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CARRIE’S RESPONSE TOWARDS GENDER STEREOTYPES IN ’S : A LIBERAL FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE STUDY

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

By VINCENTIA KRISNA WIJAYANTI Student Number: 144214069

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA YOGYAKARTA 2018

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CARRIE’S RESPONSE TOWARDS GENDER STEREOTYPES IN CANDACE BUSHNELL’S THE CARRIE DIARIES: A LIBERAL FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE STUDY

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

By VINCENTIA KRISNA WIJAYANTI Student Number: 144214069

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2018

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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

“What if I’m a princess on another planet? And no one on this planet knows me. That question still kind of blows me away. I mean, isn’t it the truth?

Whoever we are here, we might be princesses somewhere else. Or writers. Or scientist. Or presidents. Or whatever the hell we want to be that everyone else says we can’t”. –

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I’m a woman of my words; dear Bapak and Ibu, this is for you.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To the Almighty Jesus Christ, I thank Him for the everlasting love and blessing given to me. Everything would be impossible without Him.

I would like to express my greatest gratitude to all my lecturers in English

Letters Sanata Dharma University, especially Dra. A. B. Sri Mulyani, Ph.D., and

Adventina Putranti, S.S., M. Hum for guidance, patience and support which help me in finishing this thesis. Also, I would like to thank all lecturers in English

Literature who had shared the knowledge with me.

My deepest gratitude goes to Bapak Albertus Subardi and Ibu Agnes Maria

Tritsiana Yulianti for the endless support for me no matter what happens. Their love makes everything goes easy. I also want to thank Mas Yudhis and Mbak

Restu who inspired me the most and earned their Bachelor of Arts degree before me. They are the reason why I chose this major in the first place.

My heart is for all my Kenyiled friends—Ayu, Acit, Dinda, Didi, Festy, Aven,

Cece, and all (I am sorry, I really cannot mention it one by one). Without them, I would go insane for the last 4 years.

Last but not least, to the people whose their existences are so precious for someone like me, I hope they always keep this in mind: no matter how we look at it, the moon shines so bright. I cannot thank them enough for being my anchors.

Vincentia Krisna Wijayanti

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ...... ii APPROVAL PAGE ...... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...... iv STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...... v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH .. vi MOTTO PAGE ...... vii DEDICATION PAGE ...... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... x ABSTRACT ...... xii ABSTRAK ...... xiii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Problem Formulation ...... 4 C. Objectives of the Study ...... 4 D. Definition of Terms ...... 4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 6 A. Review of Related Studies ...... 6 B. Review of Related Theories ...... 10 1. Theory of Character and Characterization ...... 10 2. Theory of Feminism and Liberal Feminism ...... 11 3. Theory of Gender Stereotypes ...... 14 C. Theoretical Framework ...... 15

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...... 17 A. Object of the Study ...... 17 B. Approach of the Study ...... 17 C. Method of the Study ...... 18

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ...... 20 A. Carrie’s Concept of Women and Gender Stereotypes ...... 20 1. Carrie and Her Idea of Independent Women ...... 21 2. Carrie and Her Choice of Career ...... 26 B. Carrie’s Responses Towards Gender Inequality and Stereotypes as seen through Liberal Feminist View ...... 30

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1. Carrie’s Responses Towards Equal Opportunity in Education and Career ...... 31 2. Carrie’s Responses Towards Gender Stereotypes as seen through Liberal Feminist View ...... 34

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 39

REFERENCES ...... 42 APPENDIX ...... 44

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ABSTRACT

WIJAYANTI, VINCENTIA KRISNA (2018). Carrie’s Response Towards Gender Stereotypes in Candace Bushnell’s The Carrie Diaries: A Liberal Feminist Perspective Study. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

The Carrie Diaries (2010) is the first young adult novel by Candace Bushnell. It is a prequel of her famous novel (1997). The story tells about Carrie’s life during her senior year in high school. She has to face a lot of trials that involved her family, friends, relationship with her boyfriend, and her dream job. Carrie wants to be a writer, however to get what she wants, she has to struggle against gender stereotypes in her society. This study is about how Carrie responds toward the gender stereotypes as seen through liberal feminist perspective. There are two objectives in this study. The first objective is to know Carrie’s concept of women and to see the portrayal of Carrie as a woman in the story related to gender stereotypes that happen in the society, which is in a small town in Connecticut during 1980s. The second objective is to see Carrie’s responses as seen through liberal feminist perspective towards gender stereotypes she experiences. The method that is used in this study is a library research. Candace Bushnell’s The Carrie Diaries is the primary source of this research. The secondary sources are several books and data from internet sites related to this research. In order to find the answer for the two objectives, the researcher uses feminist approach, particularly the liberal feminist perspective. The result of the study presents two things. The first one shows that Carrie experiences gender stereotypes in her society. Carrie challenges the gender stereotypes by being courageous, smart and critical. She begins to develop her own idea of being an independent woman. The second finding is related to how Carrie responds towards gender stereotypes she experiences. Carrie challenges the gender stereotypes to be equal to men in every aspect. She gains the equal opportunity related to education and career. Carrie pursues a higher education in Brown University as what her father wants. At the same time, she also fights for her dream by getting into the Writing Seminar in New York. Carrie gains her equal liberty by choosing what she wants to be without any influence from society or even her father. By becoming a writer, Carrie is able to articulate women’s voice in a patriarchal society she lives.

