The Girl Typing Discourse in North American Children's Television

The Girl Typing Discourse in North American Children’s Television Animation, 1990-2010 Emily Chandler A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of the Arts and Media Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences March 2017 Table of Contents Abstract 4 Acknowledgements 5 List of Figures 6 Introduction 7 Problem Identification 7 Aims 9 Scope of Inquiry and Rationale for Time Period, Medium and Topic 10 Theoretical Framework 13 Gap in Research 16 Sampling and Selection Procedures 17 Data Analysis Methods 22 Research Questions 23 Thesis Chapter Outline 24 Chapter One: Literature Review 25 Girl Typing 25 Female Representation in Animation 30 Postfeminist Discourses of Girlhood and Feminism 34 Girls as Empowered 34 Girls Out of Control 37 Neoliberal Feminism 41 Gap Identification 44 Conclusion 46 Chapter Two: Methodology and Methods 48 Introduction 48 Methodology 48 Data Analysis Methods 49 Discourse Analysis 50 Textual Analysis 51 Narrative Analysis 53 Limitations of Data Analysis Methods 55 Positionality 56 Sampling and Selection Procedures 58 Limitations of Sampling and Selection Procedures 59 Conclusion 60 Chapter Three: Agency and Power in As Told By Ginger 61 Introduction 61 As Told By Ginger (Nickelodeon, 2000-2004) 63 Everygirls 66 Popular Girls 70 Girl Typing and the Subverted Transformation 78 Episode Analysis: “Deja Who?” 81 2 Conclusion 89 Chapter Four: Androcentrism and Gender Entitlement in Recess 91 Introduction 91 Recess (Disney, 1997-2003) 91 Tomboys 98 Girly-Girls 104 Episode Analysis: “First Name Ashley” 112 Conclusion 119 Chapter Five: The Romance of the Outsider in Daria 120 Introduction 120 Daria (MTV, 1997-2002) 121 Outcast Girls 125 Episode Analysis: “Monster” 137 Conclusion 148 Discussion and Conclusion 150 Introduction 150 Research Process 151 Research Outcomes 153 Girls’ Identities in the Animation Medium 153 Girls’ Identities as Binary Opposites 153 Race, Ethnicity, Class, Gender, Age and Sexuality 155 Context and Ideology 157 Girls’ Identities as Mutable, Performative and Interdependent 157 Significance of Findings 159 Implications of Study 161 Limitations of Study 162 Recommendations for Future Research 163 Concluding Remarks 165 Bibliography and Filmography 166 3 Abstract From 1990, North American children’s television animation was revolutionised due to the regulation of children’s television under the 1990 Children’s Television Act, the rise of cable channels and the dissemination of third-wave feminism into the mass media. Consequently, children’s television animation saw greater representation of girl characters, both in terms of the number of characters and their roles in narratives. Lyn Mikel Brown proposes that despite these developments, girlhood subjectivity in media remains dependent on attaining the approval of boys and men. My research on the representation of girls in children’s television animation aired in North America between 1990 and 2010 builds on Brown’s concept of “girl typing,” a discourse that categorises girls as superficially opposed archetypes. I use textual, discourse and narrative analysis to examine children’s television animation through a feminist poststructuralist framework. The series I explore in detail are Nickelodeon’s As Told By Ginger, Disney’s Recess and MTV’s Daria, which feature girl characters of varying ages and gendered subjectivities. In each of these series, I examine how girls are represented within discourses of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age and class, how different girl types interact and how opportunities for transitioning into a different subjectivity are portrayed. Each of these series feature subverted transformation narratives, in which a girl is called upon, or forced, to perform a different form of girlhood. Within these narratives, girls must disavow their new subjectivity after a moment of sameness panic, wherein they realise that they risk losing their own identity. I argue that while the form of girlhood represented as correct changes according to variables such as the target audience and brand identity of the series in question, the girl typing discourse is ultimately structured around the belief that girls’ identities are mutable, performative, and interdependent. 