SHAPING EMBODIMENT IN THE SWAN: FAN AND BLOG DISCOURSES IN MAKEOVER CULTURE by Beth Ann Pentney M.A., Wilfrid Laurier University, 2003 B.A. (Hons.), Laurentian University, 2002 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences © Beth Ann Pentney 2012 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2012 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for “Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. APPROVAL Name: Beth Ann Pentney Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Thesis: Shaping Embodiment in The Swan: Fan and Blog Discourses in Makeover Culture Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Lara Campbell Associate Professor ______________________________________ Dr. Helen Hok-Sze Leung Senior Supervisor Associate Professor ______________________________________ Dr. Mary Lynn Stewart Supervisor Professor ______________________________________ Dr. Catherine Murray Supervisor Professor, School of Communication ______________________________________ Dr. Zoë Druick Internal Examiner Associate Professor, School of Communication ______________________________________ Dr. Cressida Heyes External Examiner Professor, Philosophy University of Alberta Date Defended/Approved: ______________________________________ ii Partial Copyright Licence Ethics Statement The author, whose name appears on the title page of this work, has obtained, for the research described in this work, either: a. human research ethics approval from the Simon Fraser University Office of Research Ethics, or b. advance approval of the animal care protocol from the University Animal Care Committee of Simon Fraser University; or has conducted the research c. as a co-investigator, collaborator or research assistant in a research project approved in advance, or d. as a member of a course approved in advance for minimal risk human research, by the Office of Research Ethics. A copy of the approval letter has been filed at the Theses Office of the University Library at the time of submission of this thesis or project. The original application for approval and letter of approval are filed with the relevant offices. Inquiries may be directed to those authorities. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada update Spring 2010 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the ubiquity of North American makeover culture from a feminist cultural studies perspective. Using an interdisciplinary and multi-methods approach, I conduct discourse analysis of Fox network’s The Swan (Galan 2004), online audience research of web forums devoted to The Swan, and email interviews with a small group of bloggers who wrote about their cosmetic surgery experiences on the web portal, Makemeheal.com. A postfeminist, neoliberal discourse of choice utilized in makeover culture belies the continued social and discursive regulation of embodiment, directed primarily at women. This re-regulation of embodiment contains the ontological threat of bodily hybridity made visible in makeover culture. In other words, the potential threat of the surgically altered body to expose the instability of bodily integrity is contained through makeover culture discourse that positions women as passive subjects while simultaneously addressing them as active agents. I use a somatechnics rubric, a poststructuralist approach developed by scholars meeting bi-annually since 2003 at Australia’s Macquarie University, to interpret the hybridity I identify in makeover culture. Somatechnics scholars foreground the inseparability of the soma (body) and techné (technologies/techniques). My dissertation develops from the theoretical starting point that bodies are never pure, pre-cultural entities. Rather, bodies become meaningful through their relationship with technologies of daily practice. I add to somatechnics scholarship by concentrating on the nuances of makeover culture techniques afforded the most credibility. Current academic work on makeover culture tends to make generalized assumptions about its participants. By adopting a somatechnic approach, I move beyond well-worn arguments determining agency or coercion of makeover culture subjects. Instead, I concentrate on ambiguities between the natural/constructed or authentic/inauthentic dichotomies in makeover culture discourse. The result is a project that destabilizes moralistic judgements about elective cosmetic body modification and its participants, and refocuses attention to the production of acceptable bodies in popular iii texts and mediated personal narratives. This project makes an important contribution to ongoing feminist investigations of normalized body modification practices, and advances the study of makeover culture by relocating the site of analysis to the repetitive form(ul)ation of embodied subjectivity within its symbolic borders. Keywords: makeover culture; discourse; cosmetic surgery; reality TV; postfeminism; online audiences; cosmetic surgery bloggers iv DEDICATION For Derek and Lucy v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my senior supervisor Dr. Helen Leung, whose encouragement, attention to detail, and grace I have benefited from immensely. Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Mary Lynn Stewart and Dr. Catherine Murray, for your challenging questions, your high expectations, and your interest in my work. I must also thank Dr. Jackie Levitin, and Kat and Roberta in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. Thank you to my internal examiner Dr. Zoë Druick and my external examiner Dr. Cressida Heyes. I am grateful that you have shared your time, insight, and expertise with me. My colleagues Dr. Susan Pell, Dr. Trish Garner, and Kelly McManus have been wonderful friends and collaborators, and each has made my research better. I would not have begun this project without the encouragement of Dr. Laura Robinson; she has been a role model and friend, someone whose teaching excellence and passion I hope to emulate in my own career. Thanks also to Dr. Sal Renshaw and Dr. Wendy Peters, who have made my long-distance dissertation writing more manageable through their intellectual stimulation and the opportunity to teach in Nipissing University’s Gender Equality and Social Justice program. For their technical support, I thank John at Qualis Research, and Sarah Perets at Makemeheal.com. Conducting online research can be challenging unless you have the support of people on the other end. I appreciate their time and effort. Thank you to the wonderful women who replied to my interview request. Your candour about your bodywork was a continued source of inspiration that helped me develop and strengthen my understanding of cosmetic surgery and makeover culture. Finally, my family has always been incredibly supportive, and despite their occasional lack of clarity regarding what I actually “do,” they have made me the person I am. To my mom Glenda Petrenko, my dad Rick Petrenko, my brothers Matthew Pentney and Ryan Petrenko, and my incredible sister Erin Zapshalla, I love you and thank you all for being as funny, smart, and inspiring as you are. To my husband Derek Serafini and daughter Lucy; love and gratitude for all that you are and all that you share with me. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval .......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iii Dedication ....................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ vi Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vii List of Figures.................................................................................................................. x List of Tables .................................................................................................................. xi 1: Contextualizing mainstream body modification within feminist theories of the body: Beyond the victim/agent dichotomy ....................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Feminist theories of mainstream cosmetic surgery ................................................ 11 1.3 Subcultural body modification and active resistance/questions of agency ............. 15 1.4 Somatechnics and Makeover Culture .................................................................... 18 2: Defining Makeover Culture ..................................................................................... 27 2.1 Historical Trends ................................................................................................... 28 2.2 The Subject and the Self in Makeover Culture ...................................................... 31 2.3 Postfeminism and Makeover Culture ..................................................................... 34 2.4 Legitimizing