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ABSTRAK

WIJAYANTI, VINCENTIA KRISNA (2018). Carrie’s Response Towards Gender Stereotypes in Candace Bushnell’s The Carrie Diaries: A Liberal Feminist Perspective Study. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

The Carrie Diaries (2010) adalah novel young adult pertama karya Candace Busnell. Novel ini merupakan sebuah prekuel dari novel terkenalnya berjudul Sex and the City (1997). Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan Carrie selama dia berada di tahun terakhir SMA. Ia harus menghadapi banyak rintangan yang berhubungan dengan keluarga, teman, hubungan dengan pacarnya, dan cita-citanya. Carrie ingin menjadi seorang penulis, tetapi untuk mencapai cita-citanya, ia harus berjuang melawan stereotipe gender yang ada di masyarakat. Penelitian ini tentang bagaimana Carrie merespon stereotipe gender dilihat dari perspektif feminisme liberal. Terdapat dua tujuan di penelitian ini. Tujuan pertama bertujuan untuk mengetahui konsep Carrie tentang wanita dan melihat penggambaran Carrie sebagai wanita di dalam cerita yang berhubungan dengan stereotipe gender yang terjadi di masyarakat di kota kecil di Connecticut pada tahun 1980an. Tujuan kedua bertujuan untuk melihat respon Carrie terhadap stereotipe gender yang ia alami dilihat dari perspektif feminisme liberal. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian kepustakaan. Novel dari Candance Bushnell yang berjudul The Carrie Diaries adalah sumber utama dari penelitian ini. Sumber-sumber pendukung lainnya adalah buku-buku dan data dari situs internet yang berhubungan dengan penelitian ini. Peneliti menggunakan pendekatan feminisme, khususnya perspektif feminisme liberal, untuk menjawab kedua objektif. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan dua hal. Hal pertama menunjukkan bahwa Carrie mengalami stereotipe gender di masyarakat sekitarnya. Carrie melawan stereotipe gender dengan menjadi seorang wanita yang pemberani, pintar, dan kritis. Sebagai wanita, Carrie harus berjuang melawannya. Ia memulai untuk menggembangkan gagasannya tentang seorang wanita. Hal kedua berhubungan tentang bagaimana Carrie merespon stereotipe gender yang ia hadapi. Carrie menantang stereotipe gender untuk menjadi setara dengan laki-laki di segala aspek. Ia memperoleh kesempatan yang sama dalam hal pendidikan dan karir. Carrie melanjutkan pendidikannya ke jenjang yang lebih tinggi di Universitas Brown seperti yang ayahnya inginkan. Ia juga berjuang untuk meraih cita-citanya untuk mengikuti Seminar Menulis di New York di saat yang bersamaan. Carrie memperoleh kebebasan yang sama dengan memilih apa yang ia inginkan tanpa diperngaruhi oleh masyarakat/lingkungan atau bahkan ayahnya. Dengan menjadi seorang penulis, Carrie mampu mengutarakan suara wanita di tengah masyarakat patriarki.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

People are impossible to live alone only by themselves. They have to socialize with other people in a society. Sometimes in order to be accepted, people let themselves be ruled by society. In society, stereotype is “a fixed, often simplistic generalization about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996, p.

227). Stereotype is not always negative; it may also be positive stereotype, for example, there is generalization that Javanese people are gentle and polite.

However, people tend to believe that there is only negative stereotype. It will be easier to find negative stereotype rather than the positive one. For example, people who suffer from mental illness are crazy, fat people are lazy, men who like pink are gay, or women who wear short skirt are easy. The last two examples are usually known as gender stereotype. As it is stated by Pilcher and Whelehan

(2004), “gender stereotype can be defined as a standardized and often pejorative idea or image held about an individual on the basis of their gender” (p. 167). Even though stereotype may be positive and negative, generally, gender stereotype tells about negative image in a certain gender.

For years, society defines how men and women must behave. Men and women should behave in ways the traditional society beliefs. For example, men are expected to be leaders. This belief suggests that men should take the role to be the

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head of family, support their family financially, and make the important decisions.

On other hand, women are more “nurturing” than men. Therefore, women are expected to do the house works and take care of their family. They are not expected to work outside their house because it is men’s job (Blackstone, 2003, p.

337). From these beliefs, society defines women are “inferior” to men. The beliefs limit women to pursue what they want. Thus, there is a feminist movement to break down the barriers in society.

According to the historians, there are three waves of feminist movement. The first wave was in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the second wave was in the 1960s and 1970s, and the last wave was from 1990s until now

(Krolokke & Sorensen, 2006, p. 1). The first wave of feminism focuses on the rights of the women, includes women’s right to vote. In the 1960s and 1970s, which is the second wave, the focus is not only women’s right but it talks more about the liberation of women from patriarchal society. While the second wave feminism concerns about women’s personal lives and relationship, the third wave is “into the miasma of the mass media, celebrating its contradictions as well as its possibilities” (Pilcher&Whelehan, 2004, p. 147).