4 Acknowledgements I express my gratitude to Jane Mills, my primary supervisor, and Jodi Brooks, my co- supervisor, for their guidance, patience, understanding and sharing of their expertise during my Ph.D. candidature. Their perspectives and input allowed me to enhance the quality of my work and to have faith in my own capabilities as a researcher. I recognise Stephanie Hemelryk Donald, Caroline Sheaffer-Jones, James Donald, Dorottya Fabian and Helen Groth, for the invaluable assistance they provided at various points during my research. I would also like to thank the people I have met over the past four years, both in moving to Sydney and through my doctoral studies, particularly Kascha Sweeney, Sim Mautner, Danni Stevens, Logice Chen, Ava Parsemain, Tina Giannoulis, Jessica Ford, Ian Zucker, Sofia Rios and Athena Bellas, for their encouragement and for the positive impacts they have made on my life. I extend my love and appreciation to my parents, Helen and Steve Chandler; my siblings, Lucy, Alfie and Lilli Chandler; my brother-in-law, Melik Eid; my nieces, Nadia, Alessia and Amelia Eid; and my aunt, Sandra Hubbard (Aunty San), for their support of me during the writing of my thesis, and for empowering me to pursue my dreams. I dedicate this thesis to the women I have loved. 5 List of Figures Figure 1 Promotional art for Season 1 of Ginger (Nickelodeon) ....................................... 66 Figure 2 Hope’s character design pre-transformation (Nickelodeon). ............................. 73 Figure 3 Hope’s character design post-transformation (Nickelodeon) ............................. 73 Figure 4 Promotional art for Season 2 of Ginger (Nickelodeon) ....................................... 74 Figure 5 The popular girls in the Ginger episode “Sleep On It” (Nickelodeon) .............. 75 Figure 6 The popular girls in the Ginger episode “About Face” (Nickelodeon) .............. 76 Figure 7 Macie and Dodie approach Ginger at her locker (Nickelodeon)........................ 82 Figure 8 Promotional art for Recess (Disney) ..................................................................... 93 Figure 9 Promotional art of Spinelli (Disney) ..................................................................... 99 Figure 10 Ashley A, Ashley B, Ashley Q and Ashley T, L-R (Disney) ............................ 105 Figure 11 Screen capture from the Recess episode “The Beauty Contest” (Disney) ..... 107 Figure 12 Screen capture from “First Name Ashley” (Disney) ....................................... 115 Figure 13 Promotional art showing Jake, Helen, Quinn, Daria and Jane, L-R (MTV) 122 Figure 14 Promotional art of Jodie, Quinn, Brittany, Daria and Jane, L-R (MTV) ..... 126 Figure 15 Screen capture of Jane and Daria as an artist and nude model (MTV) ........ 136 Figure 16 Screen capture showing Jane’s sameness panic in “The F Word” (MTV) ... 139 Figure 17 Daria’s dream sequence in the episode “Monster” (MTV) ............................ 141 6 Introduction If a young girl tuned her television to a children’s station playing North American cartoons anytime between 1990 and 2010, she was likely to see two animated girl characters. One girl was the protagonist; to whose point of view the audience were privy. The other remained at a narrative distance from the audience, her personality less developed and more stereotypical. After the episode established the differences between these girls, circumstances within the narrative led the girl protagonist to experience life in the other girl’s shoes – to wear her clothes, associate with her friends and adopt her worldview, willingly or otherwise. The protagonist struggled with this turn of events, but eventually adapted to living as the other girl did. Realising that she was at risk of losing her own identity, the protagonist publicly denounced the other girl’s way of life and return to her original subjectivity. I am not describing a single episode or a particular programme, but many episodes, programmes and characters. The protagonist may be a socially awkward geek, a gregarious tomboy, a sarcastic outcast or a kind, normatively feminine everygirl. Her opposite number is usually a powerful popular girl or prim girly-girl. The two girls may be children for whom puberty seems light-years away, “tweens” on the cusp of adolescence, or teenagers in junior high or high school. The circumstances leading to the transformation may be a bet, a prank, a favour, a school project, a desire to be accepted or a yearning to beat “those other girls” at their own game. The public forum may be as public as a press conference or as domestic as a living room. The superficial details change, yet the story, at its core, remains the same: two girls struggling to reconcile whose performance of gender is the best. Girl characters in North American children’s television animation series of this period learned particular lessons over and over again. Be true to yourself. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. Don’t be like that other girl. Who “that other girl” was and how she behaved varied according to the programmes’ brand identities, their target demographics and the priorities of the characters. The stories that could be told about each of the girls in these storylines were limited by what type of girl each one was. In this

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