Copyright by Morgan Genevieve Blue 2013
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Copyright by Morgan Genevieve Blue 2013 The Dissertation Committee for Morgan Genevieve Blue Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Performing 21st-Century Girlhood: Girls, Postfeminist Discourse, and the Disney Star Machine Committee: Mary Celeste Kearney, Supervisor Janet Staiger Thomas Schatz Julia Mickenberg Deborah Paredez Performing 21st-Century Girlhood: Girls, Postfeminist Discourse, and the Disney Star Machine by Morgan Genevieve Blue, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2013 Dedication To all the girls and girl allies who light up the world by being themselves. Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my family, whose love and support keep me going. Thanks to Dr. Shanda Easterday, my mom, loyal and generous supporter and confidante. Our talks helped me focus, and her many donations over the years helped keep me in (practical) shoes. To my partner, Bryan Robison, thanks for being my rock, for making me laugh every day, and for enduring—enjoying!—this process with me. His pride in my accomplishments makes them all the sweeter, and I look forward to our life together, A.D. (After Dissertation). I feel very lucky to have a wonderful, understanding, and supportive family, including my most loving and hilarious dad, Courtney Blue, sweet and brilliant brother Graydon, kind, clever, and steadfast sister Danyi, amazing niece Briviba, and my kind and inquisitive nephew Guthrie—bound for greatness. Thanks all for letting me ramble on about whatever it is I’ve been doing these past few years. And to my newly acquired host of in-laws—what a terrifically fun and warmhearted lot they are. Thanks to all the current and former Segalls and Robisons, and their families, for welcoming me and encouraging me along the way. Next, I would like to thank my dissertation supervisor, feminist media studies idol, and friend, Mary Celeste Kearney. Her enduring support and encouragement have helped to shape my understanding of myself as a feminist and as an academic professional. Her expertise and insightful commentary on my chapter drafts improved them immensely and have, I hope, made me a better writer and researcher. Her v meticulous attention to detail and her challenging intellectual inquiries have proved invaluable. I also appreciate the many opportunities she has helped provide for me, including recruiting me to participate in the annual Cinemakids festival and workshops, hiring me to help with book projects, and recommending me for jobs, awards, and publishing contracts. These experiences have given me a sense of the kind of collegiality and professionalism I hope to extend wherever I go. I look forward to the day when I can mentor grad students with the level of dedication I have learned from Mary during my time at UT. You’re an inspiration, Mary. Thank you! Third, I would like to thank the other faculty who have supported my work and contributed to this project. I will be ever-grateful to my dissertation committee members, Janet Staiger, Thomas Schatz, Julia Mickenberg, and Deborah Paredez. Their insights will be a terrific help to me as I prepare my dissertation for publication. Thanks also to other UT faculty who have expressed interest in my progress. Caroline Frick and Mary Beltrán, in particular, deserve thanks for their candid and kind counsel. Much gratitude also goes to Alisa Perren for sharing her Disney Seminar notes with me—they proved an enlightening resource. Beyond UT, there have been a couple of scholars whose encouraging words and rigorous scholarship also have influenced me. Many thanks to Sarah Projansky for allowing me to read chapters of her forthcoming book and for being enthusiastic about my research. My work and my thinking about girlhood have benefitted significantly from hers. And thanks to Derek Johnson for being generous with his time and kind words regarding my project—he’s inspired me to think in new ways about media franchises and industry identities. vi Finally, I need to express appreciation for my patient and unwavering friends, in Texas and beyond. You are some of my most favorite people in the universe. I will always treasure my memories of long days spent writing at Bennu with Jessalynn Keller (Pomodoro!), lively discussions (O.K., rants) over wine at Apothecary (and anywhere else) with her and Amanda Landa, Gossip Girl and Breaking Bad watch parties with Stuart Davis, Melissa Geppert, and Daniel Mauro, and ridiculous Google Hangout sessions with Charlotte Howell, Caroline Leader, Sarah Murray, Jessalynn, and Amanda (go Flow Co-Cos!). Thanks for keeping morale high, all you wonderful, wonderful nerds. Thanks also to my dear friends Elizabeth Hansen, Julia Price Baron, Lori Czerwionka, Jean Lauer, Jessica Miller Donald, and Devon Donald for their enduring friendships. Thanks especially for getting me out of the house—for swimming excursions, concerts, movies, walks, mini-golf tournaments, good food, great conversation, and endless laughs. Let’s do it again soon—minus the dissertation! vii Performing 21st-Century Girlhood: Girls, Postfeminist Discourse, and the Disney Star Machine Morgan Genevieve Blue, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Supervisor: Mary Celeste Kearney “Performing 21st-Century Girlhood: Girls, Postfeminist Discourse, and the Disney Star Machine,” explores the economic and discursive functions of contemporary girlhood within Disney Channel’s talent-driven transmedia franchises. Ideological, discursive, and narrative textual analyses of Disney Channel programs and paratexts are augmented by examination of the corporate motives and dominant discourses reproduced by Disney personnel in annual reports and in popular and trade publications referencing Disney’s stars and girl- driven franchises. This exploration of girls’ visibility as Disney performers, media producers, and public citizens brings several disciplines into conversation with one another, addressing issues in girls’ cultural studies, media industries scholarship, celebrity studies, and theories of postfeminism. I take an intersectional feminist and critical cultural studies approach to media texts and meaning-making, with particular attention to power relations and cultural contexts. The political and economic aspects of this research demand that I also work to illuminate the significance of media industry logics within the production viii and distribution of media for girl audiences. I argue that the Walt Disney Company has a vested interest in reproducing certain postfeminist and subjectifying discourses of girlhood, which have become integral to its success in an ever-expanding web of media and consumer markets. While Disney Channel’s girl-driven franchises constitute the case studies, my analysis reaches beyond the clear focus on gender and age to theorize girls’ increasing visibility in the context of contemporary consumer culture and issues of postracism, citizenship, subjectification, and agency—issues that require continued interrogation as Disney distributes and expands its franchise properties globally. ix Table of Contents List of Illustrations ................................................................................................ xii Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Disney Channel and the Tween Girl Market ................................................. 5 Discourses of Girlhood ................................................................................ 18 From Postfeminism to Postfeminist Discourse ............................................ 25 Girlhood in U.S. Popular Media Culture ..................................................... 35 Methodologies .............................................................................................. 55 Theoretical Perspective ................................................................................ 60 Chapter Breakdown ..................................................................................... 63 Chapter 1: “Shine Like a Star”: Visibility, Performance, and the Postfeminist Sensibility in Disney Channel’s Girl-Driven Franchises ............................. 70 Introduction .................................................................................................. 70 Methods & Theoretical Frameworks ........................................................... 72 Luminosities and The Postfeminist Masquerade ......................................... 76 Sparkle and Shine: Disney’s Luminous Aesthetics ..................................... 82 Performance and Performativity .................................................................. 99 Disney Celebrity and the Girl Commodity ................................................ 104 The Fantasy of Celebrity in Hannah Montana .......................................... 120 Hannah Montana’s “Alternative” Girlhood .............................................. 131 Conclusion: From Wishing Upon a Star to Becoming a Star .................... 137 Chapter 2: “True Colors”: Race, Ethnicity, and Class Status in Disney Stardom and Disney Channel Series ............................................................................... 142 Introduction ................................................................................................ 142 Theoretical