Candace Bushnell is an international best-selling American author who wrote

Killing Monica, Sex and the City, Summer and the City, The Carrie Diaries, One

Fifth Avenue, Lipstick Jungle, Trading Up and Four Blondes. Bushnell is known as an author whose most of her works talk about women. One of her best-selling book is The Carrie Diaries. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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The main character of The Carrie Diaries is Carrie Bradshaw, a high school student who is independent and passionate. Even though she is only a high school student, her passion to pursue her dream as a writer is huge. Another obstacles that Carrie has to face is gender stereotypes in her society.

Bushnell also gives a ‘feminist touch’ to this novel which makes it more interesting.

I feel like it would have been very important to Carrie and part of her formative years. It's almost like she would need to be a feminist to have the courage to be a single woman in her thirties, which is when we meet her at the beginning of Sex and the City. She's a woman who has examined those questions. If I'm with a man, is that going to prevent me from achieving my goal? What sacrifices will I have to make in terms of being myself, if I'm with a man? Something that young women find out really quickly is that when you start dating, all of a sudden you're supposed to have a role. You're not allowed to just be yourself (Teen Vogue Magazine, 2010, para. 12). Moreover, in another interview, Bushnell also says “Carrie’s budding interest in feminism, her curiosity about how to conduct herself given the new sexual freedoms, as well as the rejection of male authority are fascinating themes for me”

(Dana, 2010, para. 10).

Feminism issue in this novel is interesting to discuss. Carrie is still young and she is only a high school student. However, she tries to stand up for herself against gender stereotypes in her society. Thus, in this study, the researcher examines how Carrie responds toward gender stereotypes using liberal feminism study. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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B. Problem Formulation

To understand this novel better, two problems are formulated as follows

1. What is Carrie’s concept of women and how is Carrie characterized in

relation to gender stereotypes in The Carrie Diaries?

2. How does Carrie respond towards gender stereotypes seen through liberal

feminist perspective in The Carrie Diaries?

C. Objectives of the Study

In order to find the answer of the problems above, this study has two objectives. The first objectives are to know Carrie’s concept of women, how

Carrie’s characteristics are described and what kind of gender stereotypes that she undergoes in the novel. Second objective explains how Carrie responds towards gender stereotypes in The Carrie Diaries.

D. Definition of Terms

Some terms are defined to avoid misunderstanding and give a clear explanation. The first term is gender stereotypes. According to Mary E. Kite

(2002) “gender stereotypes are organized consensual beliefs and opinions about the characteristics of women and men about purported qualities of masculinity and femininity” (p. 561). Another reference says that “gender stereotype is a schematized set of beliefs about the psychological traits and characteristics and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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the behaviours expected of (and seen as appropriate for) men and women”

(Rogers & Rogers, 2001, p. 50).

Liberal feminism is the second term. According to Maggie Humm (1995) liberal feminism is “the theory of individual freedom for women” (p. 150).

Madsen (2000) states that “liberal feminism is the liberal emphasis on the individual stresses the importance of the individual autonomy which is protected by guaranteed rights, economic justice and equality opportunity” (p. 35).

Therefore, the aim of liberal feminism is the gender equality in all spheres; society, education, workplace, and health. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

Candace Bushnell is known for her adult novels, one of them is Sex in the

City. She writes a prequel of Sex and the City, titled The Carrie Diaries, as her first young adult novel. The Carrie Diaries tells about Carrie Bradshaw’s life when she in in high school. Carrie goes through a lot in her last year of high school, includes gender stereotypes that happens in her society. This study applies liberal feminism theory to reveal how Carrie responds towards gender stereotypes.

This part provides studies related to the topic. The first is an undergraduate thesis by Olivia Christine Suhendro (2016), titled “Stereotype of an Ideal Woman as Challenged through Polly Milton’s Characteristics in Louisa May Alcott’s An

Old-Fashioned Girl”.Suhendro formulates two problems; the first is how Polly

Milton’s characteristics are described in the novel and second, how Polly Milton challenges the stereotype in the novel. Suhendro uses feminist approach to analyze the work. In her thesis, Suhendro claims that Polly Milton dares to challenge the stereotype in her society.

The reaction shows that Polly is not influenced by the stereotype of playing dolls which is considered as a shameful thing. Playing with dolls is kind of stereotype which is explained that there is only a girl who can play with dolls, boys are not allowed to play with dolls, and also young ladies are old enough to not to play with dolls. They would feel ashamed if they are still playing with dolls. But Polly against that stereotype, she thinks that it is okay playing with doll as long as it makes people happy (pp. 30-31).

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There is gender stereotype in education, when girls cannot be smarter than boys. However, Polly proves it wrong, Suhendro adds, “The reaction shows that

Polly has already read so many books and she is against the stereotypical idea about a girl being considered to be not in need of education” (p. 34). The conclusion is that Polly has characteristics that are in contrast with the stereotype in the city.

