Resisting the Neoliberal Girl Power Agent
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University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2018 Girl of Color-Power: Resisting the Neoliberal Girl Power Agent Raisa Fernanda Alvarado University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Mass Communication Commons, and the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Alvarado, Raisa Fernanda, "Girl of Color-Power: Resisting the Neoliberal Girl Power Agent" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1421. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1421 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. Girl of Color-Power: Resisting the Neoliberal Girl Power Agent __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Raisa Fernanda Alvarado June 2018 Advisor: Christina Foust ©Copyright by Raisa Fernanda Alvarado 2018 All Rights Reserved Author: Raisa Fernanda Alvarado Title: Girl of Color-Power: Resisting the Neoliberal Girl Power Agent Advisor: Christina Foust Degree Date: June 2018 Abstract Girl power is a complex and multi-dimensional phrase. It is a term that celebrates the positive development of girls’ self-esteem, while simultaneously recognizing the shifting social positioning of girlhood in the late twentieth century. It is a call to re-write girls’ passivity but simultaneously a discourse that encourages consumerism via entertainment, artifacts, and merchandise. A social movement, a catch phrase, a motto: girl power is a representative caricature of evolving conceptualizations of girlhood. This dissertation is critical of the homogeneity implicit in girl power as its hailing disproportionately centers white, middle and upper class girls. As such, this project examines the myriad of ways that diverse girls of color make alternative forms of girl power, what I call girl of color-power. Using rhetorical and textual analysis this dissertation argues that low-income, girls of color transform neoliberal, postfeminist, and postrace iterations of girl empowerment for the purpose of changing power relationships. Through a critique of domination and freedom through three case studies: The American Girl BeForever doll line (which problematically infuses whiteness through five characters of color, in the name of empowerment); musical icon Beyoncé; and the advocacy of the social justice oriented group, The Radical Monarchs, this project analyzes the exclusivity of girl power regardless of girl of color presence and posits girl of color-power as an inclusive framework that centers the diverse embodiments of girlhood. Through the promotion of sisterhood bore from difference, an embrasure of ii cross generational alliances, and through the active inclusion of critical pedagogy (based in marginal history), girl of color-power promotes agential practices aimed at cultivating social justice. iii Acknowledgements This project was made possible by the unwavering support of my family. Gracias Tía Micos y Mamá, por cuidar a Kamila con todo corazón. La seguridad que sentía cuando Kamila estaba con ustedes aseguro que me pudiera enfocar completamente en este proyecto. Thank you Papá and sister/editor Nancy for your moral and grammatical support. I could always count on you both to uplift my spirit. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to my advisor Christina Foust. Thank you for engaging my work and helping me develop this project. I continue to “trust the process.” Thank you Deb Ortega and Armond Townes for pushing me. I am a better scholar and educator because of it. Thank you to my ride-or-die, academic hermano, Jaime Guzmán. Our collaboration throughout the program and everyday check-ins gave me life. Thank you to Michelle Holling and Dreama Moon for your unwavering support throughout my academic journey. Your mentorship and guidance at every educational and professional milestone have shaped who I am today. Finally, thank you Kasey Uchima. We’ve both sacrificed so much for this. I love you. iv Table of Contents Chapter One ........................................................................................................................ 1 The Evolution of Girl Power ........................................................................................... 5 Postfeminism, Whiteness, and Postracism .................................................................... 12 Empowerment in the Context of Girl Power ................................................................ 15 Identity and Agency ...................................................................................................... 24 A Critique of Domination and Freedom ....................................................................... 29 Domination and Freedom, A Case for Girl of Color-Power ......................................... 33 Chapter Two ...................................................................................................................... 36 Minimizing White Supremacy and Settler Colonialism ............................................... 42 An Emphasis on Progress: The Postrace Character of Color ....................................... 49 The Neoliberal, Girl Power Agent ................................................................................ 53 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 56 Chapter Three .................................................................................................................... 59 Dominant and Free Representations ............................................................................. 64 Empowerment Through Consumption and Respectability ........................................... 66 Queen B: Okay Ladies Now Let’s Get in Formation ................................................... 72 Sisterhood through a Shared Struggle ........................................................................... 75 A Cross-Generational Enterprise .................................................................................. 78 An Ethic of Hope .......................................................................................................... 80 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 83 Chapter Four ..................................................................................................................... 86 Background: Radical Monarchs History, Mission, Vision ........................................... 89 Free Discourses and Activism ...................................................................................... 92 Conservative Backlash .................................................................................................. 94 A Promotion of Collaborative, Critical Pedagogy ........................................................ 97 Centering Marginal Education .................................................................................... 102 A Return to Do-It Yourself Empowerment ................................................................ 106 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 109 Chapter Five .................................................................................................................... 111 Girl of color-power ..................................................................................................... 120 References ....................................................................................................................... 126 v Table of Images Chapter Three Figure 3:1: An image from the opening scene of Bootylicious……………….…70 Figure 3:2: An image of the quintessential Nasty Girl……………………….….73 Figure 3:3: Beyoncé pictured with four of her dancers during the Super Bowl 50 halftime performance………....……………………..……………………..…….77 Chapter Four Figure 4.1: An image of the Radical Monarch’s advocating against displacement and gentrification……………………………….………………………………102 Figure 4:3: An image of the Radical Monarchs protesting the presidential election of Donald Trump………………………………...……………………………..103 Figure 4.4: An image from the Radical Love unit depicting an affirmation mirror created by a Monarch …………………………………… ……………...….. 110 vi Chapter One I was born in the 80’s yet my sense of self, relative to gender and race, really developed in the 90’s. While I cannot attribute any singular influence to fully shaping my identity formation, my evolving sense of self was undoubtedly shaped by the girl power discourses of the 90’s. Girl power, as a catchphrase and motto especially as it was bolstered by the Spice Girls had a profound effect on my early feminist consciousness. Some of my earliest memories consist of getting together with friends from the same apartment complex to mimic the Spice Girls. Like so many girls in the late twentieth century, we would memorize lyrics, copy their choreography, and would, to the best of our ability, replicate their image. Yet, while I reveled in