymmetric Reciprocity .............................................................................................................. 103 Comedy of Discomfort ................................................................................................................ 110 Genres of Self-Disclosure: Coming Out ....................................................................................... 114 Chapter Four: Suffering, Resilience and Defiance in The Hunger Games (2008–2010) ............... 120 Femininity ................................................................................................................................... 127 Death ........................................................................................................................................... 133 Suffering ...................................................................................................................................... 136 Defiance ...................................................................................................................................... 138 Structure ..................................................................................................................................... 148 Chapter Five: Relationality and Transformation in Girlhood (2014) ............................................ 155 Relational Resilience ................................................................................................................... 160 The Audiovisual Soar ................................................................................................................... 164 Transformative Resilience ........................................................................................................... 171 Aesthetics of Sociality ................................................................................................................. 177 Chapter Six: Feel-Bad Femininity in Catch Me Daddy (2014) ....................................................... 183 Agency in Motion ........................................................................................................................ 188 ‘Femininity is first performed as damage, second as resilience’ ................................................ 193 Resilient Affect ............................................................................................................................ 202 Feminine Damage ....................................................................................................................... 209 Agency, Interrupted .................................................................................................................... 211 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 220 Bibliography.................................................................................................................................... 229 Filmography .................................................................................................................................... 259 Literature ........................................................................................................................................ 262 Television ........................................................................................................................................ 263 Discography .................................................................................................................................... 264 Artworks ......................................................................................................................................... 264 1 List of Figures 1. Young adult novels featuring dead girls as their cover image (Harvey 2011; Ren Suma 2011; Ryan 2010). 2. The opening shot of Girls’ first episode (Dunham 2012: 1.1 ‘Pilot’). 3. Reverse shot of Hannah’s parents (Dunham 2012: 1.1 ‘Pilot’). 4. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) decides to quit her job in Sex and the City’s ‘Time and Punishment’ (Star 2001: 4.7). 5. Marnie (Allison Williams, left), before she is ‘downsized’ by her manager (Christina Kirk, right) in ‘It’s About Time’ (Dunham 2013: 2.1). 6. Awkward shot of Marnie (left) after she receives the poorly delivered news of her unemployment from her manager (right) in ‘It’s About Time’ (Dunham 2013: 2.1). 7. Hannah (Lena Dunham), centre-framed and smiling in celebration, in ‘Iowa’ (Dunham 2015: 4.1). 8. Shirin (Desiree Akhavan) rides the subway in Appropriate Behaviour’s (Akhavan 2014) opening sequence. 9. Shirin walks away from the camera, strap-on dildo swinging by her side, in the title shot of Appropriate Behaviour (Akhavan 2014). 10. Shirin and Crystal (Halley Feiffer) ride the subway in the film’s closing scene (Akhavan 2014). 11. Shirin’s brief moment of equilibrium in the final shot of the film (Akhavan 2014). 12. Shirin sits apart from her parents in an awkward family scene (Akhavan 2014). 13. Shirin, framed between Ted (Christopher Baker) and Marie’s (Robyn Rikoon) kiss in Appropriate Behaviour’s awkward threesome scene (Akhavan 2014). 14. Profile close-up of Marieme (Karidja Touré) during Girlhood’s initial transition sequence (Sciamma 2014). 15. Marieme’s fashionable new clothing and hairstyle in Girlhood’s initial transition sequence (Sciamma 2014). 16. Vic’s masculine attire in the final act of Girlhood (Sciamma 2014). 2 17. Wide-angle shot in which Laila’s (Sabeena Jabeen Ahmed) form is barely perceptible within the landscape (Wolfe 2014). 18. Aaron (Connor McCarron) looks at Laila in a close-up designed
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