The second study is also an undergraduate thesis titled “Liberal Feminism

Values seen through the Main Female Character in Kinberg’s Mr. and Mrs.

Smith” by Dewi Artika Puspitasari (2016). Puspitasari uses theory of characterization to find Jane’s characteristics. After that, by using liberal feminism approach, Puspitasari finds the liberal feminism values in Jane’s character. Puspitasari states that Jane’s characteristics are critical, smart, independent, confident and responsible. By using theory of liberal feminism by

Rosemarie Tong, she also states there are three liberal feminism values found through Jane’s characteristics; equality in economy and politics, equal liberty, and education.

Both of the studies above use feminism approach to analyze the works. The similarity of the two studies and this study is that they analyze the character’s characteristics. What makes the studies different is the object of the study. The first study’s object is a novel titled An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott and the second study’s object is a movie script, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Another study comes from an essay “Orgasms and Empowerment: Sex and the City and the Third Wave Feminism” by Astrid Henry (2004). Henry also PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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studies the TV series of Sex and the City. In her essay, Henry claims that Sex and the City exemplify the third wave of feminism. By challenging the characters of second wave feminism, third wave feminism focuses on individuality and life choices. Henry states that “Throughout Sex and the City’s six seasons, individual life choices have been a staple plot device – from choices regarding sexual partners to sexual acts, marriage, motherhood and careers” (pp. 71-72). She also argues that both third wave feminism and Sex and the City have the same main discussion, which is sexuality. Moreover, she adds “While the culture at large hardly celebrates women’s right to pleasure—indeed, the charge of selfishness is a common as in the past—many third wave feminists see their sexual freedom as a fundamental right, much like the right to vote” (p. 76).

According to Henry’s study, all main characters in Sex and the City are described as sexually active women, specifically Samantha. To analyze the work better, Henry puts dialogue from selected episode of Sex and the City. All main characters in Sex and the City, Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, are the representatives of the generation of women who are independent, free to make decisions whether it is about life, careers, and sexual acts or partners. In conclusion, Henry states “In its bold representation of women’s pleasure, Sex and the City offers a refreshing alternative to most mass-media depictions of female sexuality. Sex and the City reflects an important—if limited—vision of female empowerment, a feminism that mirrors contemporary third wave attempts to celebrate both women’s power and women’s sexuality, to create a world where one can be both feminist and sexual” (p. 82). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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The fourth study is from Seruni Eka Novita Sari (2015), a student of English

Letters study program of Yogyakarta State University. Different from Henry, she studies a film analysis of Candace Bushnell’s Sex and the City. Her study focuses on “women’s independence pursued by the characters, the processes in finding the right relationship, and how the movie aspects represent the characters’ independence” (p. 8). Sari uses post-feminist and cultural study approach to analyze the movie. She also uses qualitive analysis; which her data are taken from the dialogues, cut scenes, and discourses of Sex and the City. In her study, she concludes that “the independence of the four leading characters are; their achievement of career life, choices of being married or staying single, finance capability, being the decision maker towards their life and using fashion to style up themselves” (p. 109).

Sari reveals the part of characters’ independence by subcategorizing it into some categories; one of them is “to have a descent careers”. She states that

“women’s independence is closely related to the freedom of choice and how they support their life without depending too much on their men. To have career is one of the effects that women are now independence” (p. 58). Carrie Bradshaw is a novel writer and columnist. By showing the cut scene of the film, Sari says

“Carrie has potential career as women who writes books and articles, thus show how nowadays the popularity of the fashion magazine encourages women to write and provide chances to have a good career as a writer” (p. 59).

The similarity between this study and two studies above is that the object of the study is Bushnell’s works, which are The Carrie Diaries and Sex and the City. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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The previous studies also apply feminism approach, specifically post-feminism and third wave feminism to analyze the work. However, this study focuses on one of feminism branches which is liberal feminism. What makes it different is that this study analyzes the character, specifically Carrie Bradshaw, when she was still a high school student. The relation is that what Carrie did in high school, her response towards gender stereotypes, might influence the adult woman Carrie in

Sex and the City.

B. Review of Related Theories

To answer the two problems stated earlier, some theories are needed to support the analysis. Those theories are theory of character and characterization, theory of gender stereotypes, and theory of liberal feminism.

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

In every literary work, characters play an important role. As stated by Abrams

(2012) characters are defined as the persons, who have moral and dispositional qualities that appear in a literary work. The moral and dispositional qualities can be seen through the dialogue and the action (p. 46).

There are two types of characters in a fiction; flat characters and round characters. Flat characters are described as persons who have simple personalities.

While round characters have more complex personalities (Forster, 1927, p. 29).

To characterize the characters, Robert and Jacob (1989) states there are four ways: PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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a. What the characters say and think.

What the characters say can be said without previous thought, but it also can reflect their momentary emotional or intellectual state. Thus, the readers must consider the situational context of the statement. b. What the characters do.

