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Conceptualizing Voice and Resistance in Girls' Lives Through “Who Are They to Judge?”: (Re)Conceptualizing Voice and Resistance in Girls’ Lives through Girls’ Perspectives Katrina Renae Bodey A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Communication Studies Chapel Hill 2009 Approved by: Julia T. Wood Jane D. Brown Steven K. May Patricia S. Parker Lawrence B. Rosenfeld © 2009 Katrina Renae Bodey ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT KATRINA R. BODEY: “Who Are They to Judge?”: (Re)Conceptualizing Voice and Resistance in Girls’ Lives through Girls’ Perspectives (under the direction of Julia T. Wood) This dissertation explores what the concepts of voice and resistance mean to girls. I conduced 18 online interviews with 18- and 19-year-old girls. The girls in this study suggested that voice can be viewed (a) as fully internal, (b) as internal thoughts made public, and (c) as internal thoughts made public and taken seriously by others. Some of girls’ definitions challenge the idea that one’s perspective must be accepted and approved by others in order to count. Additionally, these girls offered possibilities for (re)conceptualizing resistance. They descriptions highlighted that resistance can be internally or externally motivated. They noted that they commonly resist messages about sex, drugs and alcohol, physical appearance, and politics. They offered various modes of resistance, including setting and focusing on goals and self-development, escaping, and serving as a mentor or role model. These motivations, targets, and modes of resistance challenge androcentric models of resistance that suggest resistance must be externally motivated and focused and take place in a public, antagonistic way. These girls’ perspectives suggest that both voice and resistance may be better thought of as processes rather than single acts. In the dissertation I argue that imposing the dominant definition of voice and resistance upon girls is part of a larger pattern that silences girls’ voices, dismisses their actions, and, perhaps even more, problematically, teaches them to do the same. iii DEDICATION To my sister Marjorie, who is one of the most amazing girls I know. To my grandfather, Richard Paul Bodey, who always knew my voice mattered and taught me to believe it myself. and To all of the girls who believe they have something to say and especially to those who believe they do not. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I want to thank the participants of this study. These girls gave over an hour of their time to share intimate details of their lives in order to increase our understanding of what it means to be a girl today. These girls are the heart and soul of this project. Next, this work could not have been possible without my dedicated advisor and committee members. Through teaching, writing, and mentoring, these people have informed by thinking in ways that make me a better scholar and a better person: Julia T. Wood (advisor) Jane D. Brown Steven K. May Patricia S. Parker Lawrence B. Rosenfeld Third, I am so appreciative of my family who continues to question me, support me, and love me in ways that make me a better person and a better scholar. My mom, Amy, my sister, Marjorie, and all of my extended family, all make my work and my life better. Finally, I want to thank my wonderful partner, elizabeth nelson, for the unyielding support and encouragment she provided through countless conversations, struggles, and breakthroughs during this project. elizabeth helped me to never lose sight of why I care about this work and the impact I believe it can have. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................... .....v Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... .....1 What Is a Girl?......................................................................................................... .....2 Description of the Study .......................................................................................... .....4 Value of the Study ................................................................................................... .....8 Limitations of the Study .......................................................................................... .....9 Outline of the Dissertation....................................................................................... ...11 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................................................. ...13 A Brief Genealogy of Girls’ Studies........................................................................ ...13 Not Little Women .................................................................................................... ...17 Girls’ Studies in the Present..................................................................................... ...20 Girls and Resistance................................................................................................. ...23 What and How Do Girls Resist?.............................................................................. ...29 Dissertation Project.................................................................................................. ...32 III. METHOD AND METHODOLOGY....................................................................... ...34 Pilot Study................................................................................................................ ...34 Dissertation Study.................................................................................................... ...36 Methodology............................................................................................................ ...38 vi Analysis ................................................................................................................... ...53 Summary.................................................................................................................. ...54 IV. VOICE ..................................................................................................................... ...56 Do Girls Have a Voice? ........................................................................................... ...57 What Is Voice, Then? .............................................................................................. ...70 (Re)Conceptualizing Voice...................................................................................... ...77 V. RESISTANCE ......................................................................................................... ...82 Defining Resistance ................................................................................................. ...83 What Do Girls Resist? ............................................................................................. ...91 How Do Girls Resist? .............................................................................................. 106 (Re)Conceptualizing Resistance .............................................................................. 122 VI. CONCLUSION........................................................................................................ 124 (Re)Conceptualizing Voice and Resistance............................................................. 125 Voice and Resistance as Processes: Historical Examples ....................................... 128 Where Do We Go from Here? ................................................................................. 133 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................... 139 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 147 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Participant Demographics................................................................................ ...58 viii CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION Girls negotiate a different leisure space and different personal spaces from those inhabited by boys. These in turn offer them different possibilities for “resistance,” if indeed that is the right word to use. (McRobbie & Garber, 1976/2000, p. 24) One way to think about all the pain and pathology of adolescence is to say that the culture is just too hard for most girls to understand and master at this point in their development. They become overwhelmed and symptomatic. (Pipher, 1994, p. 13) “I am very passionate […] I speak my mind.” (Jordana, participant) “I think that because of the pressures [girls] have in todays world they don't speak up out of fear of being judged.” (Ashlyn, participant) Women’s and girls’ studies scholars have been noting for decades that girls’ voices and resistance have been left out of analyses of youth culture. More than 30 years ago, Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber (1976/2000) encouraged scholars to pursue an exploration of girls’ resistance. Twenty years later, Mary Pipher (1994) proclaimed that girls lose their resistant voices in adolescence. These two topics—voice and resistance—are closely connected and salient concepts in girls’ lives and in the study of girls’ lives. Despite increased scholarly attention to girls’ voices and resistance, there have been very few studies in which girls’ definitions and perspectives have been included. In this study, I attempt to do just that. In this chapter I first define
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