There is a saying “actions speak louder than words”, it means clearly that what the characters do show their characteristics. c. What others characters say about them.

As in real life, in a story a character often talks about other characters. What characters say about other characters may show the characteristic of them. d. What the author says about the characters themselves.

What author says about the characters themselves can be accepted accurately

(pp. 147-148).

2. Theory of Feminism and Liberal Feminism

Feminism is the advocacy of women’s liberation from injustice which happens in the society (Humm, 1995, p. 94). Feminism focuses on gaining equality between men and women in society. According to Tong (2009), there are some branches of feminism, such as liberal, radical, Marxist/socialist, psychoanalytic, care-focused, multicultural/global/colonial, ecofeminist, and postmodern feminism (p. 1).

Liberal feminism aims to liberate women. It is about the liberation of women from the society which tends to limit women’s movement. It means that women PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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are free to do whatever they want without society limits them. Tong states “liberal feminists wish to free women from oppressive gender roles—that is from those roles used as excuses or justifications for giving women a lesser place, or no place at all, in the academy, the forum and the marketplace” (2009, p. 34). Liberal feminism focuses on equal education, equal liberty, and equal treatment between men and women.

Furthermore, Wollstonecraft in Tong (2009) states that she disagrees with

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s opinion that argues the development of rationality is the most educational goal for men only. Rousseau states that “men should be educated in virtues such as courage, temperance, justice, and fortitude, whereas women should be educated in virtues such as patience, docility, good humour, and flexibility” (p. 14). Wollstonecraft argues that women are also deserved the kind of education that develop their rational and moral capacities to achieve full personhood. The idea of equality between men and women is not only applied to education. John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor believe that to achieve gender equality, women deserve political rights and economic opportunities that men get.

Like Wollstonecraft, Mill claims that if women do not have the same opportunity as men, their progress toward personhood will stunt. Women who focus on their personal life and care about their family only will develop egoism. Therefore, Mill thinks that if women have their right to vote, they will feel obligated to use their right that benefits all of society (as cited in Tong, 2009, p.19). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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Meanwhile, Taylor says both men and women have their job to support their life economically. Not only in terms of education and right to vote, women need to have a job and get salary. She states,

“Even if every woman, as matters now stand, had a claim on some man for support, how infinitely preferable is it hat part of the income should be of the woman’s earning, even if the aggregate sum were but little increased by it, rather than that she should be compelled to stand aside in order that men may be the sole earners, and the sole dispensers of what is earned” (p. 18) Taylor claims that it is important for women to have their own salary from their job. Liberal feminists believe that women can also make a decent living by having their own salary. In liberal feminism, men are needed to be a model for women.

To achieve an equal level with men is liberal feminism’s focus. Thus, it differs liberal feminism to other branches of feminism.

Another liberal feminist, Betty Friedan, also states her opinion about equality between men and women. She claims that it is important for men to develop their personal and private shelves as important as women develop their public and social shelves. Women have to work together with men to escape from feminist and feminine mystique. Along with men, women might able to develop their virtues to achieve fulfilment as personhood. She adds “the assumption of your own identity, equality, and even political power does not mean you to stop needing to love, and to be loved by, a man, or that you stop caring for your own kids” (as cited in Tong, 2009, p. 28). In other words, Friedan believes that women can also have a loving family. She also says that women who are a wife and a mother as well do not have a chance to have professional career can limit their development to become a full human person. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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3. Theory of Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are also the focus of liberal feminism. As it is mentioned above, gender stereotypes are beliefs in society about personal traits, roles, physical characteristics of men and women. Personal Attributes Questionnaire

(PAQ) is an instrument that can be used as a measure of gender stereotypic beliefs.

This instrument assesses traits, agency, and communion of the two genders. For example, traits that associated with men are active, competitive, independent, self-confident, and etc. Meanwhile women are associated with emotional, gentle, kind, understanding, warm and other communal traits (Spence et al as cited in

Kite, 2002, pp. 562-563). There are also gender-associated role behaviours, physical characteristics, and cognitive abilities. Men have roles to be a leader, head of household or financial provide, whereas women have roles in the domestic spheres, such as taking care of husband and children, doing the household, or cooking the meal for family. Society even label men and women with certain physical characteristics, such as men are physically strong and vigorous, tall, muscular and etc, while women are graceful, pretty, dainty, and etc.

Ann Cejka and Alice Eagly as cited in Worell (2002) also find that society has gender stereotypic beliefs about cognitive skills. Men are seen as analytic and quantitatively skilled, and women are seen as intuitive and verbally skilled (p.

563).

Swim and Hyers as cited in Nelson (2009) claims that there are two ways to assess gender stereotypes; explicit and implicit measures. First, explicit stereotypes often examine about personality traits. For example, men are PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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associated with agentic traits such as active, instrumental, competent, etc. While women are associated with communal traits like nurturing, expressive, warm, etc.

However, there is an inequality of judgment between men and women. Nelson adds that “Housewives are characterized as warm but not competent and career women and feminists are thought of as competent and assertive but not warm.

This no-win situation is not found for men; when working women become mothers they are perceived as warms but less competent but when working men become fathers they are perceived as warmer and perceptions of their competence do not change” (pp. 411-412). Here, it can be seen that there is a difference in between the labels that are given by society to men and women.

While implicit stereotypes associate with spheres that men and women take.

Nelson states that “These include testing associations between men and leadership, math, science, careers, and hierarchical structures relative to associations between women and caretaking, art, liberal arts, family, and egalitarian structures” (p. 412).

Therefore, these stereotypes that are mentioned above will limit both women and men’s chance to find their true self.

C. Theoretical Framework

This study is about gender stereotypes experienced by Carrie as a high school girl in The Carrie Diaries. In order to find answers the problems formulated above, this part explains how the theories applied in giving answers. First, theory of liberal feminism is needed as a base theory to see the whole story. Then, the theory of character and characterization are used to understand Carrie’s PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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characteristics as a high school girl. By knowing the characteristics of Carrie, the researcher knows the contribution of the character in relation to gender stereotypes. So at last, after knowing what gender stereotypes that Carrie experienced in The Carrie Diaries, the researcher uses theory of liberal feminism to analyze how Carrie, as a girl who is soon to be a woman, responds towards the gender stereotypes in her society. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The Carrie Diaries is Candace Bushnell’s first young adult series. Along with

Summer in the City, both of them are the prequel of Candace Bushnell’s famous work, Sex and the City. The Carrie Diaries is published in 2010 by Balzer + Bray.

It became TV series that aired in 2013 and ended in 2014, for two seasons with 26 episodes on The CW, an American broadcast television network.

The story of The Carrie Diaries revolves around Carrie Bradshaw’s life during her last year of senior high school. Since she was a kid, Carrie wanted to be writer. Carrie applies to Summer Writing Seminar, but then she is rejected. As a teenager, that is not the only problem that she has. Carrie has to face many trials related to her family, her friendship, her love-life, and her dream of becoming a writer. As a teenage girl who is soon to become a woman, Carrie is on her process finding her identity. During the process, Carrie has to deal with gender stereotypes that happen in her surroundings. The stereotyping that happens also becomes her barrier to pursue her dream job. The way Carrie responds to gender stereotypes plays an important role on her process in finding her true self.

B. Approach of the Study

This study applies feminist literary criticism to analyze the work. Feminist literary criticism is one of literary criticisms that analyzes literary works based on

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feminism or feminist theory. Feminist literary criticism helps feminists to deconstruct the politics of patriarchy that is represented in language (Humm, 1995. p. 153). It means that the focus of feminist literary criticism is the struggle of women in the society to pursue what they want to be through literature. The focus of this study is on the liberation of women from gender stereotypes in the society.

The branch feminism that suitable is liberal feminism. Eisenstein (1982) states that liberalism as an ideology has promised certain crucial values, such as individual autonomy, freedom of choice, equality of opportunity, and so on (p.

189). By the statement, liberal feminism focuses on gender equality of women who also have right to have freedom like men. It does not mean that liberal feminism make women become more than men, but it means to make women are equal to men.

This criticism is the most suitable criticism because in this study the researcher analyzes how Carrie responds, as a teenage girl, towards gender stereotypes in her society, at the same time she has to pursue her dream job as a writer.

C. Method of the Study

This study was a library research. It was conducted by gathering and collecting data from primary sources and secondary sources. The primary source of this study was a young adult novel titled The Carrie Diaries by Candace

Bushnell. Meanwhile, the secondary sources were taken from books, journals, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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articles, and selected non-printed sources from internet that were related to the study.

There are several steps done by the researcher to analyze The Carrie Diaries.

First, in order to understand the novel well, the researcher read The Carrie Diaries for several times and put a mark on every page that important. After that the researcher formulated two problems formulation related to the story. Second, by using theory liberal feminism as a foundation theory and the theory of characterization, the researcher analyzed the first problem formulation, which were Carrie’s concept of women and the characteristic of Carrie in relation to gender stereotypes. The next step the researcher also used theory of gender stereotypes to support the answer of the first problem. After the researcher found what gender stereotypes could be found in The Carrie Diaries, the researcher related Carrie’s characteristic as seen through her thought and action to gender stereotypes happened in the novel. Therefore, the researcher found the answer for the last problem, which were Carrie’s responses towards gender stereotypes in

The Carrie Diaries. Finally, the last step was drawing a conclusion. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

The analysis in this chapter is divided into two parts based on the problem formulation above. The first part analyzes the characteristics of the main character,

Carrie Bradshaw as a high school girl who experiences gender stereotypes in her society. It also discusses Carrie’s concept of women. Second, it discusses how

Carrie responds towards gender stereotypes in the novel.

A. Carrie’s Concept of Women and Gender Stereotypes

The Carrie Diaries is the first young adult novel which is written by Candace

Bushnell. Candace Bushnell uses first person point of view in this novel.

Therefore, Carrie Bradshaw is the main character and also the narrator of the story.

Since The Carrie Diaries is a prequel of Sex and the City, the story revolves around Carrie Bradshaw when she was still in high school. Carrie Bradshaw is a high school student in Castlebury High. The novel begins during her last year being a high school student. Since her mother dies, she only lives with her father and two younger sisters, Missy and Dorrit. Carrie wants to be a writer, but her father wants her to be a scientist. Her father always encourages her to get into

Brown University, which is his alma mater. The difference between what she wants and what her father wants does not stop her from trying to achieve her dream. While she tries to fulfil her father’s dream, Carrie also struggles to fulfil

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her dream to become a writer. As a teenage girl who is still on her process to find her true self, Carrie is brave enough to fight against the stigma about women in her surroundings. She stands out among her friends for having her own idea about being a woman.

1. Carrie and Her Idea of Independent Women

When Carrie’s mother is still alive, Carrie learns a lot from her. She even knows the term feminism from her mother. After Carrie’s mother died, Carrie lives with her father and her two younger sisters, Missy and Dorrit. Being the oldest child in the family, Carrie has more time to spend her childhood with her mother. She learns about feminism from her mother. Carrie’s mother gives her the idea of perfect woman. She is a beautiful woman who always dresses up beautifully and never lets her hair and makeup undone. She takes care of her family very well. While being a mother, she decides to get her architecture degree.

Later on, she has her own income from her job with Beakon and Beakon

Architects.

My mother was just like all the other mothers, but a little better, because she felt that presenting one’s home and family in the best possible light was a worthy pursuit, and she made everything look easy. And even though she wore White Shoulders perfume and thought jeans were for farmers, she also assumed that women should embrace this wonderful way of being feminism (p. 118).

Carrie looks up at her mother in a way what it is like to be a woman. From her mother, she learns that the beliefs about women are not totally right. Carrie thinks that her mother is a living proof that a woman can get a higher education, a proper job with salary, and a family at the same time. Carrie’s family is taken care well by her mother, even though at that moment Carrie’s mother also fights for her PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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education and job. Her mother is a feminist and Carrie really adores her that way.

Carrie learns feminism from her mother and Mary Gordon Howard, her mother’s favourite woman author. She thinks Mary Gordon Howard is an amazing woman as amazing as her mother. However, her thought is changed after she meets Mary

Gordon Howard in person to get her signature. At her signing session in library,

Mary Gordon Howard underestimates other women. Carrie thinks that a woman who underestimates other women does not deserve to be called as a feminist, no matter how successful and independent that woman is.

I still feel a flicker of shame when I think about it. I wanted Mary Gordon Howard to rescue me. But that was a long time ago. I’m not that girl anymore. And I don’t need to be rescued anymore, either (p. 130). From the quotation above, it can be seen that Carrie’s thought about Mary Gordon

Howard as a feminist is distorted. Mary Gordon Howard is no longer her inspiration. As Carrie grows up without her mother, she develops her own

‘feminist’ idea.

Carrie is a high school student who goes through her adolescent time. During this time, what her friends do gives impact to Carrie. As a teenage girl, her mind is easy to be persuaded. At her age, most of her girl friends are not virgin anymore and Carrie is the only one who is still a virgin. Being the only virgin among her girl friends, Carrie has a ‘war’ inside herself. Her friends think that losing virginity can make them accepted in society. Therefore, she also wants to lose her virginity. Carrie wants to lose her virginity just to fit in. However, Carrie does not give it up easily even to her boyfriend. Carrie is brave to reject Doug, one of her ex-boyfriend, when he wants to have sex with her. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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“I’m not going to have sex with some guy just to impress you”. I said. “Whoa”, Rey said. “She really is a bitch”. “Not a bitch”, I said. “Just a woman who knows her mind” (p. 65). Carrie thinks that when a man has sex with a woman, it also means that the woman is ‘possessed’ by man. Therefore, Carrie decides that being accepted in society is not important if it has to take her identity as a woman.

Carrie also refuses the idea of traditional people who believe that women are weak, weepy, and helpless creatures that need men to come to rescue them. She believes that women have right to control their reproductive rights. It can be seen when Carrie tries to assure Maggie, her girl friends, about Maggie’s decision.

Maggie has a different idea from Carrie, she depends on her boyfriend, Peter, so much that she thinks her world will break down if she breaks up with him.

Moreover, Maggie has a thought to make herself pregnant, therefore Peter will not ever break up with her. Carrie strongly disagrees with Maggie’s thought.

“Mags”, I begin. “I know you’re worried about losing him. But what you’re thinking about doing is not the way to keep him”. “Why not?” she asks stubbornly. “Because it’s wrong. You don’t want to be the girl who forced a guy to be with her by getting pregnant”. “Women do it all the time”. “That doesn’t make it right” (p. 206). Maggie asks Carrie to accompany her to a clinic where she can get birth control pill. When Carrie talks about this to Peter, Maggie’s boyfriend, Carrie feels annoyed by Peter’s statement.

“That’s what I’m trying to avoid. I should get points for being a good boyfriend and making her take the pill.” He says, as if he deserves a pat on the back. Why is it always about the guy? “I think Maggie is smart enough to know she should be on the pill” (p. 229) PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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By Peter’s statement, it tells that without him, Maggie does not have the thought of having the pill. In other words, men in Carrie’s surrounding still think that women cannot do anything without them. It is shown in the quotation that Carrie clearly disagrees with the idea. Carrie thinks that women do not need men to stand by them. Carrie’s opinion can be seen also when Carrie and her boyfriend,

Sebastian, have an argument. Carrie simply asks him to stop seeing Donna

LaDonna, but Sebastian’s answer gets Carrie on her nerves.

“It’s not so easy. She needs me”. Now I really have had enough. How can any self-respecting girl respond to this nonsense? Am I supposed to say, “No, please, I need you too”? And what’s up with this old-fashioned “needing” stuff, anyway? (p.139) The way Sebastian thinks that Donna LaDonna needs him is a proof how

Sebastian still believes in the traditional idea of women. Carrie lives in male- dominated society, but she struggles against it. She thinks that being a woman means she has to be independent. When Carrie has an argument with Donna

LaDonna, she argues by her own self, without Sebastian on her side. On the other hand, Maggie thinks that Sebastian has to stick together with Carrie. However once again, Carrie disagrees with Maggie’s idea. Carrie is proud because she can stand up for herself even without Sebastian’s help. Carrie says “Having to have a guy to defend you—it’s so old-fashioned. Shouldn’t we be able to defend ourselves?” (p. 278). Carrie believes that women do not need men to defend themselves. Women are also independent, as independent as men.

Donna LaDonna, Carrie’s former enemy at school, also thinks that Carrie is a girl who does not need anyone to stand by her. Donna LaDonna is used to be

Carrie’s enemy. Carrie hates everything she does, and she hates everything Carrie PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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does. As the story goes on, they start to open up themselves to each other. During their photography class, they become closer. By that time, Donna speaks up what she thinks about Carrie.

“I guess I thought I could run right over you. But then I read that piece in The Nutmeg. I should have been pissed off, but it made me kind of admire you. I thought, “This is a girl who can stand up for herself. Who can stand up to me”. And there aren’t a lot of girls who can do that” (p. 438). Another gender stereotypic belief is about trait. The ones who are supposed to be active and brave are men, whereas women are passive. However, Carrie is not a passive woman. Carrie shows the opposite of those gender stereotypic beliefs. In

Castlebury High, there is a tradition when some of students of the graduating class scribble their year on the barn’s roof behind the school. It takes a lot of risks, such as getting caught by the teacher or police. Moreover, the roof is very high so it is pretty dangerous to climb up. Every year, the male students are the ones who always do the tradition. However this time, Carrie decides to do it with her girl friends, Lali, Maggie, and The Mouse. Even though at the end Peter and Sebastian come to help them, Carrie is the one who climbs up the roof and paints it.

But this year, The Mouse and I decided we should do it. Why should the boys have all the fun? It’s at least a hundred years old, and though it looks sturdy enough, the roof is higher and steeper than I’d imagined. But if we chicken out, next week the boys will probably do it, and I don’t want that to happen (p. 73).

Carrie’s urge to paint the barn’s roof with her girl friends shows that women can do something that usually men do. Even without Peter and Sebastian, Carrie still has the urge to do it by herself. It shows how Carrie is brave, as brave as men.

Men in Carrie’s surrounding also still think that men are practical and tough, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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meanwhile women cannot have those traits. One of men who thinks that way is

Carrie’s boyfriend, Sebastian. He explains how Carrie is different to other girls.

“It’s like—you’re a guy in a girl’s body”. “What?” “Take it easy. I didn’t say you looked like a guy. I meant you think like a guy. You know. You’re kind of practical but tough. And you’re not afraid to have adventures”. “Listen, buster. Just because someone is a girl doesn’t mean she can’t be tough and practical and have adventures. That’s the way most girls are—until they get around guys. Then guys make them act all stupid” (p. 153). From the quotation above, it is clear how Sebastian thinks about women. Practical and tough are two traits that the society believes they belong to men. However,

Carrie argues the idea by emphasizing that women can also have such traits, like practical and tough. To conclude, as teenager, Carrie is haunted by the traditional view of women in her society. However, because of her mother, Carrie learns what it means to be a woman and she develops her own idea of being an independent woman.

2. Carrie and Her Choice of Career

Carrie wants to be a writer since she was a kid. When she was six years old, she began to write stories from her imagination. Being proud of her dream, she tells people that she wants to be a writer. Once, Carrie tries to apply to the New

School’s Advanced Writing Seminar in New York by submitting one of her story about a boy who turns into a TV (Bushnell, 2011, p. 29). Unfortunately, she is rejected. At first, the rejection makes her sad. She thinks that she is not talented enough to be a writer. Everything about writing is a sensitive matter for her. When

Peter, her high school friend, offends things about writing, Carrie becomes so touchy. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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“If you’re smart, why don’t you try writing for the paper?” Peter asks. “I mean, don’t you tell everyone you want to be a writer? What have you ever written?” Maybe he doesn’t mean to sound aggressive, but the question catches me off guard. Does Pete